Anecdotally his fitness reports rated him well above average in the classroom, excellent in the field, fluently bilingual in English and French, passable in Spanish, outstanding on all man-portable weaponry, and beyond outstanding at hand-to-hand combat. Susan knew what that last rating meant. Like having a running chainsaw thrown at you

No, I'm a man with a rule. People leave me alone, I leave them alone. If they don't, I don't.

You see something scary, you should stand up and step toward it, not away from it. Instinctively, reflexively, in a raging fury.

I'm a rich man. To have everything you need is the definition of affluence.

I wanted readers to be genuinely unsure as to whether she's telling the truth or lying. It meant making her partly sympathetic, and partly unsympathetic, which wasn't easy.

British crime stories tend to be very internal, psychological, claustrophobic, very limited in terms of geography.

Writing is showbusiness for shy people. That's how I see it.