The CIA's research program is described in a book called "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate."

Culture clash is terrific drama.

His aim was the glory of God, but the glory of Philip pleased him too.

Trusting someone was like holding a little water in your cupped hands - it was so easy to spill the water, and you could never get it back.

The research is the easiest. The outline is the most fun. The first draft is the hardest, because every word of the outline has to be fleshed out. The rewrite is very satisfying.

Thrillers have been traditionally very masculine books; the women characters often rather decorative.

We’re all good when it suits us, he used to say: that doesn’t count. It’s when you want so badly to do something wrong—when you’re about to make a fortune from a dishonest deal, or kiss the lovely lips of your neighbor’s wife, or tell a lie to get yourself out of terrible trouble—that’s when you need the rules. Your integrity is like a sword, he would say: you shouldn’t wave it until you’re about to put it to the test.