The Killer Collective (John Rain, #10; Ben Treven, #4; Livia Lone, #3)

by Barry Eisler

First was the fewer, not less. Now it was the care in avoiding a preposition at the end of a sentence. An educated man, presumably. Precise. Apparently fussy about small-minded rules, perhaps to compensate for a willingness to ignore large ones.

rain is back #pws

The insult was calculated. Whether this guy was an amateur or a professional, he would perceive himself as the latter, and would now be invested in proving it to me. Interrogators call the technique ego down.

#pws

Gavin de Becker had written a great book on the topic—The Gift of Fear.

“Checking your six?” he said, still smiling. “I thought you wanted an airport because they’re safe. What is it about me that scares people so much?”

always #pws

antediluvian

But denial . . . well, you know what they say about denial.” Ben nodded, seeing where this was going now, not wanting to show what he really thought of it. “It has no survival value.”

#pws

‘Treat me well, and I’ll treat you better. Treat me badly, and I’ll treat you worse.’”

you want something you’ve never had before, you have to do something you’ve never done before.’

Rain shook his head. “I don’t like meetings generally. I especially don’t like ones that are unnecessary and proposed by someone else.”

Rain rules #pws

copacetic

“A friend who loves Paris once told me, ‘There aren’t many things we humans need to do. We need to eat, we need to drink, we need to make love. And the French attitude is, okay, we should do those things very well.’”

#pws

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”