No characters in 'Stay Close,' including the leads, are black and white. I want them to be grey. I think that makes for a much more interesting reading experience, something that will stay with you a little bit longer.

This is the price you pay for having a great father. You get the wonder, the joy, the tender moments - and you get the tears at the end, too.

Sometimes the loudest cries for help are silent.

We're called New Jersey but we're actually the suburbs of New York.

Tragedy is a hell of a teacher. It's much too strict, but it's a hell of a teacher.

That's what a good crime novelist - any good novelist - should do with you: play with your perceptions while showing you everything in plain sight.

When I was seventeen, I worked as a counsellor at a co-ed sleep-away camp for eight weeks. I loved it but it could be harrowing - it was far too much responsibility for someone my age.