The Obsidian Chamber Quotes

“Lines from an old film came back to him unbidden: That I should want you at all suddenly strikes me as the height of improbability. You’re an improbable person, and so am I.”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“Mylar-coated space blanket Bivvy bag Ferrocerium fire striker Enhanced first-aid kit Water purification tablets MREs Fishing line and hook Signal mirror LED light with strobe Needle and thread “550” parachute cord Camp stove with LPG fuel”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“2 Glock 9mms with extra clips KA-Bar knife Leatherman MUT Tactical $300,000 in remaining cash Compass GPS with miniature solar panel Flashlight Binoculars Burner phone Crank-operated radio Various passports”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“Then he froze. There, parked on the tarmac, was Diogenes’s Challenger. “Stop,” he told Shapely. “But—” “Just stop.” Diogenes reached into his bag, pulled out another few stacks of hundred-”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“I own an island, Constance—a private island in the Florida Keys. It’s west of No Name Key and northeast of Key West. It’s not a big island, but it’s a jewel. It is called Halcyon. I have a house there; a breezy mansion furnished with books and instruments and paintings; it offers both sunrise and sunset views; and it has been stocked with all the rare wines, champagnes, and delicacies you could ever wish for. I’ve been preparing this idyll over the years with painstaking, excessive care. It was to be a bastion; my last and final retreat from the world. But—as I was recovering in that hut in Ginostra—I realized that such a place, no matter how ideal, would be unbearably lonely without another person—the one, the perfect person—with whom to share it.” He paused. “Need I name that person?”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“schadenfreude,”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“To most people, Metcalf had discovered, silence was even more unbearable than pointed questioning.”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“I’m never better than when I’m alone.”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“Back in their special forces days, there were times when Pendergast had disappeared just like this—no word to anyone—only to reappear later with some important objective accomplished. It had happened often enough that their team developed a slang term for it—Don’t pull a Pendergast meant “Don’t disappear without explanation.”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“issued a muffled cry and slashed with the knife, but it rent only”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber

“Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast.”
― Douglas Preston, The Obsidian Chamber