Tripwire Quotes
"First you spot the threat, and then you react."
"Because no man could survive what was coming after him. No man."
"But other times it felt like the blink of an eye."
"Immediately. No hesitation. Just get the hell out, and stay the hell out."
"Every day at four o'clock he sat at this dark table and drank three bottles of still water, room temperature."
"He was never on any passenger manifests or credit card carbons."
"People just waved and smiled and said hello."
"He liked the anonymity. He liked his secrecy."
"His response was understandable, but defensive."
"He liked the anonymity. It felt warm and comfortable and reassuring."
"Right at that moment, he was a happy guy, living an old fantasy."
"It was something he had never expected to experience."
"Fifteen years. Was that a long time or a short time?"
"He was the same person, thinking the same way, capable of the same things."
"He felt she had to be different. Had to be, surely."
"He knew the kid. He knew the adult he'd invented inside his head."
"She nodded. 'Thirteen blocks. I usually walk.'"
"Her fifteen years had been a greater leap, through bigger transitions."
"The blast of air from the centre vents caught her hair and blew it over her face."
"We're taking steps,' the voice said. 'I'm sure you understand our position.'"
"The most straightforward practice was to buy new and junk the old."
"She had developed a passion for a particular necklace in a Manila jeweller's."
"She had kept it pressed in a book for fifteen years."
"Yesterday should have been the worst day of her life."
"Yesterday had been the best day of her life."
"A dream from the past, unconnected with reality, but absolutely defining the identity of the person involved."
"There was a lot of affection there. But that just made it worse."
"Affection for favourite uncles was a specific type of affection."
"He knew it was going to drive him crazy, so he forced his mind away from her and started thinking about other things."
"There's no phone in here,' Mr Hobie doesn't like phones.'"
"But we won't. That's not how Mr Hobie likes things to be done."
"Mr Hobie prefers to hurt the wives,' Tony said. 'Efficiency, you see? It gets faster results."
"So at this point, you really need to be thinking about Marilyn."
"She was on her way back into the room with a wheeled cart."
"The linen cover was off the platter, revealing a pound cake, drizzled with some kind of yellow icing."
"The old percolator was there, smelling of coffee."
"You're nuts," he said. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"I'm going to get dressed," she said, still laughing.
"I thought so," Conrad said. "And you think being family, so to speak, will buy you better and faster access to the archive?"
"We need what you've got on a Victor Truman Hobie," Reacher said.
"I need to know what the hell I'm dealing with," he whispered.
"They sell those boxes to us and make us use them. We put them in our own caskets in the hangar at the airfield in Hanoi."
"He deserted," Newman said. "It's a fact, it's in the files from the hospital."
"He killed an orderly," he whispered. "The guy spotted him on the way out and tried to stop him."
"He crawled into a field hospital fifty miles away and three weeks later."
"He was racked with fever, serious malnutrition, terrible burns to one side of his face, no arm, maggots in the stump."
"He disappeared the night before they were due to move him to Saigon."
"You completely sure that's off limits, Hobie? Seeing as how we're old friends and all? Done a lot of business together?"
"There are seven bodies," he said. "But there are fifteen hands."
"He chose the simple hook. It appealed to him, though he couldn't explain why."
"It was a triumph. Even in extreme danger and confusion, he had done the right thing."
"He was passed from group to group and was in Cambodia within four days."
"He was planning on using both ankle holsters and putting his big .357 in the small of his back."
"The longer it went on, the worse it got. It kind of snowballed."
"I should go back to the Keys and dig pools the rest of my life."
"It was like stepping out of the Stone Age. There were roads, and vehicles."
"He saw his hand come off. He saw it in detail."
"The intense flames had cauterized his open forearm."
"War changes people, and when you got there you turned into a real bad guy."
"She was hanging forward against the pressure of his arm."
"You think I'm going to let you take me down? You think you're the first person who ever tried?"
"But you're bleeding from the head. You know that? You've got a piece of metal sticking in your head."
"I've got plenty of time. Like you figured, I'm a drifter. I don't have any pressing appointments to get to."
"The pain? You're starting to feel faint, right? You're on your way out, Reacher. You're going down."
"He saw the black hole in the stainless barrel. It was clear of her body."
"His knees were going and he started shaking. Wait. Just wait."
"Then I'll shoot you, she dies, you die one-hundredth of a second later."
"He saw it move. It was very quick. He saw the revolver hammer click forward and then a flower of bright flame bloomed out from the barrel."
"He felt the dull crump and the sharp agonizing sting of serious injury."
"It was a piercing agony centred in his forehead, an inch above his eye."
"The adrenaline had masked it for a long time. But adrenaline doesn't last forever."
"He could feel his knees. They were there, and they were strong. But a fit man never feels his knees."
"He was in a rented car, next to Jodie, driving back from the zoo."
"The basis of any scam is to show them what they want to see."
"He thought hard for a split second and fought to stay firm on his feet."
"He asked himself is what I feel for Jodie as good as being pumped up by angel dust?"
"He saw the revolver hammer click forward and then a flower of bright flame bloomed out from the barrel."