The police theorized that the American student was an immoral girl who was involved in some kind of sex game gone wrong. And despite evidence that was severely compromised—or fabricated—Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted. The pair served four years of a twenty-six-year sentence in an Italian jail before their murder convictions were overturned on October 3, 2011. Subsequently, Knox returned to America.
Experts agree that bungled evidence at the scene of the crime and an international press corps bent on attacking Amanda’s character for the sake of selling newspapers (her MySpace handle was “Foxy Knoxy”) contributed to her conviction.
For more information about the nonfiction behind the fiction in Betrayal, as well as a discussion guide and resources about the case, visit: www.emptycoffnseries.com.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I CAN’T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT the YA community of bloggers and readers who have made my foray into this exciting new genre the most wonderful part of my career as a writer. When I’ve been on tour, one of the questions that keeps coming up is, “What’s the difference between YA readers and the readers of your adult fiction or true crime?” The answer is YOU. You bring the kind of curiosity and passion to the reading experience that is unique to your genre. (This doesn’t matter if you’re twelve or sixty.) While all of you who have interacted with me via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or in person have been an amazing gift, I am going to single out ten YA bloggers here because my publisher says I can only pick ten! Here they are (in no particular order, of course!): Bunny Cates, Haley Hagen, Amanda Welling, Stacey O’Neale, Lindsay Mead, Jennifer Derasmo, Evie Seo, Jennifer Stone, Liz Bankes, and Jillian Van Leer.
So much to say about the amazing and talented people at Sterling/Splinter—maybe too much! Katrina Damkoehler’s design work takes my breath away. Her covers and the beautifully designed book interiors she’s created for this series couldn’t be more perfect in my eyes. My sincere thanks to Judi Powers, the best publicity person in the business (who also happens to have the cutest dog on the planet, next to my own, of course); Katie Connors, who knows her way around social media like no one else; and Director of Library Marketing Chris Vaccari, who hosted me at the Public Libraries Association convention in Philadelphia this year. Nothing’s better than being in front of two hundred librarians! Thanks to Marilyn Kretzer and her foreign rights team for getting Envy into the hands of so many readers all over the world. Meaghan Finnerty and Scott Amerman: thanks so much for your hard work on behalf of the series. If I wore a hat, I’d take it off to Cindy Loh, my amazingly passionate (and skilled!) editor who loves each character in the series as much as I do. Cindy has now left Sterling for a brand-new challenge, so I want to say something here about Meredith Mundy, into whose capable hands Betrayal has landed. People in publishing often talk about how books are “orphaned” when an acquiring editor leaves and passes a project along to someone else—and how awful that can be. I am grateful for the care that Meredith has shown in this last leg of the journey of getting Betrayal in print. All along the process, she has made me feel that she cares about the characters, the spirit of the book, and making it the best it can be. That means a lot to readers, but it means even more to me. Thanks, Meredith.
I’d like to use this space to give a shout-out to Adrian Greenwood, UK Sales Director for Sterling, and his partner in crime on our UK tour, Andrea Reece, publicist extraordinaire. I will never forget the highs and lows of our visit in support of Envy last fall.
There are many people to thank at the scene of the crime, Port Gamble, but first and foremost my appreciation goes to Shana Smith of Olympic Property Management, who has cheerfully supported the Empty Coffin series from its inception at the town’s ghost conferences.
Cheers to my amazing fans, friends, and readers. At the top of the list for this series: Annette Anderson, Lori and Shane Jones, Ken Jensen, Eve Oney, Ruthanne Devlin, Jim Thomsen, Peter Raffa, Rebecca Morris, Susan Raihofer, Eric Thompson, Tina Marie Brewer, and Suri Marie.
One of the greatest honors of my career is the selection of the first book in the Empty Coffin series as Washington State’s pick for the National Book Festival later this year. Thanks to Lori Thornton and the Washington State Library for choosing Envy to represent our great state.
While all of this is personal, I’d like to take a moment to go a little deeper and share my appreciation for family and friends who have been generally amazing over the years. Thanks to my brother Gary for caring for our father with kindness and humor. Dad is so lucky to have a son like you, Gary.
Finally, gratitude and love to my three girls—Claudia, my love and best critic (toughest for sure!), and our twin daughters, Marta and Morgan, whose existence reminds me every second of the day that the greatest gift of my life is being their father.
Throughout his career, GREGG OLSEN has demonstrated an ability to create a detailed narrative that offers readers fascinating insights into the lives of people (real or imagined) caught in extraordinary circumstances. A New York Times bestselling and award-winning author, Olsen has written eight novels and eight nonfiction books, and contributed a critically acclaimed short story to a collection edited by Lee Child—with sales of more than 1.5 million copies. Olsen’s debut young adult novel, Envy, was selected to represent Washington State in the 2012 National Book Festival.
Olsen’s books have been translated into ten languages.
The author has been interviewed on the History Channel, Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, 48 Hours, Oxygen’s Snapped, Court TV’s Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, A&E’s Biography, and was featured on Mysteries at the Museum and Deadly Women.
Olsen, a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington, with his wife, a couple of chickens, and two dogs: Milo (an obedience-challenged cocker spaniel) and Suri (a mini dachshund with a huge need to be in charge).
Praise for ENVY
“Gregg Olsen’s Envy is a riveting page-turner that I could not put down. Like Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, Envy explores a serious topic—cyberbullying—in a fantastic, well-crafted story. Can’t wait for the next Empty Coffin novel!”
—Nancy Holder, New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked saga and Dear Bully contributor
“Gregg Olsen’s Envy offers an interesting view on the devastating effects bullying can have, not only on the individuals involved from both sides, but on the community at large.”
—Bree Despain, author of The Dark Divine trilogy
“Olsen’s characters jump to life and his plots are so intricate you never see the killer coming. . . . [Envy] is a definite hit!”