It was a sudden inspiration. But inspiration never came without a reason.

All interesting heroes have an Achilles heel.

I've read that it's the smell some carnivores use to find their prey. Imagine the trembling victim trying to hide, but knowing that the smell of its own fear will kill it.

As a writer, you have to believe you're one of the best writers in the world. To sit down every day at the typewriter filled with self-doubt is not a good idea.

Doubt is faith's shadow.

You can't visit readers where you think they are. You have to invite them home to where you are and try to lure them into your universe. That's the art of storytelling.

My influence is probably more from American crime writers than any Europeans. And I hardly read any Scandinavian crime before I started writing myself. I wasn't a great crime reader to begin with.

To have the chance of being loved we have to take a chance on being destroyed inside

Everything you do leaves traces, doesn't it. The life you've lived is written all over you, for those who can read.

Love is a greater mystery than death.

Love surrounds you like steam in the shower. You can't see the individual drops, but you get warm. And wet. And clean.

Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never ­being satisfied.

the militay dont start wars, politicians start wars

The world of books captured my heart.

Fiction is ideally suited to re-creating the important emotional aspects of history.

I loathe, I hate, chick flicks.

It turned out that some crooked things looked even worse when straightened. Some tangled knots only made sense once unraveled.

The human brain, then, is the most complicated organization of matter that we know.

I want to play for years.

Once you have perfect virtual reality, what else are you supposed to perfect?

I've always been interested in finding out more about the properties of acoustics.