SLASHBACK Release Week Contest RIGHT HERE!
ORDER NOW!
Happy Slashback Day, Reavers!
It’s contest time and this one is very easy.
Contest Period: 3.05.13 – 03.10.13 (Midnight)
Prizes:
1. ALL participants get to read a Zeke and Griffin (TRICKSTER) short story
2. Random winners get a new collectible Cal Leandros postcard
3. Random winners also get an autographed Rob Thurman book of their choice
-Excludes anthologies
-Includes Cal Leandros British TRADE SIZED editions with the alternate covers (bound to be quite the Leandros collectors’ treasure)!
(Winners chosen through a prize drawing).
All you need to do is comment on this blog entry with a random quote from SLASHBACK or a favorite quote from SLASHBACK as you read it. Please keep ‘em spoiler-free.
Enjoy your week and Reave-Reave-Reave away for our Leandros Brothers!
xXx,
-Rob & Jayda
PS: Keep your eyes peeled on your in-boxes for a new free wallpaper download. Also: looks like “Leandros Square” is changing up its video billboards! Stay tuned for more this week… 
I know it’s waaaay too late for the contest but I love the boys! “Yep,I’d fucked up. I fucked up bad.” (and I’m really sorry, is it too late to read the short story?)
CONGRATS on hitting the Top Twenty! Also, wanted to let you know that I LOVED “Talking Trash”! Both for the Zeke-ish humor and for the glimpse into their relationship….. Love it, love them, love all the characters/worlds/stories you’ve given us so far, and hopefully will continue to give us for years to come!
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“‘Live by the sword, die by the sword.’ That little Jewish fellow with the big feet knew what he was talking about there.”
Oh no. I hope I’m not too late because I’d love the short story of Zeke and Griffin, I’m sure!
I also loved this quote as it truly does sum up the relationships within this book in such a beautiful way:
“To friends. They go and they come. The going must be difficult, but know we will always come back.”
I missed the deadline for the competition, but I would love to read the Zeke & Griffin story, pretty please. Fav quote: Cal is his own person. I learned at a young age to accept that or step in front of a bus and move to my next incarnation.
Well…as with every Cal book, I have a hard time picking just one quote as my favorite but this one I definitely found funny.
“‘Please do not tell me what you have in mind.’ Nik pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘I am not a begging man, but, Cal, please.’”
Too late for the contest, but this description makes me laugh. It takes place when Cal is *interrogating* the lowlife brother of one of the victims. “Big Mike was still coming for me with all the speed of a nearly dead, morbidly obese cow and I stepped to one side, extended my arm and clotheslined him. ” Cal sees the world in such an interesting way.
I also love young Cal’s quote, ” And it’s the chocolate lining. Look for the chocolate lining. It’s better than silver.” Because that is the absolute truth – chocolate always beats silver!
Thanks again Rob, for sharing Cal and Niko’s world with us. I adore them, and Robin is always entertaining. My poor book has so many turned down corners with the very best quotes/ passages marked, I will need to buy another copy for re-reading later.
CAL –
“You watch every every second and you don’t stop that, not for any reason.”
“We all developed coping mechanisms. Niko imposed order on chaos. I imposed chaos on those not fast enough to get out of my way. Whatever worked.” -page 40
“you don’t smell like you. you smell that mouse in the wall. you smell like you’re rotting. I can’t smell you at all. you’re not you.”-Cal
I would have used the lion quote but that was taken
is it to late for me to enter and get the short story?
I just checked my emails today (I am being spammed by colleges…damn SAT) so i just checked it. But Ms. Thurman is my MOST FAVORITE author of all times. My friends (mostly non-readers …sigh…) have had to “suffer” through my rantings and ravings over her books (and this summer I shall convert one mwahahah)
Niko imposed order on chaos. I imposed chaos on those not fast enough to get out of my way.
This quote from Robn completely cracked me up
Niko – “Yes, we’re very impressed. You know every woman-”
Robin – “And man. Don’t be sexist”
Ok I know it’s too late for the contest but as no one else has put it up there, here it is:
“He was likea wild panther at the zoo, still as stone, eyes unblinking, never sleeping, waiting for the one day someone got sloppy with that cage door and the it would all be over.” – Niko
Best Cal description. Ever.
Loved the book. Will attempt to wait patiently for more
Thanks!
“Hey, I smell dead people. Why don’t I get a movie, huh?” – Cal
“But maybe monsters and half monsters are the only things that can see.”
“In five minutes i could find you a tanker truck of boysenberry flavored self-warming body oil and six men and women willing to apply it. Care to put it to the test?
“No, i’m not a pervert. Technically no that’s only been with consenting adults, always has been, which is legal or should be. Therefore not a pervert.”
“Goodfellow has one painted on his guest bathroom wall behind the toilet. It’s screwing a satyr and the whole thing is labeled in hellish detail in gold paint. Hard knowledge to avoid when you’ve got a full bladder.”
Hold it in virgins live. Horn-dogs die
“Sometimes i get bored. When i get bored, bam, mental mass destruction is my hobby. I’ve had this one on file for a while now.”
Awesome book can’t wait till the next one.
Practical. Like Cal. It was time to be practical. -Niko
I didn’t often come up with the plans, too lazy, but when i did, they were frigging spectacular. When it came to devastation and destruction……. I was a genius. -Cal
I smell dead people. How come I don’t get a movie? Cal
“Part of the decision, I thought, was driven by how much he was enjoying himself. Little brothers and water hoses are deadly combinations.”
