“I have people in my life, of course. Some write; some don't. Some read; some don't. Some stare vacantly into space when I talk the geeky talk and walk the geeky walk, but they make killer chocolate chip pancakes and so all is forgiven.”

“We all have our security blankets in this world. Some are just sharper than others.”

“The front door had been secure at some point in time, I suppose, but now it usually hung ajar by a few inches, the gap‐toothed grin of a dirty old man.”

“Niko caught my hand and slapped it lightly down on the bar. “Pistol whipping elderly women isn’t precisely our mission statement, Cal.” I hadn’t been going to pistol-whip her. Yell at her a little more, then pick her up and toss her out into the street. Some risk of a broken hip there, but that wasn’t pistol-whipping… unless she tried to come back in.”

“It's true. Goodfellow is monogamous. he's become a freak. A pervert. Depravity on the cloven hoof.""Or his balls fell off," suggested another puck who came to the bar. "Or his dick. Anyone who would hang out with Bacchus is bound to get a catastrophic genital rotting illness at some point.”

“The fact that the bodies weren’t my first concern–-pissing and bodies were, in that order—-helped too. Killers have different priorities.”

“Wouldn’t you leave a light on? Knowing what I knew and not knowing anything else at all, why would I want the darkness where the monsters hide?Because killers hide there too.”