Beneath the Bleeding Quotes

“I don't like fighting,' he said. 'It makes me hurt inside. Like I'm a kid again. In the cupboard, in the dark. If the grown-ups are fighting, it must be my fault. That's why I don't do rows.' He blinked hard, to keep the tears at bay. She was the only person in the world who could make him feel so exposed. It din't always feel like a good thing. 'Carol, I'm going home tomorrow. I can't manage without you. Not in any sense. So can we stop this no? I can't do it.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding

“No. It's no the same. The interviewers want you to say what they want to hear. I want to hear what you have to say.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding

“I know that. I do watch Spooks.' Carol was surprised. 'You do? I don't.' 'You should. They do.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding

“The psychology of sanction.’ ‘If you’re right, then why does anyone protest against torture? Why don’t we all just go, “Oh well, we’ve seen how well it works in the movies, let’s just go along with it”?’ Carol leaned on her fists on the edge of his bed as she spoke, her tumbled blonde hair falling into her eyes. ‘Carol, you might not have noticed, but there’s a significant number of people out there who do say just that. Look at the opposition in the US when the Senate decided to outlaw torture just the other year. People believe in its efficacy precisely because they’ve seen it in the movies. And some of those believers are in positions of power. The reason we don’t all fall for it is that we’re not all equally credulous. Some of us are much more critical of what we see and read than others. But you can fool some of the people all of the time. And when spooks and cops go bad, that’s what they rely on.’ She”
― Val McDermid, Beneath The Bleeding

“Without work, without direction, his thoughts were like a hamster on a wheel, circling and dancing with no destination and no possibility of arrival. With”
― Val McDermid, Beneath The Bleeding

“The nurse looked surprised. 'You're a bit high on the totem pole to be taking statements.' Carol debated momentarily how to describe her relationship with Tony. 'Colleague' was insufficient, 'landlord' somehow misleading and 'friend' both more and less than the truth. She shrugged. 'He feeds my cat.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding

“It's not race, it's religion I have a problem with. Doesn't matter if it's Ulster Protestants, Liverpool Catholics or Bradfield Muslims. I hate loudmouthed clerics who play the bigot card every time anyone says no to them. They create a climate of censorship and fear and I despise them for it.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding

“Never at her best when dealing with humans, Stacey shifted in her seat and studiously avoided eye contact.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding

“If you’re right, then why does anyone protest against torture? Why don’t we all just go, “Oh well, we’ve seen how well it works in the movies, let’s just go along with it”?’ Carol leaned on her fists on the edge of his bed as she spoke, her tumbled blonde hair falling into her eyes. ‘Carol, you might not have noticed, but there’s a significant number of people out there who do say just that. Look at the opposition in the US when the Senate decided to outlaw torture just the other year. People believe in its efficacy precisely because they’ve seen it in the movies. And some of those believers are in positions of power. The reason we don’t all fall for it is that we’re not all equally credulous. Some of us are much more critical of what we see and read than others. But you can fool some of the people all of the time. And when spooks and cops go bad, that’s what they rely on.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath The Bleeding

“true love wasn’t about gazing into each other’s eyes. It was about standing shoulder to shoulder, facing in the same direction.”
― Val McDermid, Beneath The Bleeding

“An outside toilet occupied one corner, its door half-open. ‘He’s not been here long enough to accumulate much crap,”
― Val McDermid, Beneath The Bleeding

“Richard Thompson, Sigur Rós, Deacon Blue, Roddy Woomble, Mary Gauthier, Ketil Bjornstad, Elvis Costello, Rob Dougan, Michael Marra, Rab Noakes, Karine Polwart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Blue Nile. Thanks too to Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson, who has cost me a small fortune in CDs and downloads. And a particularly big hand for Sue Turnbull who came all the way from Australia to introduce me to Sigur Rós and Peter Temple. I”
― Val McDermid, Beneath The Bleeding