I can confirm that the same can be said for little sisters…
It’s so hard to pick a favoratie quote from any of the books, but getting chapters from Niko and Cal separately give more insight to who they are inside. Long live Cal and Niko (and of course, Robin and Promise and Ish and…)!!!
Ok I have no quote from what I am sure is going to be a brilliant book but apparently however many times I go to the Amazon Uk website it still says ‘ preorder for 14 th March ‘ and won’t change. Therefore no quote because here in the UK we Are doomed to await the books arrival for another 4 days. But as Zeke and Griffin are my second favourite Rob Thurman characters and I really want to read a short story about them can I play anyway ?
“…I let him think he could outrun me, giving him the glee and the hope.
Hope is the second most important thing in the world.
Trust is the first.” ~Niko
I loved Slashback!! Just as I have loved every single one of Rob Thurman’s books.
It is somehow sad that I wait all year for the next book, like a kid awaiting Christmas, counting the days, rereading all the previous books to tide me over, but I still can’t stop myself from reading the new book in just a day… Leaving me a whole new year to wait for the next one…
I love all the charachters, but Cal will always be my favorite. Just like the books from the Cal Leandros series will always remain my favorite books.
Thank you for writing them and sharing them with us =]
I know what you mean about waiting for the new book and then reading it in one day. I’ve also gotten in the habit of reading fast to find out what happens and then immediately retreading the book to enjoy the details.
Haven’t got too far into this book yet. My favorite quote so far is:
“I tend to express my emotions with bullets. It’s so much cheaper than therapy.”
You never fail to make me laugh Rob Thurman
I got my copy of Slashback after having to wait almost a week and then proceeded to read it in a few hours. It was amazing and words fail me when trying to describe how awesome it was.
“I was promptly hit in the face with my wet towel. Of course, good brothers know though love inside and out.”
“Disco is dead. If it hadn’t died before I was born I would’ve killed it myself. Burn the damn shirt.” -Cal
“I have a friend in Miami, Saul. He sends me only the best. I save them for special occasions.” -Robin
“This is a special occasion?” -Niko
Saul? As in Saul- Saul? The Saul? Reference or just coincidence? Considering the shirt..mhmm. ;P I’d like to think it’s Saul because Goodfellow does know practically everyone!
So many possibilities. Here’s a truism.
Watch? I live horror movie! Watching a horror movie is a frigging comedy treat for me, okay?
” Because this is the real world,” he said almost apologetically.
” And this is just the way things are, Nik.”
” I would have chosen not to know all about absolution and how hard it was to come by.”
I do know this feeling.
“Not that I should think that. I shouldn’t.
Really really shouldn’t.”
“But sometimes necessary was more important than right.”
“Practical was a definition in a black bound dictionary, the words written in the scarlet red of fresh blood.”
“However, I was Robin Hood and my john was anything but little.”
Way to go Ms. Thurman! You have honored all your characters and us once again. You rock!!!
“You’re getting your feelings all over me. It’s disgusting.”- Cal
and
“Niko had sat down on the couch to pull his socks back on. He made that simple action look deadly. Considering how many times he’d threatened to kill me with one of them, that was’t surprising.”-Cal
“That fifteen-year-old kid was my hero and no one, not even you, gets to say shit about him, all right?” ~ Cal <3
A storm spirit should sound like the wind or the rushing train of an incoming tornado, not as if
he had a mouthful of fresh, blood-soaked flesh.
Cal probably shouldn’t play sports anymore. Lions didn’t play to win. Lions didn’t play at all. Lions survived. Niko Leandros
The vyodanoi species origianated in Russia,so Boris was good enough, which made Niko and me , Bullwinkle and Rocky. Joy.
So many to choose from. Excellent book. Made me, not only late for work on one occasion, it also forced me to take a 2 hour lunch as I just couldn’t put is down,
“You guys looking for exercise?” I checked my watch again. “You should probably look elsewhere. I’m have identity issues, which is frustrating, and I tend to express my emotions with bullets. It’s so much cheaper than therapy.” So Cal!
“I’m having identity issues right now, which is frustrating, and I tend to express my emotions with bullets. It’s so much cheaper than therapy.”
I love Cal.
“Our neighbor is a serial killer.”
One of the best first sentences ever.
So hard to chose just one!
“If you couldn’t speed walk, then you were too fragile a flower for this world anyway and the apocalypse had always been in your future.”
I loved the book! I devoured it in a few hours the day it came out. Now I’m going back and re-reading all of them from the beginning. I know I speak for everyone when I say that all of us eagerly await the next installment of any of your series!
“No hair salon, huh?” I popped the top on my soda. “It’ll be hard to be a pretentious ass with an eight-dollar Supercuts’ special.” – Cal
“I have an idea.”
Niko blanched, visibly as he hadn’t done at Goodfellow’s plan. To be fair, he’d heard and gone along with more of my ideas over the years. His recovery, as they say, was ongoing. – Cal
Dogs humped legs. Cal sought sugar. Two universal laws. – Niko
Oh my goodness. So many quotes, so little time!
“Sweet Fortuna, goddess of luck, tell me, why me?” – Goodfellow
“We had an understanding of live and let live or, more accurately, if they fucked with me, I would goddamn *bury* them.”
