"It was the unspoken belief of everyone who was familiar with this organization and with the host country that they were all as good as dead, when in fact it was the terrorists who would not survive the ordeal," p. 13.

"Gen only wished he could parody the weight of his voice, the way he struck every word like a soft mallet against a drum," p. 88.

"One could almost tell from the cut of the tuxedo who would be staying," p. 102.

"The day no longer progressed in its normal, linear fashion but instead every hour circled back to its beginning, every moment was lived over and over again. Time, in the manner in which they had all understood it, was over," p. 106.

"Then it seemed that armed children were a much more dangerous breed than armed adults. They were moody, irrational, anxious for confrontation," p. 111.

"She was a pixie...