Deceptions Quotes
"Praise for Kelley Armstrong and the Cainsville Series"
"With each new series entry (Omens; Visions), Armstrong’s characterizations grow richer. . . . The elements of magic are an undercurrent to emotional entanglements rather than taking center stage."
"This astonishing third installment in Armstrong’s enigmatic and eerie Cainsville series delivers some incredible answers while raising more questions. . . . Searching for those answers makes this book mesmerizing from the opening page! Terrific!"
"Fast-paced and engaging story. . . . Those already hooked on the weird doings in Cainsville will have no reason to be disappointed here."
"Shifting alliances, mercurial villains, and multiple retellings of ancient tales make the details . . . rewarding to catch."
"A well-plotted mystery . . . the continued development of both the supernatural facets of Cainsville and the complicated relationship between Olivia and Gabriel will draw in new fans for Armstrong."
"The chilling ending leaves just enough unresolved to hook readers for the next installment."
"Through first-class writing and characters—including the town of Cainsville itself—that leap off the pages, Armstrong has penned a tale that I, for one, can’t wait to see continue."
"One of the best new series debuts this year! With its compelling characters and completely original setup, Omens delivers a powerful combination of suspenseful thrills and supernatural chills. I can’t wait to read more!"
"Like the creepy, spooky town of Cainsville, Kelley Armstrong’s Omens lured me in. . . . It will grab you by the collar and won’t let you up for air until it’s good and ready. And once you’re done, you won’t soon forget it."
"Cainsville might be a nice place to visit, but I’m too creeped out to live there. Luckily, Armstrong isn’t, and her dispatches from this village filled with sinister secrets are going to be keeping her readers up well into the night."
"Urban fantasy powerhouse Armstrong (the Otherworld series) begins the Cainsville series with a gripping thriller-paced novel featuring a young woman who learns that her wealthy parents adopted her after her biological parents were convicted of being serial killers. Mind control, gunplay, and double crosses will keep readers on edge to the last page."
"Megastar Armstrong is back with the launch of her electrifying new Cainsville series. . . . Hop on, this series is an adventure you won’t want to miss!"
"Armstrong, author of the popular Otherworld series, excels at world-building, and this reverse Cinderella story perfectly launches a new series chronicling the irresistibly odd and creepy Cainsville universe. Fantasy fans will be eager to make repeated visits."
"I don’t keep anything from Gabriel, no matter how weird it gets. And no matter how weird it gets, he never so much as quirks an eyebrow."
"The curse of modern communications—spend a couple of hours separated from your cell and you’ll spend another twenty minutes catching up."
"I was the daughter of convicted serial killers. It was almost as if no one was surprised that I’d morphed into the angel of death."
"As long as there were no indications that I’d killed anyone myself—and there weren’t—well, I was bound to attract some serious crazy."
"Family, friends, and friends of the family are not marks."
"The Walshes were a family of con artists and thieves, and so the lesson was as valid as teaching another child to wear a bicycle helmet."
"I don’t want to impose," I said to Gabriel. "How about I catch a cab to my parents’ place? They have a top-notch security system, and I have my gun."
"I’m quite happy to abandon it, given how poorly it was progressing."
"Anything that called attention to himself was dangerous."
"Dreams implied wispy, ephemeral things that floated somewhere beyond reach. Gabriel had goals and ambitions."
"As she gave one, he could tell that she expected him to nod in understanding."
"Be happy with what they had and do nothing, absolutely nothing, to endanger it."
"My hands in his hair, the kiss deep and devouring, me up against the wall, as he pressed between my legs and—"
"It’s the leaving that brought out the crazy."
"Insulting my intelligence? My age? My lack of a criminal record? Not exactly wounding me to the core, Liv."
"I’m going to see him alone," I said. "If you want to come inside, okay. If you’d rather wait in the car, that’s fine, too."
"I wasn’t apologizing. Not in words, but it was clear from your tone."
"Apology suggests that you are keeping me from doing what I need to do, which implies I am somehow powerless to do otherwise."
"We talked, not about our shared past but finding fresh connections."
"The smile vanished and he leaned forward, hands on the Plexiglas. 'It’s okay, Olivia,' he said. 'Everything’s okay.'"
"He only said, 'I know.' And then, 'I’m sorry.'"
"You’ve done nothing. You’ve been above-and-beyond helpful."
"I tried to drop it, just climb into the car and break the conversation, but my hands gripped the roof and the words poured out before I could stop them."
"But I still feel like I’m walking a balance beam, ready at any moment to tumble out of your good graces."
"I was embarrassed. After the throwing up... I was worried it would get even worse when I saw him."
"He doesn’t want you dead. None of them do. But that doesn’t mean they don’t pose a serious threat."