If I said it out loud, my brother would do more than kick my ass. He’d remind me I had human in me too by dunking me in the east river, holding me under for a good three minutes, and calling it negative reinforcement training instead of the overgrown swirly it was. – Cal, page 17
Wonderful book like always <3
‘Cooking was for wusses who couldn’t fuel homicidal fury on pure sugar alone.’
‘”Absinthe. It doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, but it can make the frustration grow fainter. Sometimes.”‘
‘I poured half of the Dr. Dew in his grass milk. He poured all his milk over my head.’
Only halfway through and loving this book just as much as the rest. Especially enjoying Niko’s POV chapters and, as always, Goodfellow. <3<3<3
Wait until you get to the last quarter of the book. It’s AMAZING!
Goodfellow: “Why me?”
“I know the two of you want me to praise your excellence in thievery and your preparation to kill anything that might escape “Jurassic Park”…but any encouragement on my part would only push you to greater heights and the eventual destruction of the Western civilization.” – Niko, pg 182
“You’re shockingly articulate to be so shockingly illiterate.”
Oh, I loved this book so much! And wow, one favorite quote- but I loved them allll??? Hmm…
“Zeus’s golden shower, you’re as thick as your brother.”
I laughed out loud at this. It is now my official favorite of Robin’s curses. XD
Ahhh! Picking just one quote is going to be dificult, but I’ll try. So I’ll give two:
“And it’s the chocolate lining. Look for the chocolate lining. It’s better than silver.” -Cal.
And, also by Cal, “The fact that she whispered as I passed her, “Who’s your daddy?” made her a stone-cold bitch and had me popping an extra pain pill.”
I was reading this at two in the morning and trying my hardest not to wake the rest of the household with my laughter.
Damn it, two other Lisas have already used my favourite quote! People: can’t live with them. Can’t destroy them with the power of your mind. So I’ll go with my second fav. Cooking was for wusses who couldn’t fuel homicidal fury on pure sugar alone.
Thanks for another great read!
Oh, quote time!
Here’s one that was close to the beginning but funny, I thought.
‘The guy could not take a hint if they were giving them away free with a hooker and a six-pack.’ – Cal
Another one that made me grin was this one:
“Hey, I smell dead people. Why don’t I get a movie, huh?” – Cal
Haven’t had the time to read my copy yet, so I’ll do this one from the excerpt -
End of story. Which was my brother’s way. If he became a lawyer when he grew up, he’d have the most succinct closing arguments in any court system in America.
People: Can’t live with them. Can’t destroy them with the power of your mind.
As Goodfellow closed his eyes to concentrate, I finished my Dr. Dew. When I came back with a second one, my knife that had been on the coffee table was gone. I glared at Niko, who was drinking soy milk with the obvious delusion there was some sort of taste to it.
“When you stop twitching like a lab rat with electrodes in his brain, you’ll get it back.” he responded calmly. “Stir your poisonous concoction with your finger and if it eats the flesh from your bone don’t come crying to me.”
I love this. I was reading in bed beside my sleeping husband and it was well after 2am when I came across this part. It sent me into a fit of giggles that took everything I had to keep quiet. There was lots of bed shaking and snorting going on.
I held up both hands. “Sorry. I underestimated your enormous brain. You can have an extra cookie for dessert.”
Oh, the agony and the ecstasy! The agony of trying to select only one quote…. the ecstasy of getting to re-read the book to find the ones -without spoilers! – that made me try to do the beer thru the nose thing with a raspberry instead of beer!
I’m gonna to go with three:
“That pigeon will rue the day his mother laid the rotting, spoiled egg that hatched him.” Robin
“I have two hands. Do not test me.” Niko
and “Too bad they didn’t know sooner or later if Grimm had his way there’d be a new hybrid race of Auphe sweeping the earth, worse than the originals, and all wearing — if the universe had any sense of humor — T-shirts of their own that read ABOMINATION NATION.” Cal
Would love to win any of the prizes and a new Zeke and Griffin story in addition to a Cal and Niko fix is too good to believe, but mostly I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your work and admire your talent, creativity and wonderfully twistedly inventiveness! Thank you for making any month with a new release from your amazing palette the best month of the year!
I couldn’t order my book yet, so I read the chapter 1 exerpt a few times. I really liked the lines
*He picked up his folder and headed for the bedroom. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t get it. That you don’t see.”
He paused to smile. I’d seen that smile before and it never failed to make my chest ache. It was touched with a near-adult bitterness that looked to have been carved into his face with the blade of that fictional serial killer. “But maybe monsters and half monsters are the only things that can see.”*
It really shows Cal has always had that perception of himself and as a fellow writer any chance I can get to look into a characters life and see what shapes them I find quite enjoyable. I have loved these books since I first accidentally found Nightlife a few years ago, thank you Rob Thurman for a wonderful book series. I hope there are many more books to come.
I had an insanely hard time picking just one quote, but I finally decided on this one, because it’s just SO Cal:
“I didn’t often come up with the plans, too lazy, but when I did, they were frigging spectacular. When it came to devastation and destruction . . .
I was a genius.”
“Nik the pervert wants to talk to you.” “And I am not a pervert!”
Oh Goodfellow!
“Because this is the real world,” he said almost apologetically.
Plain and straightforward as it came.
“And this is just the way things are, Nik.”
