“and then Zach said a really bad word, but I doubt DeeDee noticed because it was in Farsi”

“I really shouldn’t leave,” Zach said, terrified what would happen the second he found himself alone with Nora.“Come on, Zach. This party sucks and not in the good way. I’ve had pap smears more fun than this.”Zach covered a laugh with a cough.“I must admit you do have a way with words.”

“Years later, I learned an English word for the creature that Assef was, a word for which a good Farsi equivalent does not exist: sociopath.”

“The Boogeyman,' he said, just to be sure. 'The Boogeyman killed an employee of the President of the United States.'The president nodded.Some days, Zach thought, I really hate this job.”

“I heard someone's playing hooky,' Zach told me. He smiled. Standing there, it felt almost like nothing bad had ever happened- or would ever happen again'There's a boy in my life,' I told him. 'He's a very bad influence.'Then Zach nodded. 'Bad boys have a way of doing that. But they're worth it.”

“In 1,000 pages of Orafoura’s novel, I noticed he repeated one word twice. It really stood out to me. The word? Sit.”