“That’ll take some getting used to on my part. In my church back home, if I had ever called Pastor Hill Bruce, my mother would have found the dullest butter knife in her drawer and skinned me with it. Then she would have had the knife mounted as a trophy. No remorse on her part …
Botanical Orcs
“The landscaped slopes on either side of the broad steps were covered with junipers, which Rourke had long considered to be the orcs of the plant kingdom. The automatic sprinklers on a timer were busily spritzing them, which just made them wet, botanical orcs” (Evangellyfish, p. 37).
On Stilts and Steroids
“Chad’s great gift was that of being able to contain and almost completely suppress that internal sense of weightlessness and panic that he kept in an isolated chamber somewhere in the nether regions of his gut. This time the panic was a category hitherto unknown to him . . . this was panic on stilts …
Waiting Patiently
“The remaining four elders were confident of their pastor’s innocence for all the normal reasons, and they looked at him expectantly, waiting for the next reassuring evangelical cliche, like so many show poodles waiting for their treat” (Evangellyfish, p. 31).
Well On the Honest Side
“Rourke knew the department rules up and down, how real non-departmental police work was done, up and down, and was on the honest side of not too scrupulous” (Evangellyfish, p. 26).
A Skeezy Aura Then
“Chad had been all aura then — charisma, smiles, and eyes that penetrated what you thought at first was your soul, but then just turned out to be your clothes” (Evangellyfish, p. 25).
Invisible Patience
“And by ‘waited patiently,’ John had been a pastor long enough to know it meant he was actually waiting impatiently. Whenever he was waiting patiently, he didn’t notice that he was waiting patiently, and John was noticing” (Evangellyfish, p. 19).
Very Important Prayer Requests
“It rang again, and John pursed his lips and picked it up, hoping it wasn’t Deidre Hannock. She was a solo-obsessed soprano in their makeshift choir and was always calling with criticisms of the choir director disguised as prayer requests” (Evangellyfish, p. 12).
Back and Forth, Up and Down
“So here he was, a day later, playing teeter-totter in his soul, going back and forth about what he ought to do” (Evangellyfish, p. 11).
Dispassionate Science
“It had been twenty-four hours since — as the diplomats would phrase it — the frank exchange of views had taken place. His knuckles were still throbbing gently . . . Chad had stumbled on his way to the door, lurching into Mitchell, and Mitchell had taken that opportunity to unload a punch which connected …