novel

Look, I went to a lot of trouble to come here and try to help you. I__ in more trouble than I can guess, but if you don__ want my help_ maybe I should have just stayed home.

I don__ want to look. I__e got to look._ Vance... "Vital Perception

I recalled something I__ read a long time ago about Satan. When he appeared, it wouldn__ be as a demon but as an ordinary-looking guy with a convincing message of peace.

The monkey liked most humans. They left food cans outside their homes for his family to rummage through in the morningsun. Some yelled and threw sticks, but were slow and didn__ bite. Humans were mostly harmless.

Kids never jumped head first from the top ledge. Never. It seemed forever beforeStoney came back to the surface. Most of the white bubbles had already disappeared.

Why are you perpetuating a childhood you grew up despising? Pg 57

Its magnificence was indescribable, and its magnitude was inconceivable. She felt overwhelmed in the presence of its greatness. Pg 87

Confession is good for the soul even after the soul has been claimed_ (p. 381).

We__e going to make a tunnel for that ship. We__e going to make sure that little lady has every chance in the world to survive. If I get any trouble out of any of ya_ he paused. ____l handle it myself, do you understand?_ Johan_ __ital Perception

Whenever I__ get howlin_ over something, he__ grab my ass up from wherever I was and head straight for the john. Momma said my head would get banged up along the way, but she said itwas probably bein_ dunked under water that made me stupid.

You__l be civilized or we__l leave your arse here._ Johan... "Vital Perception

I was somewhere between angry and turned-on.

Like I__e told you before, Beverly, I don__ care where we live as long as we__e together._ Vance... "The Elder Effect

There were many tomorrows to be lived through his children. He could only hope that they would face them more courageously than he had, that his mistakes would serve as warning signs rather than crutches to lean on.

It was his experience that life worked under the same guidelines as a capitalistic society. In order to get what you wanted, it was usually necessary to give up something in return. Sometimes gaining what you defined as everything meant losing what you most needed.

It was just a word. It took nothing from him. It made him feel only as low as he allowed himself to feel. His own brother used it in conversation habitually. But not in the same way - filled with malice, overflowing with insult. He couldn't tear his eyes away, shook with lust for retribution. Six little letters making one huge statement. NIGGER.

Truth has a resonance to it that fills the cracks where falsehoods lie.

Time had taught him that whether his sins were pardoned or left unforgiven, they would remain committed. Tomorrow he would hopefully choose wiser, with a stronger measure of compassion.