“I remember one time I heard this English professor asking the class what the world's scariest noise is. Is it a man crying out in pain? A woman's scream of terror? A gunshot? A baby crying? And the professor shakes his head and says, 'No, the scariest noise is, you're all alone in your dark house, you know you're all alone, you know that there is no chance anyone else is home or within miles—and then, suddenly, from upstairs, you hear the toilet flush.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Genius is a curse. That's how I look at it. Some think that the brilliant comprehend the universe in a way the rest of us can't. They see the world how it truly is—and that reality is so horrible the lose their minds. Clarity leads to insanity.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“You bring your own weather to the picnic.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“For a short time, I hated them. But when you think about it, what good does that do?It takes so much to hold on to hate—you lose your grip on what's important, you know?”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Did tragedy cause fissures, open them wider--or did tragedy merely turn on the light so you could see the fissure that had always been there?”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Right now, even though he'd been dead for years, she wanted to collapse in her father's big arms and hear him tell her that everything would be all right. Do we ever outgrow that need?”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Rumors always hardened to facts. Accusations are convictions in the public mind. You are guilty until proven innocent.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“She said that if you hold on to hate, you lose your grip on so much more.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“God, she loved this kid. Wendy had one of those waves, the ones that sneak up on parents and crush them and make them just want to wrap their arms around their kid and never let him go.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Grief is devastating, all-consuming. But grief merely visits friends, even the closest. It stays much longer, probably forever, with the family, but that was probably how it should be.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Maybe the answer isn’t in another job,” Wendy said. “Maybe the answer is in finding new ways to define manhood.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“The kitchen clock above the sink ticked. Wendy could look out the window and see the undergrads walking to class, all animated, young, with the clichéd rest of their lives waiting around the corner. Next year, Charlie would be one of them. You could tell these kids that it will go faster than they think, that they will blink and college will be gone and then ten years and another ten, but they won’t listen, can’t listen, and maybe that’s a good thing. “I”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“I made myself tea. Just like today. I sat here and was about to start my essay when I heard a noise coming from upstairs. Like I said, I knew no one was home. I should have been scared, right? I remember one time I heard this English professor asking the class what the world’s scariest noise is. Is it a man crying out in pain? A woman’s scream of terror? A gunshot? A baby crying? And the professor shakes his head and says, ‘No, the scariest noise is, you’re all alone in your dark house, you know you’re all alone, you know that there is no chance anyone else is home or within miles—and then, suddenly, from upstairs, you hear the toilet flush.’ ” Christa”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“She knocked on Vic’s door and leaned her head in. “You rang?” “Heard you got your ass reamed in court,” her boss said. “Support,” Wendy said. “That’s why I work here. The support I get.” “You want support,” Vic said, “buy a bra.” Wendy frowned. “You realize that made no sense.” “Yeah, I know. I got your memo—check that, your many and repetitious memos—complaining about your assignments.” “What”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Wait.” Vic put a hand to his ear, as though straining to hear. He was a small man except for the enormous bowling-ball gut. His face might be called “ferretlike,” if the ferret was really ugly. “What?”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Kasselton High was big, nearly two thousand kids in four grades. The building was on four levels, and like so many high schools from towns with constantly growing populations, it ended up being more a series of pieced-together add-ons than anything resembling a cohesive structure. The later additions to the once-lovely original brick showed that the administrators had been more interested in substance over style. The configuration was a mishmash, looking more like something a child had made by mixing wooden blocks, LEGOs, and Lincoln logs. Last”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“The secret in any interview was the ability to not fill the silence. A few seconds passed.