He picked up his folder and headed for the bedroom. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t get it. That you don’t see.”
He paused to smile. I’d seen that smile before and it never failed to make my chest ache. It was touched with a near-adult bitterness that looked to have been carved into his face with the blade of that fictional serial killer. “But maybe monsters and half monsters are the only things that can see.”
Cal “He’s picking up a whore.”
Niko “Not a good word.”
Cal “Ow. Hooker?”
“Prostitutr?”
Niko “Better. Not too great for her, but better vocabulary wise.”
“Hey, I smell dead people. Why don’t I get a movie, huh?”
Even as a kid he’d been a better man than I was now. It didn’t bother me a bit. Watching out for Nik was more important than being a better man.
“Lions didn’t play to win. Lions didn’t play at all. Lions survived.” –Niko
“If you’re not trying your hardest to win, then you’re not playing it right.” –Cal
Only the strong survive and both Niko and Cal continually amaze me with their strength in the face of adversity. THEY REFUSE TO GIVE UP…no matter what.
“If Lovecraft and Clive Barker had collaborated to come up with a soul-eating Cheshire Cat, that was what its smile would be”
I loved the reference to Clive Barker, my favorite author after Ms Thurman.
“A puppy is capable of learning. A puppy doesn’t devote his life to seeing how far he can push me before I break mentally. A puppy does not order pizza and expect me to pay for it because he’s out of money.” – Niko
This line made my day when I read it. And Promise laughing at Niko getting upset was just a cherry on top of this moment!
“Where’s my card? I have a lifelong platinum class come-and-go-as-I-please membership card. Wait . . . where’s my card for Aphrodite’s Pleasure Palace—best strippers in Greece? Godiva’s Clothing Optional Hair Salon?”
Replacement cards were pulled out, read in the light spilling from inside the house, and discarded as if they burned to the touch.
“The Salvation Army? Big Brothers, Big Sisters? Soup Kitchen Humanitarian aid in a trickster’s wallet? My wallet?” The horror was clear and true in his voice. “I am tainted beyond redemption.”
Ohhhh Ishiah <3
“No. I am not a pervert.” There was a pause. “Technically…no, that’s only been with consenting adults, always has been, which is legal or should be. Therefore not a pervert.’
“You’re shockingly articulate to be so shockingly illiterate.”
“If he became a lawyer when he grew up, he’d have the most succinct closing arguments in any court system in America.”
Cal – “He’d remind me I had human in me too by dunking me in the East River, holding me under for a good three minutes, and calling it negative reinforcement training instead of the overgrown swirly that it was.”
“When have the two of you *not* dragged my wit, wisdom, charisma, and impeccably formed ass along in the wake of your bloody misfortune?”
Ah, Robin: how I missed you!
Cal was a lion, but he wasn’t the only one.
“You’re shockingly articulate to be so shockingly illiterate.”
~ I hadn’t had a distraction like that in a month now, which meant things tended to spill over in all directions.Then, wham, I was all ‘put the lotion in the basket’ and no one, but no one was happy with that attitude. ~
Ahh, a shout out from one of my favorite movies in my favorite book series. The last two days have been nothing but brain-gasm over and over again. That poor B & N employee nearly lost her fingers when she handed over my per-ordered book. ~.~
“Lions didn’t play to win. Line didn’t play at all.
Lions survived. ”
the fact that it was a mini Leandros who said this is what makes it so great.
“The once and future king of smart-ass”
I am soooo annoyed. I preordered the book months ago at Amazon and they haven’t even shipped it yet. Urgh! Next time I just buy it the old fashion way, in a book store. I am waiting impatiently to read it.
Dr Dew. Good for what ails you and a barrelful will decompose a body if you’re out of sulfuric acid.
“After another jaw cracking yawn, I said, ‘Bed. Make me a happy-face pancake for breakfast. Put me in the mood for serial killer hunting tomorrow.’ “
Well, I was going to choose the “Now go up and bang” line but someone already used it so I guess my next fav would be “Sausage link” Robin answered promptly. “Smallest they had for authenticity. I toothpicked it there myself. You can thank me at any time.”
There are TOO MANY to pick just one but… “I don’t want to talk about it. Promise is the devil,” I added darkly.” But other than that, I don’t want to talk about it.” The line about the toupee of ‘possum ass-hair’ made me laugh out loud ,but since it wasn’t a quote but a thought I couldn’t pick it-could I ?
Cal was a good brother, but there were all sorts of definitions for good when it came to an eleven-year-old.
oh good sweet snarkyness
“I doubt Niko said I was smart when he agreed to a meet.”
“Cal is his own person. I learned at a young age to accept that or step in front of a bus and move on to my next incarnation.”
I bookmarked this as I was reading and when I got to the end I was even happier with it
This book was awesome (like every single one in the series), and the flashbacking (slashbacking?) technique was so well done and fun to read. Couldn’t put it down.
I almost didn’t want to start reading this book because I knew I would be done in a day or so and then would have to wait a year for the next one! I couldn’t resist though. It definitely didn’t disappoint! So many great quotes, but here’s the one I picked:
“I was trying. That I was trying less for my sake or the world’s sake and more for my brother’s sake, that didn’t matter. I was trying and the reason I chose to try was Niko. That counted. To me.”
