"The Breeze turned and started to run. He got three steps before the jaws clamped over his head and shoulders, crunching through his bones as if they were peppermint sticks," Chapter 1, p. 10.

"The unnatural light in the Arab's eyes dimmed, and in a humble, obsequious manner he said, 'Excuse me, please, but could I trouble you for a small quantity of salt?'" Chapter 2, p. 21.

"If there was no order in the universe, then why should it be out of order to be sitting on the beach talking to an Arab dwarf who claimed to be king of the Djinn, whatever the hell that was? Strangely enough, Brine took comfort in the fact that this experience was invalidating every assumption he had ever made about the nature of the world. He had tapped into the Zen of ignorance, the enlightenment of absurdity," Chapter 5, pp. 40-41.

"Secretly, Robert believed...