“Mr. Bellafont often thought of the murdered Mrs. Boll. Dark-haired and dark-eyed with a curvy, pleasing figure–stabbed to death in her house along with her family.”

“First they ran through another song–a heavy metal song–and Danny sat and watched. Not only did he not know it; he didn’t think he’d ever heard a song quite like it.”

“At the wake, Julie and I sat in that alcove where the wind smelled of pine. We sparked Julie’s Pall Malls and sat smoking them, watching the long mourners’ line twist away from Caroline’s mother like a cat tail.”