There's an overlap between social-realist fiction and crime fiction - a sweet spot there.

One of the interesting things about the Ozarks is you just about don't have street crime. It's strictly between people who know each other. It really isn't indiscriminate; it's kind of between themselves.

The sweet spot is 25 cents a minute. That will attract more calls. But BMW might want to reach you even if your bid is $1 or more.

False assurances were certainly more harmful than none at all.

Maybe I'm just gonna kill you," says Mike, peeved at being predictable. "You ever think of that?"

"No, Mike. Because if you wanted me dead, then four or five of your guys would be in the hospital and I'd have a flesh wound. Maybe.

In the half-century of his life, a tick on the Doomsday clock, he had borne witness to the most unbelievable technological advances. He had started off listening to an old Bush radio in the corner of the living room and now he had a phone in his hand on which he could pretend to throw a scrunched-up piece of paper into a waste bin. The world had waited a long time for that.