Home > Work > Broken Homes (Rivers of London, #4)
21 " The narrow hallway was lined with framed photographs while the far end was dominated by a faux movie poster for Gone with the Wind starring Ronald Reagan sweeping Margaret Thatcher off her feet while a mushroom cloud bloomed behind them. She promised to follow him to the end of the world. He promised to organise it. "
― Ben Aaronovitch , Broken Homes (Rivers of London, #4)
22 " Landscaping is the great cardinal sin of modern architecture. It's not your garden, it's not a park - it's a formless patch of grass, shrubbery and the occasional tree that exists purely to stop the original developer's plans from looking like a howling concrete wilderness. "
23 " You don’t get to be a senior investigating officer unless you have a degree in scepticism, an MA in distrust and your CV lists suspicious bastard under your hobbies. "
24 " A lifetime of disappointment had made him cynical, but you don’t stay an activist without a core of stubborn belief that things can get better – it’s a bit like being a Spurs supporter really. "
25 " We were suffering a standard gray London drizzle, the sort that makes it clear that it can keep it up all day if needs be. "
26 " Zach Palmer, who was half human and half—we weren’t really sure what, including the possibility that the other half might be human as well. "
27 " I had found the upper limit of my courage. Fortunately for me, there is no known lower limit to human stupidity. "
28 " You do magic by learning formae which are like shapes in your mind that have an effect on the physical universe. "
29 " He said it was wife’s idea to name their daughter after him but I didn’t believe him. Could have been worse, I decided. It could have been Nigella. "
30 " I heard a woman scream with rage and frustration and then grunt like a tennis player. "
31 " It’s not like me and Lesley are inconspicuous,’ I’d said. Nightingale had winced, as he always does, at my incorrect use of the accusative pronoun but I think I’m beginning to wear him down. "
32 " What's it a charm for?' she asked.The man thought about this for a moment.'It's your basic all-enveloping protection charm,' he said, his hands describing a cupped circle in the air. 'For protection against...''Envelopes?' said Abigail. "
33 " ... I think it's designed to flower open like a Chocolate Orange."Me and Lesley then had to explain Terry's Chocolate Orange to Nightingale."Not unlike a practitioner's hand opening to reveal a werelight," said Nightingale."Not unlike at all," I said. Yeah, exactly like that I thought. "
34 " Phillip told me proudly that his mum had ceased to be a practicing Catholic the day after he came out. “She says she will go back to the Church the day it apologizes,” he said. "
35 " God bless busybody community matriarchs, and all that sail in them. "
36 " Through the mist the sun was a wavering disc kissing the shadowy arches of Waterloo Bridge. "
37 " She came skipping down the central path, bringing with her the warmth of the sun. The yellow silk glowed, driving back the mist and with her came the smell of salt and the crash of gunpowder and the crack of canvas under strain. "
38 " If you’re afraid of wolves,’ said Varvara Sidorovna, ‘don’t go to the woods. "
39 " feeling that now familiar change in the phase state of existence, like a catch in the silence at the moment of creation. "
40 " The door was opened by a middle-aged woman with a round brown face with black eyes and short dark hair—Filipino if I had to guess. "