Home > Work > The Stingray Shuffle (Serge Storms, #5)
1 " What fresh hell is this? "
― Tim Dorsey , The Stingray Shuffle (Serge Storms, #5)
2 " Serge bowed his own head and closed his eyes "God, please protect us from your followers. Amen "
3 " I go over my own escape routes all the time. To survive in this state, you have to think like the French Resistance. "
4 " There’s a point in conflict resolution when the next person who talks loses. You’re ready to play with the big boys when you can recognize that moment. "
5 " Courage is the ability to suspend the imagination. "
6 " I also sort of broke his neck, just to be careful,” said Serge. "
7 " A man and his young son crouched in the woods just before sunset, out where Palm Beach County meets the Everglades. Their eyes focused on the train tracks a few yards away, a tight bend just past the clearing where Pratt & Whitney tests its jet engines. A shiny new Lincoln penny sat on one of the rails. “Why are we doing this, Daddy?” “To get a flat penny.” “What for?” “Because it’s fun!” A train whistle blew in the distance. “Here she comes! Get down!” The pair crouched and waited, the train growing closer. It was in sight before they knew it, nothing but a blur as it entered the bend and hit the penny. There was a harsh grinding of metal. The father and son watched in astonishment as The Silver Stingray jumped the tracks and twenty cars jackknifed down the embankment toward the swamp. “Daddy? Did we do that?” “How’d you like some ice cream? "
8 " It’s been nonstop hallucinations. "
9 " Serge bowed his own head and closed his eyes. “God, please protect us from your followers. Amen. "
10 " They headed north, their taxi joining a sea of yellow cabs weaving up the Avenue of the Americas. The Russians saw there were lanes painted in the road, but that was clearly part of an ancient custom from some long-forgotten people. "
11 " Bok Tower stands 205 feet upon the highest point in peninsular Florida. It is an unforgettable sight, a stone monument rising alone on a pristine ridge called Iron Mountain, near the center of the state. “The Singing Tower,” as it is known, features a fifty-seven-bell carillon, the centerpiece of the tranquil Bok Tower Gardens, a meditative retreat of unmatched serenity. "
12 " I go over my own escape routes all the time. "
13 " How’d we get so drunk?” “It’s a fuckin’ mystery,” said Rebecca, slamming a shot glass down on the table. "
14 " Shhh,” said Serge. “The flashback is starting… "
15 " Second-grader brings gun to school. Jesus, what ever happened to just sticking out your tongue? "
16 " The key to life is hobbies, otherwise you’re asking for trouble. You know what they always say—if Hitler only had a train set… "
17 " Of course it was the alcohol,” said Teresa. “That’s the whole point of alcohol. "
18 " Nothing can go wrong now. "
19 " Serge looked up. 'I hope you've learned your lesson.'They nodded quickly and hard.'And that lesson,' said Serge, 'is that you never really know whom you're fucking with, so best not to do it at all. "
20 " Boys can’t be stewardesses, and girls can’t be pilots. "