The Long Way Down Quotes

“At a distance, they looked just boring enough to be important.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“I’ve always felt that the mark of a man is his willingness to fight for his principles. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose. It doesn’t matter if you ever had a chance to win in the first place. Even if the deck is rigged and the game’s against you, you keep fighting until the bitter end.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You forgot your line, by the way.” “What line?” Meadow demanded. “When you rant about your master plan for world domination, you’re supposed to end with ‘but it’s too bad you won’t live to see it.’ I mean, if you’re gonna act like an asshole pulp villain, at least show some commitment to the part.” Her hands curled at her sides. “Funny. You won’t be laughing when—” I leveled the shotgun and blew her head off.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You don’t rut with a pride demon; you hold up a mirror for him to stare into while he pleasures himself. I’m only slightly exaggerating.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“She pointed at our hands. “Are you two rutting?” “That is so gross.” Justine stood next to her with her mouth agape. “You are so gross.” “No,” Caitlin said, grinning. “We’re holding hands. What I did with your father, that was rutting.” Justine made a strangled squeaking noise, like a cat had lodged in her throat and was trying to kick its way out. Juliette stammered incoherently as she dragged her sister away by the arm. I let go of Caitlin’s hand just long enough to hold up my open palm. “High-five me.” She slapped her palm against mine. We settled into a comfortable silence. “You didn’t actually—” I eventually asked, and Caitlin arched an eyebrow. “They’ll always wonder,” she said. “I do hope you’re not the jealous type, Daniel. I am a succubus. If you want me to list my lovers, we’re going to be here a while.” I shook my head. “Not even a little bit.” “Good. But for the record? Never. You don’t rut with a pride demon; you hold up a mirror for him to stare into while he pleasures himself. I’m only slightly exaggerating.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You have to excuse the girls,” Nicky said. “They’re a little, uh—” “Sociopathic?” I offered. “I was gonna say high-spirited, but sure, that works too.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“In a week marred by death and pain, I’d found a single red rose growing in the ruins. I’d take the thorns as they came.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“They were the gangster version of the guards at Buckingham Palace.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“But it’s not about violence; it’s about doing what you can, whenever you can, to stand up for what you believe. You fight and you never, ever give up. That’s what makes a man.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“it’s about doing what you can, whenever you can, to stand up for what you believe. You fight and you never, ever give up. That’s what makes a man.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“My guys saw you on Fremont last week, Dan. You know what they saw you doing?” “Their mothers?” I replied. “Funny,” he said and turned back to Juliette.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Everyone,” Caitlin said, cradling her wine glass, “is the hero of his own story. That goes double for fanatics. Some of the greatest horrors in history were perpetrated by people who insisted, all the way to damnation’s door, that they fought on the side of the angels.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Hope for the best, plan for the worst,”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“The key to walking around places where you’re not supposed to be is to look like you’re too important to be interrupted. Most people are non-confrontational by nature, and if you give them a good reason not to challenge you, they won’t. I”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“There are two answers to evil,” she said. “The first is to justify it. The evil that you do is for a good cause, you’ll be validated in the end, it needed to be done, etcetera, etcetera. Of course, once you start walking that road, it’s all downhill. I’m sure this Tony person didn’t start by drowning children. You have to work your way up to that kind of atrocity.” “And the second answer?” “You own it. Be truthful and accept your own nature.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Of course, the best lies are always wrapped in verifiable truth. It makes the filling easier to swallow.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Mama. I’m fucked up. Don’t know…some kind of curse. Never seen it before.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Stacy,” Artie snapped, “I don’t have time for this shit, okay—” “The first message, which she said you’d understand, is that she’s one of Caitlin’s sisters. She’s going to make sure you stay properly entertained until Caitlin comes back to deal with you personally.” Caitlin. The memories hit him like a fist to the face. The chase through the house. The contract. The fire. Caitlin. No tears now, Artie. This is just a taste of what’s to come. He stared at Stacy with bulging eyes, horror dawning. “The second message,” Stacy said, “is ‘Welcome to hell.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“It’s easy to tell stories about the people we leave behind, turn them into monsters in our heads, you know, so the loss doesn’t hurt so much.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“How do you feel about sushi?” she asked. “After a week of hospital food, I’d eat my own shoe and like it. Sushi sounds great.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“This should set you free. It’s okay, Stacy. You’re going to a better place.” “Um, Daniel?” Caitlin said beside me. “Yeah?” She shook her head. “You do know she’s going to hell, right?” I froze, my fingers tight on the pouch’s ties. “What?” “Far be it from me to read off the litany of her sins, but the girl was hardly a beacon of virtue.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“It’s your choice,” Caitlin said, “but think on this. Life goes on. She may not be…happy where she goes, but situations change. There’s a spark of hope even in the blackest darkness, the hope that someday, somehow, things can get better. If you leave her like this, that hope is gone. She will spend her eternity frozen. Stagnant. Hopeless.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“What is this?” Artie squirmed helplessly in the chair. “What, you want revenge? Is that what this is all about? You think that’s gonna make you feel better?” Movement caught his eye, beyond the wall of blackened glass. Outlines of figures in the dark, seated, watching intently. An audience? “No,” Stacy said with a wistful sigh. “No, Artie, you don’t understand. Revenge won’t make me feel better. Besides, you aren’t worth it. This isn’t about you at all.” She touched the edge of the scalpel to his cheek. “This is my audition.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Number one—you pissed me off. Number two—the inside of my mind is a seriously fucked-up place, and I’ve got home court advantage.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Hie!” it cried in a buzzing voice, like a thousand flies fluttering their wings in unison. “You! On our wavelength! Carry our message! It’s heavy, made of rocks!” “You aren’t real,” Sophia repeated like a mantra, shaking her head violently as she rummaged through the cluttered pantry. “You’re a hallucination, not real, no, nothing to see here.” “Apocalypso dancing! Sunday Sunday Sunday! You’ll want to cut your wrists with the whole knife, but you’ll only need the edge!”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Apocalypso dancing! Sunday Sunday Sunday! You’ll want to cut your wrists with the whole knife, but you’ll only need the edge!”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“You’ll want to cut your wrists with the whole knife, but you’ll only need the edge!”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Static blared from the blood-streaked screen of her boxy television set, and a fallen lamp cast angled shadows over Sophia’s mutilated corpse. Her murderer wasn’t human. It was a faceless wooden mannequin with jointed limbs, like a life-sized version of an artist’s posing doll. One of its hands ended in a wooden nub, the other in a jagged, rusty knife. The mannequin hunched over her body and plunged the blade into Sophia’s stomach over and over again, a murder machine that didn’t understand its victim was dead. Meadow Brand stood on the far side of the bloodbath. Her smug smile twisted the scar I’d given her.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“There are few things more dangerous than a zealot with discipline,”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down

“Readers familiar with the Vegas Strip will have noticed the changing of casino names. This was done to provide a certain amount of legal cover (since the real casinos might not look kindly upon accusations of getting friendly with a guy like Nicky Agnelli) and allow for certain deviations from reality when necessary. Just assume that Daniel Faust’s Vegas is a slightly skewed version of our own, glimpsed through a smoky glass. That said, every location mentioned in The Long Way Down is a real place you can visit, with the exception of the Tiger’s Garden. Probably.”
― Craig Schaefer, The Long Way Down