The first day of the rest of my life.

Now they broke my toothbrush, I don't own anything.

It gives me some kind of chance to survive the night." "How are those better odds? If you come back with me, you're guaranteed to survive the night." "No," Reacher said. "If I come back with you, I'm guaranteed to die of shame.

People, Reacher was certain about. Dogs were different. People had freedom of choice. If a man or a woman ran snarling toward him, they did so because they chose to. They were asking for whatever they got. His response was their problem. But dogs were different. No free will. Easily misled. It raised an ethical problem. Shooting a dog because it had been induced to do something unwise was not the sort of thing Reacher wanted to do.

The way to write a thriller is to ask a question at the beginning, and answer it at the end.

I'd been a thriller reader all my life.

Everything you could want - action, suspense, character and setting, all floating on the easy lyricism of a fine writer at the top of his game.