Noir Style Quotes

“She looked playful and eager, but not quite sure of herself, like a new kitten in a house where they don't care much about kittens.”
― Raymond Chandler, The Lady in the Lake

“A check girl in peach-bloom Chinese pajamas came over to take my hat and disapprove of my clothes. She had eyes like strange sins.”
― Raymond Chandler, The High Window

“What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?”
― Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon

“You just hang in there, boy, hang in with that apprenticeship of yours, do you hear me? You are lucky they would even take someone like you. You’re a child of the slums. A ragtag. On top of that, you’re a whining piece of shit. Nobody will ever do anything for you. Do you understand what I’m saying? They’ll let you starve to death, no problem. Nobody is going to cry on your grave.”

Poul-Erik’s Mother
The Informer by Steen Langstrup”
― Steen Langstrup, The Informer

“After being dry for a couple a weeks, three cocktails went down quicker than a boner in a busted rubber.”
― Brian Azzarello, 100 Bullets, Vol. 5: The Counterfifth Detective

“So you shoot people," she said quietly. "You're a killer."
"Me? How?"
"The papers and the police fixed it up nicely. But I don't believe everything I read."
"Oh, you think I accounted for Geiger - or Brody-or both of them."
She didn't say anything. "I didn't have to," I said. "I might have. I suppose, and got away with it. Neither of them would have hesitated to throw lead at."
"That makes you a killer at heart, like all cops."
"Oh, nuts.”
― Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

“Someday this war will be over. A new order of the world will appear in its place. The idea of Socialism will prevail. In the future they’ll remember us as heroes.”

Thorkild aka ‘Borge’
The Informer by Steen Langstrup”
― Steen Langstrup, The Informer

“Of course, to be truly 'surveillance free' required unpredictability or its cousin, spontaneity.”
― Jeff Shear, The Trinity Conspiracy: Part One - Betrayal at Black Mesa

“Love? What's that? Preferring someone to someone else? If that's love, then yes, she loved you. Of course, if that's love...then I love you. At least for tonight.”
― Miles Watson, Knuckle Down

“Gene was six feet three inches of lean muscle and hard bone enclosing a brain that had only one object: the acquisition of power.”
― Miles Watson, Knuckle Down

“Anne held out her arms. I don't want to say I flew into them. I wasn't in condition for flying. Or running. Or even dignified limping. Fell towards the center of gravity in my own personal universe. And if our lips met on the way down, was that any fault of mine?”
― Miles Watson, Knuckle Down

“Amanda esitò.
– Maddie?
Lei la guardò nella penombra della notte. Il lampione era lontano, la luce ambrata stendeva campiture nitide sui lineamenti tesi dell’amica. I capelli scuri si confondevano con l’ombra.
– Andrà tutto bene, te lo prometto – mormorò Amanda e le strinse la mano.
Madison annuì, vaga. – Sì.
Sarebbe andato tutto bene, si ripeté nella mente.
Se lo ripeté di nuovo.
E di nuovo.
E ancora.”
― Prisca Turazzi, Hernest

“Tailing someone is like maintaining a relationship: you keep at it until they give you the slip, or until they confirm everything you suspect them of.”
― Mark Crutchfield, The Last Best Gift: Eye Witnesses to the Celebrity Sabbath Massacre

“ON PLAYING back the 911 recording, it’d seem that Mrs. Stegman was more concerned that the man outside her apartment door was naked than that he had a big shotgun.”
― Warren Ellis, Gun Machine

“Lots of cops married nurses, Tallow knew. Nurses understood the life: murderous shiftwork, long stretches of boredom, sudden adrenaline spikes, blood everywhere. Tallow almost smiled as he followed his wincing partner into the apartment building. He made sure the door closed as silently as possible, and only then did he draw his firearm.”
― Warren Ellis, Gun Machine

“IT TOOK a conscious effort for Tallow to keep his hand off his gun as he walked up the apartment building’s stairs. There was no threat here. He told himself that with every step. But every step held memory.”
― Warren Ellis, Gun Machine

“Frank Macy looked surprised.

That was what Cab thought as he studied the dead man’s eyes. Surprised that he had been conned. Surprised that a man who was smart, cool, and lethal could be played for a fool.”
― Brian Freeman, Season of Fear

“The knife was warm, heated by the dying man's severed entrails.”
― Brian Freeman, Season of Fear

“Do you always carry a gun?’ Peach asked.
***
‘It’s Florida,’ Annalie said. She hefted her purse up and down as if she were working out with weights. ‘Even Mickey Mouse probably carries a piece.”
― Brian Freeman, Season of Fear

“Tarla answered the door in a black silk nightgown and robe. Her feet were bare. Her bed hair was mussed. She was beautiful, but he could see a hint of age in her face, as if it were the first time he’d noticed that she was growing older.”
― Brian Freeman, Season of Fear

“He felt satisfaction that the attack had gone as he anticipated, but he also felt oddly empty about the experience. He’d expected adrenaline. He’d expected the high of being back in the game. Instead, the violence itself had done nothing for him. Watching her realize that he’d won, watching the light go out of her eyes, had been a hollow victory.

Maria Lopes would be different.”
― Brian Freeman, The Voice Inside

“The old man wasn’t quite gone yet. His lungs gurgled.

Rudy was hungry. He checked the refrigerator and found a recent deli bag of sliced turkey. He sat on the bed, finished the turkey, and watched the traffic crawling on the street outside as he waited for Keyes to die.”
― Brian Freeman, The Voice Inside

“Man this getting out of prison sucks.”
― Chris Orlet, A Taste of Shotgun