The only pressure I feel is to write good books. And to not replicate the previous book. Whether you have a thousand readers or a million readers it doesn't change the pressure. I never feel tempted to give the reader what I think the reader wants.

There’s only one thing worse than not satisfying a desire. And that is not to feel any desire.

With regard to power, women don't have the vanity men have. They don't need to make power visible, they only want the power to give them the other things they want. Security. Food. Enjoyment. Revenge. Peace. They are rational, power-seeking planners, who think beyond the battle, beyond the victory celebrations. And because they have an inborn capacity to see weakness in their victims, they know instinctively when and how to strike. And when to stop. You can't learn that.

It was a sudden inspiration. But inspiration never came without a reason.

I was a really bad taxi driver. I only collided twice but it was one time too much.

Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.

Good police officers are ugly.