Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.

The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous. But neither, in my experience, do we ever reach a plane of detachment regarding our parents, however wise and old we may become. To pretend otherwise is to cheat.

Yet it's not for want of future that I'm here, he thought. It's for want of a present.

I made a series of wrong decisions about moderately recent books, and I've sold the rights to studios for ridiculous amounts of money and the films have never been made. That's the saddest thing of all, because they're locked up and no-one else can make them.

When you're my age and you see a story, you better go for it pretty quickly. I'd just like to get a few more novels under my belt.

The good pupils are often brilliant, and they keep you on your toes and take you to the limits of your knowledge. The worst pupils provide a unique insight into the criminal mind.

I grew up in a completely bookless household. It was my father's boast that he had never read a book from end to end.