"You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear."
"I am you, and I’m not you. I’m all of you. All of them."
"What lies here is best not found. Not by you. Not by anyone."
"Do you hear them?" she asked. "No—" "Because you aren’t listening. Close your eyes."
"I like my mysteries clear and real, with facts and clues that I can follow. Ego, I suppose. I wanted to solve the mystery myself, not stand before a ruined house talking to a child no one else could see."
"One cannot fear what one doesn’t believe exists."
"You protect him as he protects you. And the other, too. The three of you, in a circle of support, as it should be, as it was once, before the circle was torn asunder and the darkness came."
"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away."
"We are imprisoned by the truth we dare not see."
"We are imprisoned by the questions we dare not ask."
"You should stay. Forget their bullshit. You belong here. You’re safe here."
"Rose may not sit on her porch like Grace, but she knows just as much about what’s going on outside her door."
"His tail twitched once, as if to say, Oh, it’s just her, and he headed back up."
"But killing your boy would drive you off, and they’d never do that."
"I have no idea what most of this stuff is, but... wow."
"You can’t do that, Rosie. It doesn’t work that way."
"He probably doesn’t mean it the way it sounds, and even if he does, he intends no actual offense."
"I know you want answers, and you think I’m holding back. I’m protecting you."
"If I failed to give my best defense to every client who hated me, I’d have a very poor record indeed."
"Love was about what I felt. Caring was about James—the life I wanted for him, whether I shared it or not."
"You have every interest, and it’s driving you crazy."
"I’m simply relieved it didn’t escalate to violence given . . ."
"I convinced them to give me my own holding cell by suggesting I might otherwise give my fellow inmates free legal advice."
"He wasn’t sociable by nature, and to be honest, his 'friendships' had been more 'playing in the same room as an equally unsociable child.'"
"Learning what might constitute an overture had been profitable later in life, as a way to manipulate marks into thinking they’d earned his friendship."
"Don’t worry," she said. "I’ll never pester you to run with me."
"But the walk?" she said. "Are you up for that?"
"Two halves of your whole," said a voice beside me.
"I need these answers. I can’t help him without them."
"Nothing lasts forever. There are other Tylwyth Teg and Cwn Annwn, other groups. Fewer and fewer. Our time is past, yet we are stubborn."
"I don’t want this. I don’t want him touched by this. It’s not fair."
"You can hit me if it’ll make you feel better. I promise not to hold it against you."
"No, you find it an amusing set of circumstances."
"Horrible. He should have quit while he was ahead."
"All I remember is that it was my half birthday," I said. "We were going for a pony ride."
"You aren’t truly Matilda. They aren’t truly Arawn and Gwynn. The cycle isn’t set. It shifts and it changes."
"I always thought it was the best answer. The only sane answer, as insane as it was. But it still takes you back to the original question, doesn’t it? Why?"
"I’m not confused at all. I know what I feel—for you—and I want to blame it on the visions, to tell myself I’m just reliving a role. But I’m not. What I feel for you . . ."
"Anytime you need me, I’m here. If you call, I’ll come."
"I’m so lost right now. My parents . . . I think they . . . I’m sure they . . . And you and Ricky . . . So lost and so confused."
"I love you," and he said, "That’s all I want."
"The monstrous exists in the mirror, not in the sulfurous depths of some fantasy world."
"God, demons, saints, monsters . . . There are powers. They have powers. Those powers can be invoked."
"Act like I think you’re brilliant, gorgeous, charming, and I’m crazy about you. All of which is easy to do because it’s true."
"In recognition of an acting job well done, delivered after the performance."
"You got me a switchblade. I think that was very romantic."
"It’s gorgeous. If you think you don’t have great taste in jewelry, you could not be more wrong."
"The secluded location is an aspect of being a good neighbor."
"Play to your strengths. Or learn something new and risk making a fool of yourself."
"I want to shake it," he said. "Not vent it on you."
"Calling for your girlfriend’s help? That’s very sweet in a modern-guy kind of way."
"Forget the third for now. Focus on the first two pairs."
"I’m not particularly concerned with Gabriel Walsh."
"All right. Fine. There's a boardwalk a few miles up. We'll drive—"
"He started back toward the car. Then he lifted a finger, as if I might think he was making his escape."
"I don't think you'll have much choice in that. It's a murder investigation."
"That doesn't matter. She knew stuff—satanic stuff. She was evil."
"My parents are sadistic monsters who deserve to rot in jail."
"For those who didn’t have family willing to claim them. A necessary part of the hospital, but obviously not one they cared to advertise to the other patients."
"Interesting, but did it mean anything? I’d heard someone call my name. Was that to get me here?"