How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Stop struggling—I've got a gun!" And Lev feels the kid poke him in the side. Lev knows it's not a gun—he knows it's just the kid's finger, but this is clearly an unstable individual and he doesn't want to set him off. (1.3.82)
Connor was lied to by his parents before the book even starts, but here he's deceiving Lev in order to save both their lives.
Quote #2
"They'll be looking for two boys and a girl. Maybe I can disguise myself as a boy." (1.7.22)
Risa, too, resorts to deceit for survival. If she walked around as herself, she'd get caught in no time. Is there any harm in deceiving the authorities?
Quote #3
"So… everything that happened back there was all a show?"
Now it's Connor's turn to be unsure. "I guess. Sort of. Wasn't it?" (1.8.32-1.8.33)
Connor and Risa get accustomed to deceiving others in order to survive so quickly that they can't even tell if they're deceiving each other, or even if they're deceiving themselves.
Quote #4
"It's like playing the piano; you just have to know which keys to strike in people." (2.10.8)
This is a good analogy from Risa. She knows how to play people like a tune. In fact, she might be better at playing people than she is at playing piano.
Quote #5
Something else drove [Connor] to run to that porch, but whatever the real reason was, Connor's keeping it to himself. (2.12.10)
Risa doesn't have a problem with Connor lying to others for the sake of survival, but when he starts keeping things from her, she sees that a detriment to their ability to survive. Truth is often connected to survival in this text, though in strange ways.
Quote #6
Connor looks flustered and cornered for a moment before he comes to his senses and says, "Yeah. Yeah, I am." (2.12.13)
This is Connor's response when questioned if he's the baby's father. News flash: He isn't. But he and Risa are once again forced to resort to lying to escape detection.
Quote #7
"You two can do whatever you like. Risa and I broke up this morning. Should I turn off the light when I leave?" (3.24.24)
Connor is lying to Roland in order to eliminate a bit of his power over he and Risa, but Connor doesn't clue Risa in to this little bit of deceit. She takes this as a personal slight and holds it against him for a while. While if he hadn't done it, she and Connor might be in danger, we also get not being thrilled that he didn't openly defend her in such a scary moment.
Quote #8
That little monster conned him! He got him to open the safe, and the moment he did, he knocked him out and cleaned out the safe. (4.26.45)
Lev is deceitful from the very beginning, but he's refreshingly honest about his intentions to betray Connor and Risa. This moment, however, marks a transition as he starts deceiving—and hurting—other people.
Quote #9
Once again, Risa thinks she'll never see Lev again. Once again, she'll be wrong. (5.36.79)
The narrator clues us in here that Lev had an ulterior motive for taking the Alaskan pipeline job. Would you have guessed if you hadn't been told at this point?
Quote #10
The Admiral knows that claiming responsibility for Emby's absence would play right into the mania that Roland is creating. The Admiral could tell Connor that he was the one who sent the boy away, but that would be questions that he has no desire to answer. He decides to let Connor think that Roland did it. (5.38.9)
Even the Admiral isn't above playing the deceit game. He keeps key information from Connor to manipulate the boy for his benefit.