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Wendy wondered what to say here, what wouldn’t sound patronizing, but “I’m sure that’s not true” or “I’m sorry” didn’t make the cut. She again opted for silence. “Do”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Do all these things so you can matriculate at the most prestigious school possible. It’s like the first seventeen years of your life are just an audition for the Ivy Leagues.” It”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“No problem, dear,” Phil said with a smile. It was a nice smile. A few years ago, it might have been returned, but nope, not today. Phil kept his eyes on her for maybe a second too long, though Wendy didn’t think the girl noticed. Once the waitress was out of sight, Phil lifted his bottle toward Wendy. She picked up hers and clinked bottles and decided to stop this dance. “Phil,”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“The young waitress appeared with nachos piled so high it looked like she was carrying a small child. She dropped it on the table and said, “Can I get you guys anything else?” They both declined. She spun and left them alone. Wendy leaned across the table. “Who”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“KNEW opening that red door would destroy my life. Yes, that sounds melodramatic and full of foreboding and I’m not big on either, and true, there was nothing menacing about the red door. In fact, the door was beyond ordinary, wood and fourpaneled, the kind of door you see standing guard in front of three out of every four suburban homes, with faded paint and a knocker at chest level no one ever used and a faux brass knob. But”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“chances. I want to make sure that Dan Mercer never hurts anyone ever again.” “By killing”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“And,” he continued, “you’re sitting there and you have tears in your eyes and you think about the wonder of this moment, and then—and this is the amazing thing—you look around the auditorium, at the other parents, and you realize that every one of them feels exactly the same away about their own kid. I mean, that’s so obvious and simple and yet something about it overwhelms me. I can’t believe this tremendous feeling, this wave of love, doesn’t belong to us alone, that what we’re experiencing isn’t unique—and that just made it somehow greater. I remember watching the other parents in the audience. You see the wet eyes and the smiles. You see the wives reach for their husband’s hand, no words exchanged. And I remember being just awed. Like, I don’t know, like I couldn’t believe one room, this school auditorium, could be so full of pure love and not just take off from the ground.” Marcia”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“This was life though, wasn’t it? Death made you crave life. The world is nothing but a bunch of thin lines separating what we think are extremes.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Why do your teams never win?” Marcia had asked him. “I draft the kids based on two criteria.” “That being?” “How nice the father—and how hot the mom.” She”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Patricia? You have rehearsal in an hour.” “I’m up,” she groaned in a voice that indicated she was anything but. Marcia moved to the next room, Haley’s, and took a quick peek. The”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“I’m not casting any aspersions here.” “Okay.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Flair Hickory, celebrity counsel for the defense, stood, and not for the first time, Wendy wondered how Dan Mercer had the money to afford him. Flair wore his customary gray suit with thick pink stripes, pink shirt, pink tie. He crossed the room in a way that might be modestly described as “theatrical,” but it was more like something Liberace might have done if Liberace had the courage to be really flamboyant. “Ms.”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
“Dan looked small in the corner, hunched over and broken. What was bizarre, what had angered her so, was that she had tried to do a story on Dan Mercer and his “good works” about a year before her sting showed his true predilections. Before that, Dan had seemed to be that rarest of beasts—the honest-to-God do-gooder, a man who truly wanted to make a difference and, most shockingly, a man who didn’t couple that desire with self-aggrandizement. She”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Caught
Harlan Coben
Born place: in Newark, New Jersey, The United States
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“The desires of the human heart know no reason or rules.”
― Yōko Ogawa, quote from Revenge
“Sometimes people close a door because they're trying to figure out a way to get you to knock.”
― Andrew Pyper, quote from The Demonologist
“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. ~ Douglas Adams”
― Mara Jacobs, quote from Worth the Effort
“I walked over to Drake and stomped on his foot. Hard. "What will I give you to
help me? What will I give you?"
He stood on one leg rubbing his foot, grinning a grin so steamy, it almost melted
my underwear. "I never doubted you would defeat her. You are my mate. You
could do no less."
I pointed a finger at him. "You are too arrogant for your own good. I officially
de-mate you. Go away. I never want to see you again. Except maybe tonight.
Naked. Your place. But after that, no more.”
― Katie MacAlister, quote from You Slay Me
“But Vivien wasn't being given the chance to sow her wild oats. Speaking from a point of authority, it's best to get that shit out of the way when you are young.”
― Lisa Lutz, quote from Trail of the Spellmans
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