Science fiction is the agent provocateur of literature.

That's some f***ing doorman you've got there, Ms. Shugak.

Where were they from originally? The Seabolts? I don't know, Idaho, Oklahoma, Iowa. One of those red-neck states with vowels on both ends. You mean like Alaska?

Cops never took anything on faith, and disbelieved every story that was told them on principle until and unless they could confirm that the story was fact in all its essentials, and even then remained wary and unconvinced. Cop shops bred skeptics. Skeptics cherished few illusions about human nature, and therefore were seldom disappointed.

When you put four Alaskans into a room, you have five marriages, six divorces, and seven political parties.

If cyberspace can screw with you, it will.