A Spy by Nature: A Novel (Alec Milius Book 1)

“Everybody went dutch. Don’t worry.

Who hated riding horses, hated wearing his cowboy outfits, and actively encouraged American participation in the Vietnam War,”

Receiving bad news is always like this: there’s too much information to process, too much at stake that has been irretrievably lost. Something similar happened when Mum told me that my father had died. My mind went absolutely numb, and there was nothing I could do to put his loss into perspective.

This is the smart move. He has set the foundations for the conversation, given it a clear starting point from which it can develop and assume some shape. Ogilvy has essentially proposed to chair the discussion, and this aptitude for leadership will not go unnoticed.

splay-fingered hand through my hair and say good morning. “Hello,”

“Mum,” I said, “an ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for the good of his country.”

Never accept tea or coffee at an interview. They’ll see your hand shaking when you drink it.

crossing and uncrossing his legs as his bowels swim in caffeine and nerves. I sit down on the sofa opposite his.

If we hope to live not just from moment to moment, but in true consciousness of our existence, then our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives. —BRUNO BETTELHEIM, The Uses of Enchantment