A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro, #1)

by Dennis Lehane

“They’re elected officials. The day they tell the whole truth is the day hookers put out for free.”

Vanity is a weakness. I know this. It’s a shallow dependence on the exterior self, on how one looks instead of what one is.

Vanity and dishonesty may be vices, but they’re also the first forms of protection I ever knew.

That’s the thing about being a victim; you start to think it’ll happen to you on a regular basis. Suddenly everything looks suspect and any brightness you may have noticed the day before has dissipated into the shadows. And the shadows are everywhere. It’s living with the reality of your own vulnerability, and it sucks.