Back Spin Quotes

“With choice comes guilt. No escaping it.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“When he finished telling her about the kidnapping, Esperanza’s first words were an incredulous, “Win has a mother?” “Yep.” Pause. “There goes my spawned-from-a-satanic-egg theory.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“With choice comes guilt. No escaping it.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Myron was just getting comfortable when he heard a toilet flush. He looked a question at Win. “I am not alone,” Win said. “Oh.” Myron adjusted himself on the couch. “A woman?” “Your gifts,” Win said. “They never cease to amaze.” “Anybody I know?” Myron asked. Win shook his head. “Not even somebody I know.” The norm. Myron looked steadily at his friend. “You want to talk about this?” “No.” “I’m here if you do.” “Yes, I see that.” Win swished around the drink in the snifter. He finished it in one gulp and reached for the crystal decanter. There was a slight slur in his speech. Myron tried to remember the last time he had seen Win the vegetarian, the master of several martial arts, the transcendental meditator, the man so at ease and in focus with his surroundings, have too much to drink. It had been a very long time. “I have a golf question for you,” Myron said. Win nodded for him to proceed.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Another pause. Cameras pirouetted. Myron looked around. All the lenses were aiming down from up high, glaring at him like hostile space aliens or lunchroom monitors.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Hasidim are more open to change than golfers,”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“That sensitivity workshop,” Myron said, “it’s really starting to pay off.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“He moved from shrub to shrub. Some of the shrubs were familiar from his last sojourn into these parts. He said hello to them, chatted, offered up his best cocktail-party banter. One shrub gave him a stock tip. Myron ignored it. He circled closer to the Coldren house, slowly, still careful not to be seen. He had no idea what he was going to do, but when he got close enough to see a light on in the den, an idea came to him. A”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“By the time he got back to the table, Tad Crispin was sipping an iced tea too. Win made the introductions. Crispin was dressed in yellows, lots of yellows, kind of like the man with the yellow hat from the Curious George books. Everything was yellow. Even his golf shoes. Myron tried not to make a face. As”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“The course was packed with silent fans, though fan didn’t exactly feel like the right word to Myron. Parishioners was a hell of a lot closer. There was a constant reverie on a golf course, a hushed, wide-eyed respect. Every time the ball was hit, the crowd release was nearly orgasmic.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“They all employed lots of skinny, bored teenagers who stocked shelves with the enthusiasm of a eunuch at an orgy. There”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Don’t go playing hero,” he said. “Just find out if he’s there. Something gets out of hand, you get out of there pronto.” “Okay.” “And we should have a code word. Something you say if you need me.” Esperanza nodded, feigning seriousness. “If I say the words premature ejaculation, it means I want you to come.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“He passed a hair salon called Snip Away, which sounded more like a vasectomy clinic than a beauty parlor.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Myron shook his head. All sports have their own lexicons, but speaking golfese was tantamount to mastering Swahili. It was like rich people’s rap. But”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“The name of the group was Survivor,” Win said. “Ironic name when you think of how quickly they vanished, no?”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“The reason why there are so many police officers surrounding this house is because they want to make sure that we do not remove anything before a search warrant is issued. They have made it crystal clear that they want no Kardashians on this one.” Kardashian. As in O.J. The man had changed law lexicon forever.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“At one time, this might have been a nice area, but now the neighborhood looked like a man who’d lost his job and stopped bathing.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“They needed some Jews or gays or something to spice things up, to add a bit of theater and a couple of interesting bistros.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Nah,” Hal said. “Tit always comes in with the same limpdicked crew and they leave together. They don’t talk to no one else. It’s verboten.