Good stories are driven by conflict, tension, and high stakes.

Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result of stupendously complex gene-environment interactions, and environment is likely to remain the more important influence by far.

When I was 30 or so - by that time I had become an assistant D.A. - I decided I would try to write a novel. To be clear: I did not decide to become a novelist. Honestly, it never crossed my mind that I could actually earn a living as a professional novelist.

Damage hardens us all. It will harden you too, when it finds you—and it will find you

We move through time like a man in a rowboat, looking back even as we move forward.

no one worth knowing can be quite known, no one worth possessing can be quite possessed

You know, being confident isn't the same as being right.