You have to go out of your way as a suspense novelist to find situations where the protagonists are somewhat helpless and in real danger.

Mrs. Corey still uses her maiden name for business, or when she wants to pretend she doesn’t know me.

I turned to the Times crossword puzzle and asked Kate, “What’s the definition of a moderate Arab?” “I don’t know.” “A guy who ran out of ammunition.

I was trained in Army Intelligence, but spent most of my army career in the infantry. But like many people of my generation, I was very much caught up in the Cold War, and books and movies about espionage.

It's really scary when you have a moment of temporary sanity.

Most of my books are about contemporary subjects, and the world changes so fast that I'm lucky when events haven't overtaken the book I'm writing at the moment.

Stephen King once told me he liked my writing. And that was great.