“I am both ethically and morally challenged at the best of times.” Cal
I can’t believe I have to choose just one, but I think I’ll go with Cal’s “Now go back upstairs and bang” – his eyes narrowed and I immediately amended my sentiment – “and crochet passionately while drinking Metamucil or whatever you geezers do in bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Bring me a love-stained afghan.”
Although I must admit, Niko’s line of “You’re not inspiring faith in your fighting abilities or even your ability to bully on the playground” is also excellent. The whole book was excellent and the series is awesome. I had one brief moment of panic at the end that this was the last Leandros book, but it can’t be. Grimm must be dealt with and I’m not ready to say goodbye!
I heard an ugly rumor that it’s the next to the last book. Really hope that isn’t true. Although Niko’s toast and Cal’s comment about repeating history was as the best ending I’ve read in this series.
When it comes to living versus dying, you want to be the better monster.
I can’t believe I have to choose just one, but I think I’ll go with Cal’s “Now go back upstairs and bang” – his eyes narrowed and I immediately amended my sentiment – “and crochet passionately while drinking Metamucil or whatever you geezers do in bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Bring me a love-stained afghan.”
Although I must admit, Niko’s line of “You’re not inspiring faith in your fighting abilities or even your ability to bully on the playground” is also excellent. The whole book was excellent and the series is awesome. I had one brief moment of panic at the end that this was the last Leandros book, but it can’t be. Grimm must be dealt with and I’m not ready to say goodbye!
“Sometimes I get bored. When I get bored, bam, mental mass destruction is my hobby. I’ve had this one on file for awhile now.” -Cal
Cal, I’m kind of intrigued. What all have you thought up?
…I’m pretty sure you’ve annihilated New York in your mind.
Anyways; wonderful work on Slashback. Well, wonderful work on all of the books, since all of them had me alternating between laughing (the Panic in Doubletake made me burst out laughing in the middle of class), panicking for Cal and Niko’s sake, and wanting to try to convert to Niko’s healthy lifestyle (I couldn’t. I couldn’t give up pizza. It was too much of a sacrifice.).
This quote of Cal in the first chapter, ever since the first chapter was released early is still a favorite of mine. I can hear a Little Cal say it perfectly in my mind and it makes me smile.
“Yes, Nik. I’m doing my homework. Watching the serial killer made me get behind.”
-My boss, Ishiah–they didn’t come too much holier-than-thou than him–had once told me Niko was a good man, among the best of men, but his fatal flaw was that he’d burn down the world to save me. That he was the sole reason that I wouldn’t burn down the world said something… we were the flip side of a coin.
Their relationship in one, ok, two senteces.
“‘To friends. They go and they come. The going must be difficult, but know we will always come back.’”
“You’re so shockingly articulate to be so shocking illiterate.” “Tell him to get at least three grand for it. I paid ten.”
“In five minutes I could find you a tanker truck of bosenberry-flavored self-warming body oil and six men and women willing to apply it. Care to put it to the test?”
I love Robin, and this line just cracked me up. I’m still chuckling when I think of it.
I have to say, this book has been the only pleasant thing in a week that included being bedridden with the flu. At least I have good companions to get me through it.
And now the quote (I love me some Robin):
“I could not have been more proud if you were a trickster yourself. I wish you’d been around for the whole Trojan horse event. Somehow there would have been at least a thousand pounds of flaming horse manure involved. Homer would have loved penning that part of the tale.”
“People: can’t live with them. Can’t destroy them with the power of your mind. Oh wait. I could.”
I love these books! These are books you can read over and over and find something new every time you read them.
“He’s a serial killer, Nik. Why would I go back? He could get out his chain saw and chop me up into pieces. Except I’m a virgin so I might get away.” Not-quite-under his breath, he added, “You don’t watch enough movies. You don’t know anything.”
We survived. And that was worth everything
Lions didn’t play to win. Lions didn’t play at all.
Lions survived.
Oh, please. Can’t you write two of these a year!
There is no best line. They are all best lines.
“Let’s burn some shit down. A whole lot of shit.”
“I could spend an entire day in a real library….college libraries were amazing enough that I thought living in one would be better than any place else I could imagine. Cal thought I was crazy.”
I don’t know that this was my favorite quote, since I think that one still belongs to the first line of the book, but the above quote I did post does speak to me
. As always, it was great to read about Cal again.
“Life gives hard lessons to mold brave boys into great men.”
“End of story. Which was my brother’s way. If he became a lawyer when he grew up, he’d have the most succinct closing arguments in any court system in America”
(Made me laugh out loud, as I had just finished reading a legal thriller with closing arguments that ran to half a chapter)
“It’s the pizza genie!”
I don’t know why I found this quote so funny, but just picturing a little Cal getting all excited and tearing through the room with childish delight was fun all on its own. What happened when he opened the door made me scream
The serial killer issue hadn’t been solved, and now my eleven-year-old brother had just told me to not get laid.
Why me?
Honestly, why me?…Niko
“You’re wicked and wrong and I damn sure am not here to save you.”
He’d taken off his suit jacket and now slouched on our beat-up sofa that I refused to give up as it was shaped perfectly over the years to my lazy ass.
I read the entire book in less than 6 hours when it arrived on my kindle.
“There was a time I wouldn’t have carried something in both hands; I always kept a hand free. When I was a little more human, a little less Auphe, and a lot less arrogant.”
