“All his life he’s been called absentminded. It meant his mind was somewhere else, so engaged that the ordinary details of life just escaped him…”

“You may come in and take supper with me and my girls,” she said, “but you must know that my husband is a giant, and if he catches you in his home, he’ll likely crack your skulls and gobble your giblets…”

“…The ground rippled, spitting up a line of dirt geysers. “Shit!” Ricky raised his camera, as if he might get a shot of enemy bullets zinging over our heads, then thought better of it. “That’s live fire! Get down, man!”

“There’s a wildness to her that’s unsettling, as if Swain might place his hand between her breasts and feel the pounding of a lynx’s heart or a wolverine’s, something sullen and dangerous when cornered…”