“Houdini exerted a preternatural control over his body, wriggling out of straitjackets by dislocating his shoulders.”

“Like the pagan preternatural spirits that navigated comfortably in otherworldly and mundane environments, the neutral angels continued to serve wondrous, but not always miraculous, functions in people's everyday lives.”

“For example, I've been in the Marines for over half my life and yet I've retained a preternatural instinct for interior design.”