“Why me?” The faux leather/duct tape combo squeaked as Goodfellow leaned back and covered his eyes with an olive-skinned hand. “I have a limitless number of people to lie to, cheat, and rob. I’m a trickster. I have a calling and no time for this. Sweet Fortuna, goddess of luck, tell me, why me?” (Chapter 5) page 74 (on my Nook)
Loins survive.
Love all the books. My fav so far is Blackout. A killer woke up on a beach.
HI ROB, I’D DEARLY LOVE TO WIN YOUR BOOK!
“Yes, Nik. I’m doing my homework. Watching the serial killer made me get behind.”
I can hardly wait to read the whole thing.
“The Salvation Army? Big Brothers, Big Sisters? Soup Kitchen? Humanitarian aid in a trckster’s wallet? My wallet?”
Gotta love Goodfellow!
Here’s my SLASHBACK quote that I picked from opening to a random page: “Cal had grasped the gray shades of morality before he grasped potty training.”
I’m reserving this weekend to really dig into the book because I know once I get started I won’t want to stop!
“He began stitching. ‘The ones that like to play are never the easy kills.’” – Nikko (Thurman 66)
“We had an understanding of live and let live or, more accurately, if they fucked with me, I would goddamn bury them. ‘Puppies. They do try the patience, don’t they?’”
Puppies, lol. I love that Cal can call werewolves puppies and make it sound so right. And poor Ishiah, having to deal with the way Cal “interacts” with the customers at the bar, lol.
LOL. I really loved this quote in combination with Ishiah and the others literally flying to the rescue. I think Ishiah cares for Cal–for Robin’s sake if nothing else. He just cares for Cal a lot more the further he is from the Ninth Circle. Love that name for a peri bar.
“Who’s your daddy?”
i pitied poor Cal at that moment. That is just to cruel of Promice
I love that line. I’m not what you would call a fan of Promise’s, but that was pretty awesome. LOL
Random quote:
Chances were you were supposed to be worried about identity crises, not embrace them. If I were the hugging type, I’d say I’d just given my slow and gradual defection to the monster side a big one.
I’ve only read the first few pages, (I’m a little behind with Cal and Niko, as I am now a bit absorbed by the Stefan and Misha…
My favorite quote SO FAR….
“There had been tutoring no-necked football players lacking enough in brain cells that I was surprised they didn’t have calluses on their knuckles from walking on them. It would’ve gone well with their gorilla grunting.”
SO utterly Rob Thurman!
Oh definitely the chocolate lining one. I ran around and told all of my family that line when I read it they all found it hilarious!
“And it’s the chocolate lining. Look for the chocolate lining. It’s better than silver.” From little Cal.
It’s going to be my motto from now on I think!
“He wasn’t a budding pyromaniac. One fire didn’t an arsonist make.”
Ohhhhh Niko, I think your love for your brother is blinding you just a tiny weenie bit.
It was better for everyone to let my brother handle the moral issues while I played to my strengths:
Violence, Sarcasm, and a respectable collection of Pornography.
The best quote for me is “Because this is the real world.” Starting to read this series and I’m loving it!!
Enjoy yourself.
I love all of this series and it would probably kill me to have to pick a single favorite book from them, but Slashback is definitely living up to my expectations!! As for picking a quote… lol sooo hard to find just one but I guess I’m definitely going to have to go with “Of the six hundred and seventy-eight times I’ve nearly been killed, six hundred at minimum have been your fault.”
My sister has a tendency to get herself into trouble and eventually drag me into it as well and while we’ve never been anywhere near death, I can most certainly blame most of the trouble we’ve been in on her!! lol another awesome book Rob!!!
Niko- “We already have monsters. What are the odds we’d get a serial killer too?”
“Don’t get between a geek and a good apocalypse.”
There’s a review on Amazon that is chock full of spoilers. I down graded it and wrote a comment. Maybe it can be removed or the author will see the comment and revise.
“The guy could not take a hint if they were giving them away free with a hooker & a six-pack.”
I was laughing so hard I almost dropped my Kindle. o////o
This book was FABULOUS. I’ve been waiting for a whole year for it, and it didn’t let me down. So many amazing quotes, though… I don’t know how I’ll pick just one
“My finger turned slightly red but that was probably psychosomatic. When I said so, Niko told me I didn’t have the depth of imagination for a psychosomatic disorder. I poured half of the Dr. Dew in his grass milk. He poured all his milk over my head.”
Ahh, the antics of those two never cease to entertain me
And then this next one totally cracked me up –
“Her feet were also bare, but bare feet were essential for flower arranging and sword care and no one could tell me differently.”
And then, although I’ve seen this one quite a few times already, I have to post it, because it really was my favorite:
“That fifteen year old kid was my hero and no one, not even you, gets to say shit about him.”
That was such an honest, adorably sweet scene. I love how, while these two brothers are so fractured from their past, and have so many “issues” (yeah, haha, Cal), they still always know how to straighten each other out. The support and love is just lovely to watch. And although I haven’t posted any quotes from the “flashback” chapters, I adored reading those as well. 15-year-old Niko was a doll and Cal… well, as usual, Cal was just something else.
” I’m hungry and Ho Hos aren’t enough. How about you give me all your money so I can get a Big Mac and I won’t cut your throat? ”
“And rain was wet, grass was green the sunset in the west; also, reality shows caused brain tumors.”
Wonderful line!
