Patrick Doak amp; David Vennett:My two Washington insiders who are both serving their country with distinction in two different areas of the government. I owe you both more than a couple of drinks the next time we get together.

Mike McCarey:Ballistics, body armor, tactical gear, Mike’s knowledge of what the good guys carry and how they use it is bottomless. Thanks for all of your help and the in-depth education.

Richard Levy,American Airlines: My very good friend whose knowledge of aviation and all things German was once again right on point. The next time I’m in Dallas,I’m picking up the tab.

Dan Brown amp; Kyle Mills:I couldn’t be happier for your respective successes. Thanks for being there to talk about the process. Your wit and wisdom went further than you can imagine.

I would also like to thank:

“Crazy” Kenny Murrayfor his help in the flashbang department.John Chaffee, Ph.D. for plugging me in with the portable nuke info.Charlie Connolly for his international economic info.Richard R. Greene, LD for his O.R. assistance.Phil Redman for his communications wisdom. Tom Gosse for the interment lesson, as well asBill Fecke who went the extra mile for me at Congressional Cemetery.Bob Boettcher for his help with the Citation X. And finally,Rudi Asseer at Farallon for all the DPV help.

In addition to those mentioned above, there are a handful of very key people I couldn’t live without:

Emily Bestler,Atria Books, who is my superb editor. It hardly seems fair to call what we do together work. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow, and for becoming such a wonderful friend in the process.

Heide Lange,Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, who is my agent extraordinaire. Thanks not only for feeding me dinner the night the lights went out in NYC, but for every other thing, both great and small, you do for me on a daily basis.

Judith Curr amp; Louise Burke,Atria/Pocket Books, who are my publishers both in hardcover and paperback. In addition to having a fabulous agent and editor, as a writer you also need to have terrific publishers who believe in your work and want to do whatever it takes to help you succeed. I am fortunate enough to have that in both Judith and Louise.

Esther Sung and Sarah Branham,who put in loads of work day in and day out, yet still found time to make some major contributions to the novel. As always, I am deeply appreciative.

Scott Schwimer,who is equal parts brains and brawn. I sleep a lot sounder at night knowing he is on my side of the table. Thanks for being my guide through the maze of Hollywood.

The Atria/Pocket Sales Force-Simply put, nobody does it better. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for me.

The Atria/Pocket Art Department-Paolo, et al., thanks once again for the fabulous artwork.

The Atria/Pocket Books Publicity Department-Radio, TV, print…you always have a million balls in the air and you handle every single one of them masterfully. Many, many thanks.

Finally, I couldn’t close without thanking you, the readers. In the end, all of the hard work is for you. Thank you for your continued support and all of the wonderful letters and emails.

Sincerely,

Brad Thor