“Knowledge is power. In the wrong hands, knowledge is trouble.”

“Please, Kenzie, Jonah thought. Please, please, please back off from this. His life wasn't much, but it was all he had, this small safe space, walled in by secrets.”

“Leesha knew from experience that when parents don't parent, kids grow up fast.”

“Imagine what it's like to be (untouchable)Better not take a chance on me (untouchable)I'm the bad boy your mama told you aboutI'm dangerous, without a doubtEven coming off a ten-year droughtUntouch...”

“Emma was horrified and transfixed at the same time. She was watching Jonah Kinlock doing what he did best. There was a certain macabre beauty in watching form and function wedded together. In Jonah...”

“Aftera brief silence, Kenzie said, "Don't you believe in second chances?"The room seemed a little colder, a little darker, as if a shadow had passed over the sun. "Sonny Lee always said, 'Fool me o...”

“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn't li...”

“I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.”

“Fear is all in the mind”

“Nothing eases suffering like human touch.”