“Yes, Nik. I’m doing my homework. Watching the serial killer made me get behind.”
“one of them bit me. I’m not only part murderous monster from the beginning of time, but now I’ll be an undead one. A stinking slaughterer run amok, even more unkillable as I’ll already dead. And I thought it was bad before. Everyone happy now?”
I love love this series Cal and Niko are the best!
-”First, I like onions. Second, it pisses off Wolves. Third, I like pissing off Wolves.” Almost as much as I like killing them. –
I’ve only gotten so far but this is so far my favorite quote. It’s something I couldn’t have said better myself. Yes, I have a weird since of humor. :p – Moira
“Fine. You’re the expert on all things serial killer”
Even the one-shot characters get good lines
— And sugar, I’m forty. You might want to look me in the face, appreciate me for my brain because when this top comes off my brain is still in the same place but my tits will be four inches lower.”
“Yes, Nik. I’m doing my homework. Watching the serial killer made me get behind.”
I just love this classic Cal.
I’m just a few chapters in but this one tickled my fancy greatly:
“Niko imposed order on chaos. I imposed chaos on those not fast enough to get out of my way.”
Wish I could’ve stayed home from work and devoured it in one sitting, but it will definitely keep me company on assorted bus rides and breaks.
“If Lovecraft and Clive Barker had collaborated to come up with a soul-eating Cheshire Cat, that was what its smile would be”
This amused the hell out of me because my wife asked me why I was grinning after I read this. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Favourite bit so far:
“He’d remind me I had human in me too by dunking me in the East River, holding me under for a good three minutes, and calling it negative reinforcement training instead of the overgrown swirly that it was.”
WISH I HAD TIME TO MAINLINE IT but full reading will have to wait until Friday night! Happy Slashback week Reavers!
Niko – “You wish to know if he called me a whore? Is that what you’re asking?” Made me LOL!
I laughed, I teared up, I danced around the kitchen squealing with glee. Thanks to Rob Thurman and Cal Leandros, my husband now thinks I’m certifiable. XD Bitty Cal made me squee so very much, he was so adorable, I wanted to hug him so bad. And as always, love, love the Niko POV, delightful!
So very many many many good quotes in this one! Since I can’t quote the entire book, and I can’t go with the delightfully spoilery lines, I’ll pick one at random.
Also, the dumping-milk-over-Cal-head scene was perfect. One of the ones that made me laugh out loud so hard I scared the cats.
Robin: “What did you do?”
Cal: “I’m having an identity crisis.”
–Slashback, pg 106
Also this, though I’m not sure it counts as a quote, and it is so very true:
“I wasn’t good with mornings, either. I considered fiver thirty a.m. an abomination. If Hell had existed, it would always be five thirty there.”
Yeeeeeeeep, Cal and I agree. Mornings are no fun! Though mostly ’cause I stayed up late to read this book all in one go in about three hours. So very good. I’m gonna read it again….and probably again….and, well, yeah, re-read the entire series again……
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4lbiGnS8FOY
I heard this song on the radio first thing this morning and thought it fit Slashback very well.
“You are smart when you can be bothered. You, little brother, can rarely be bothered.” – Niko
SO EXCITED!! I love me some Leandros brothers!
Okay, beside the whole mass destruction hobby quote (and oh Cal you are thinking so small… get back to me when you can kill 2 million with 15K)…
My favs are “Boogety”
and
“Good. No more wallowing. If I don’t get to, neither do you.”
Must give you an old firefighter quote too (given to me in training when I was a volunteer firefighter/EMT) because it applies to the boys – Opening lecture at the firestation on the subject of heroes and if firefighters, policemen, soldiers were heroes. “Don’t be a hero. There are no heroes here, the heroes are all dead. Do your job. Do it right. and live.” This from a man who was not only still serving while on kidney dialysis, he was 5 foot 2 and had served so long he had been a volunteer firefighter when my grandfather was serving at the same station.
“Fine. You’re the expert on all things serial killer,” I said dryly, less than glad to know my birds-and-bees talk had ended up as nothing but misinformation about murderers letting the abstinent escape.”
“Sometimes I get bored. When I get bored, bam, mental mass destruction is my hobby.”
It was hard to narrow it down, gotta say
Another really great installment that I loved and was totallt worth the wait.
*totally
That was one of my favs too because I’ve played that game as well
Just started reading, but in the first chapter, this is my favorite quote:
“I was fifteen and I was smart. More than smart. I could admit that because it wasn’t boasting. Being more than smart meant knowing too much. If I’d had a choice, I would’ve chosen to be less smart. I would’ve chosen not to know all about absolution and how hard it was to come by.
Impossible on some days.”
“Half human,” I said quietly, trying to erase his last words. “Not half monster. Not a ‘thing’.”
“Because this is the real world,” he said almost apologetically.
Plain and straightforward as it came.
“And this is just the way things are, Nik.”
He picked up his folder and headed for the bedroom. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t get it. That you don’t see.”
He paused to smile. I’d seen that smile before and it never failed to make my chest ache. It was touched with a near-adult bitterness that looked to have been carved into his face with the blade of that fictional serial killer. “But maybe monsters and half monsters are the only things that can see.”
Cal, he is so wise behind his years. I love him
There are SO SO many – the dialog between Cal and Niko is the soul of the books… but I love this one:
“That fifteen-year-old kid was my hero and no one, not even you, gets to say shit about him, all right?”
