Caught Quotes

“I remember one time I heard this English professor asking the class what the world's scariest noise is. Is it a man crying out in pain? A woman's scream of terror? A gunshot? A baby crying? And the professor shakes his head and says, 'No, the scariest noise is, you're all alone in your dark house, you know you're all alone, you know that there is no chance anyone else is home or within miles—and then, suddenly, from upstairs, you hear the toilet flush.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“You bring your own weather to the picnic.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Genius is a curse. That's how I look at it. Some think that the brilliant comprehend the universe in a way the rest of us can't. They see the world how it truly is—and that reality is so horrible the lose their minds. Clarity leads to insanity.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“For a short time, I hated them. But when you think about it, what good does that do?It takes so much to hold on to hate—you lose your grip on what's important, you know?”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Did tragedy cause fissures, open them wider--or did tragedy merely turn on the light so you could see the fissure that had always been there?”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Right now, even though he'd been dead for years, she wanted to collapse in her father's big arms and hear him tell her that everything would be all right. Do we ever outgrow that need?”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“The world is nothing but a bunch of thin lines separating what we think are extremes.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“God, she loved this kid. Wendy had one of those waves, the ones that sneak up on parents and crush them and make them just want to wrap their arms around their kid and never let him go.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“The secret in any interview was the ability to not fill the silence. A few seconds passed.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“And,” he continued, “you’re sitting there and you have tears in your eyes and you think about the wonder of this moment, and then—and this is the amazing thing—you look around the auditorium, at the other parents, and you realize that every one of them feels exactly the same away about their own kid. I mean, that’s so obvious and simple and yet something about it overwhelms me. I can’t believe this tremendous feeling, this wave of love, doesn’t belong to us alone, that what we’re experiencing isn’t unique—and that just made it somehow greater. I remember watching the other parents in the audience. You see the wet eyes and the smiles. You see the wives reach for their husband’s hand, no words exchanged. And I remember being just awed. Like, I don’t know, like I couldn’t believe one room, this school auditorium, could be so full of pure love and not just take off from the ground.” Marcia”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“The boys wore helmets that looked too big on their heads, like the Great Gazoo on The Flintstones, and it was nearly impossible to tell which kid was which.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“His voice not only dripped sarcasm but seemed to have spent days marinated in it: “How noble.” “Objection!”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Genius is a curse. That’s how I look at it. Some think that the brilliant comprehend the universe in a way the rest of us can’t. They see the world how it truly is—and that reality is so horrible”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“FUNERAL SERVICES are always pretty much the same. The same prayers, the customary biblical readings, the words of supposed comfort that, especially in situations like this, sound to an outsider’s ear like either the most ridiculous rationalizations or obscene justifications.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Some think that the brilliant comprehend the universe in a way the rest of us can’t. They see the world how it truly is—and that reality is so horrible they lose their minds. Clarity leads to insanity.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Did tragedy cause fissures, open them wider—or did tragedy merely turn on the light so you could see the fissure that had always been there? Maybe we live in darkness, blinded by the smile and façade of goodness. Maybe tragedy just takes away the blinders.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Marcia started up the stairs to the second floor. The lights were dimmer on this level. Her footsteps clacked and echoed against the stillness of a building that during the day knew so much life and energy. There is no place more surreal, more hollow and empty, than a school corridor at night”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Her “bailiff” was named Waco. He was a retired stand-up comic. Yes, for real. This was a TV set, not a courtroom, though it looked like one. While not exactly a trial, Hester did preside over a legal proceeding of a certain kind. The two parties sign a contract for arbitration. The producers pay the settlement, and both the plaintiff and the defendant are paid a hundred dollars a day. It’s win-win”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Some think that the brilliant comprehend the universe in a way the rest of us can’t. They see the world how it truly is – and that reality is so horrible they lose their minds. Clarity leads to insanity.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“They were sprawled on the den furniture as only teenage boys can, as though they’d removed their skeletons, hung them in a nearby closet, and slid to a collapse against whatever upholstery was nearby.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“There have been cases in which pedophiles have done themselves harm after being caught.’ ‘Is that a fact? So you were worried that your entrapment might cause my client to attempt suicide?’ ‘Something like that, yes.’ Flair put his hand to his chest. ‘I’m touched.’ ‘Your Honor!’ Portnoi shouted. Flair waved him off again. ‘So you wanted to save my client?”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“When I was an assistant producer on A Current Affair. I booked you as an expert on the Robert Blake murder trial.’ He turned to the spectators and bowed deeply. ‘So, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve established the fact that I’m a media whore. Touché.’ Another smattering of laughter. ‘Still, Ms. Tynes, are you trying to tell the court that law enforcement was in favor of your journalistic twaddle to the point of cooperation?”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“But you were there, correct? Perhaps whoever was on the other side of your online communications –and we really don’t know who that was at this point –but perhaps that person had seen your news’ –Flair said it as though the word ‘news’ itself tasted bad in his mouth –‘program and decided to play along so he could meet a luscious thirty-six-year-old TV star. Isn’t that possible?”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Ms. Tynes,’ he began with a welcoming smile. This was part of Flair’s style. He was gay, yes, but he played it up in court like Harvey Fierstein in leather chaps doing Liza jazz hands. ‘My name is Flair Hickory. Good morning to you.’ ‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘You work for a lurid tabloid TV program called Caught in the Act, is that correct?’ The prosecuting attorney, a man named Lee Portnoi, said, ‘Objection. It’s a TV program. There has been no testimony to support the allegation that the program is either lurid or tabloid.”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“known what she’d say. “What sort of carpet?” “Orange shag. That’s where Mercer fell”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“chances. I want to make sure that Dan Mercer never hurts anyone ever again.” “By killing”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“I made myself tea. Just like today. I sat here and was about to start my essay when I heard a noise coming from upstairs. Like I said, I knew no one was home. I should have been scared, right? I remember one time I heard this English professor asking the class what the world’s scariest noise is. Is it a man crying out in pain? A woman’s scream of terror? A gunshot? A baby crying? And the professor shakes his head and says, ‘No, the scariest noise is, you’re all alone in your dark house, you know you’re all alone, you know that there is no chance anyone else is home or within miles—and then, suddenly, from upstairs, you hear the toilet flush.’ ” Christa”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“The kitchen clock above the sink ticked. Wendy could look out the window and see the undergrads walking to class, all animated, young, with the clichéd rest of their lives waiting around the corner. Next year, Charlie would be one of them. You could tell these kids that it will go faster than they think, that they will blink and college will be gone and then ten years and another ten, but they won’t listen, can’t listen, and maybe that’s a good thing. “I”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Welcome to my humble abode,” he said. He offered her a drink. She passed. He had laid out finger sandwiches. Wendy took one just to be polite. The finger sandwich was awful enough to make her wonder whether the moniker was also an ingredient list. Cherston was already jabbering on about his classmates. “We”
― Harlan Coben, Caught

“Lawrence Cherston’s home was washed stone and white shutters. There was a circular rose garden surrounding a flagpole. A black pennant with a large orange P hung from it. Oh, boy. Cherston greeted her at the door with a two-hand shake. He had one of those fleshy, ruddy faces that make you think of fat cats and smoke-filled back rooms. He wore a blue blazer with a Princeton logo on the lapel and the same Princeton tie he’d had in his profile pictures. His khakis were freshly pressed, his tasseled loafers shined, and of course he wore no socks. He looked as though he’d started for school chapel this morning and aged twenty years on the walk. Stepping inside, Wendy pictured a closet with a dozen more matching blazers and khaki pants and absolutely nothing else. “Welcome”
― Harlan Coben, Caught