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Jack Coldren was slowly dying. His heart was crumbling like brown leaves caught in a closed fist. You saw it all happening. And you wanted it to continue. On”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Myron shook his head. “This is too weird,” he said. “I saw Carl heading out,” Esperanza said. “What did he want?” “He came by with a maid from the Court Manor. Guess who Jack Coldren was linking up with for a little afternoon delight?” “Tonya Harding?” “Close. Norm Zuckerman.” Esperanza tilted her head back and forth, as though sizing up an abstract work at the Met. “I’m not surprised. About Norm anyway. Think about it. Never married. No family. In public, he always surrounds himself with young, beautiful women.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Esperanza entered the Parker Inn. The first thing that hit her was the smell—a pungent combination of dried vomit and body odor, only less olfactorily pleasing. She wrinkled her nose and continued inside. The floor was hardwood with lots of sawdust. The light was dingy, coming off the pool table ceiling fixtures that were supposed to look like imitation Tiffany lamps. The crowd was probably two-to-one men over women. Everyone was dressed—in a word—cheesy. Esperanza”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“The two men stared at each other. “I’m surprised you didn’t kill him,” Myron said. “Then you really don’t know me.” A horse whinnied. Win turned and looked at the magnificent animal. Something strange came across his face, a look of loss. “What did she do to you, Win?” Win kept staring. They both knew whom Myron was talking about. “What did she do to make you hate so much?” “Don’t engage in too much hyperbole, Myron. I am not that simple. My mother is not solely responsible for shaping me. A man is not made up of one incident, and I am a far cry from crazy, as you suggested earlier. Like any other human being, I choose my battles. I battle quite a bit—more than most—and usually on the right side. I battled for Billy Waters and Tyrone Duffy. But I do not wish to battle for the Coldrens. That is my choice. You, as my closest friend, should respect that. You should not try to prod or guilt me into a battle I do not wish to fight.” Myron”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Myron stopped himself from saying any more. He had sounded asinine enough. He just needed a moment or two to gather himself, to figure out what the next step should be. Your”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Time passed, but neither one of them noticed. They talked, mostly about Chad and the kind of son he was. Jack had held on and still led by eight strokes. A gigantic lead. If he blew it this time, it would be worse than twenty-three years ago. The tent began to empty out, but Myron and Linda stayed and talked some more. A feeling of intimacy began to warm him; he found it hard to breathe when he looked at her. For a moment he closed his eyes. Nothing, he realized, was really going on here. If there was an attraction of some sort, it was simply a classic case of damsel-in-distress syndrome—and there was nothing less politically correct (not to mention Neanderthal) than that. The”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Esperanza looked around the room. Then she spoke out loud so that Myron would hear her through the phone. “About a hundred guys in here fit your description,” she said. “It’s like asking me to find an implant in a strip club.” Myron”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Beneath had his arm slung around a woman’s neck. She had a dye job from the planet Bad Bottle and basically looked like the type of woman who might go for a tattoo-infested skinhead—or to say the same thing in a slightly different way, she looked like a regular on the Jerry Springer show. Both”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“An enormous bartender came over. He looked like the pullout centerfold for Leather Biker Monthly. Extra big and extra scary. He had long hair, a long scar, and tattoos of snakes slithering up both arms. He shot the two men a glare and—poof—they were gone. Like the glare had evaporated them. Then he turned his eyes toward Esperanza. She met the glare and gave him one back. Neither backed down. “Lady, what the fuck are you?” he asked. “Is that a new way of asking what I’m drinking?” “No.” The mutual glaring continued. He leaned two massive snake-arms on the bar. “You’re too good-looking to be a cop,” he said. “And you’re too good-looking to be hanging out in this toilet.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“It’s about Win,” she said. Myron shook his head. “Then it’s none of my business.” “True enough. But that does not make you immune to responsibility, does it? Win is your friend. I count myself lucky that my son has a friend who cares like you do.” Myron said nothing.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin

“Diane Hoffman was smoking a cigarette. The several stubs by her feet indicated that she had been there for more than a few minutes. Myron approached. “Hi,” he said. “We met the other day.” Diane Hoffman looked up at him, took a deep drag of the cigarette, released it into the still air. “I remember.” Her hoarse voice sounded like old tires on rough pavement. “My condolences,” Myron said. “You and Jack must have been very close.” Another deep drag. “Yeah.”
― Harlan Coben, Back Spin