“Violence, sarcasm, and a respectable collection of pornography.” What could be better?
Hopefully I’ll be able to participate…since the estimated delivery date is the 13th, I rather doubt it. (I even pre-ordered it and that it might take another week makes me grumpy. ;P)
Happy reading to everyone else!
“It’s simple. I am a monster. And I kind of liked it- which is the definition of an identity crisis” Loved Cal’s voice from his very first line in Nightlife. Still loving him…
Sophia had gone from verbally to physically abusive. The first inevitable Grendel had shown up. The serial killer issue had still hadn’t been resolved, and now my eleven year old brother just told me not to get laid.
Oh, poor Niko, LOL
“But maybe monsters and half monsters are the only things that can see.”
Love the series – can’t wait for the next book!
Cal was a good brother and a good kid when, if they’d lived his life, other children would be feral as wild dogs and amoral as sharks at dinner time. Cal was amazingly, painfully human in comparison and not once did I overlook that.
” I’m hungry and Ho Hos aren’t enough. How about you give me all your money so I can get a Big Mac and I won’t cut your throat? ” – Cal Leandros SLASHBACK pg 177
That line is AWESOME and I can SO see Cal saying it. XD
…but my most fave Cal Series line isn’t even by Cal. It’s by Promise.
” Niko, there is a man in your garbage Dumpster outside. I can see his legs showing from beneath the lid. ” – Promise Nottinger DOUBLETAKE pg 91
That one line made me laugh so hard, I lost my page.
The whole scene where Niko is kicking his dad’s ass is epic and I can’t wait to see something of this series on the big screen.
Congrats on Slashback’s release!! ^_^
“Yes, Nik. I’m doing my homework. Watching the serial killer made me get behind.
He has a basement full of dead bodies,” he declared, “and that means he’s a serial killer.”
Simple, clean, straightforward
bloodthirsty supernatural monsters is how Caliban and Niko Leandros make a living—-Jack. He’s just hit town. He hasn’t forgotten what the Leandros brothers did to his murderous protégé. He hasn’t forgotten what they owe him.
“He gave a third shrug, a habit I was going to have to break and soon while I was still sane.”
Sorry, Niko, but you never did break it. Which might explain a lot, actually…
Then, wham, I was all “put the lotion in the basket” and no one, but no one was happy with that attitude.
So good to get back to Cal & Niko! Is it wrong to have such a huge crush on a fictional character???
“All right. Tell me why our neighbor is a serial killer,” I said with a patience I didn’t have to fake.
He has a basement full of dead bodies,” he declared, “and that means he’s a serial killer.”
Simple, clean, straightforward
“Hold it in,” Cal whispered. “Virgins live. Horn-digs die.”
As the bathroom door closed behind him, I slid down, my feet hitting the floor, and moved to check the calendar, the note taped to my door, and then down at the neat marker writing across the box of cereal in my hand. Yeah, Nik tried to keep me updated on these things, but I was hopeless.
‘ “I hate Tiny Tim. I hate his chirpy optimism. I hate his purity in the face of grinding adversity. The nerve of the little bastard. It’s unnatural. There. My personal view of a positive attitude.”
Niko wasn’t impressed. “When Cal was three he shot Tony Tim on the TV screen with his finger. Six imaginary rounds if I recall. You are barely in the running on attitude.” ‘
“He has a basement full of dead bodies,” he declared, “and that means he’s a serial killer.”
Simple, clean, straightforward. Typical Cal. Love him.
…I guess quoting the whole book would take too long, huh? Okay then.
“That fifteen-year-old kid was my hero and no one, not even you, gets to say shit about him, all right?”
Or possibly
“Hold it in. Virgins live. Horn-dogs die.”
God, I laughed SO HARD at all of young Cal’s antics.
Ok, ok, wait. There’s also, “Of the six hundred and seventy-eight times I’ve nearly been killed, six hundred at minimum have been your fault.”
I’ve got to stop or I’ll go on forever.
“That meant it wasn’t too deep, which was a good thing. That was the area I kept my guts and they tended to work better on the inside than out.”
I intend to have this book finished by this time tomorrow!
They go and they come.
“I left my phone in my pocket. I didn’t want pictures, I sucked a research, and if I had pulled it out, Niko would’ve most likely inserted it in a place I was saving for my colonoscopy when I turned fifty.”
(just hit chapter 4 and gobbling this book up!)
“…it’s inspirational when your sexual partner accepts you for who you truly are.”
From reading this scene, I found out that beer is painful when it goes in the mouth and out the nose due to abrupt laughter.
I imposed chaos on those not fast enough to get out of my way.
Am soooo loving this book!!!!
“There’s a serial killer in the city.”
Yeah? Really?
And rain was wet, grass was green, the sun set in the west; also, reality shows caused brain tumors.
None of it was precisely fucking news.
oh cal… =)
“Tastes good and pisses off Wolves. There is no downside.”
“It’s the pizza genie. We won’t have to walk four miles to get some after all. That’s better than seven wishes.”
Yeah, cause I love pizza like Cal loves pizza. ^_^
–That was harsh. I didn’t think my personality was species dooming. Not necessarily.
I mainlined the book this morning! It was excellent, and answered questions I didn’t even know I had until I got there and thought, “Oh, of course they’re connected like that…”