I want to thank my sister, PJ, whose in-depth knowledge of theater and drama, as well as her clear understanding of the art of successful storytelling proved invaluable to me in this project. I never attempted a fictional work on this scale before, and she took the time to help me understand what makes a story work and what causes a story to fail. She was one of my earliest and most helpful volunteer editors. Watch for her new, soon-to-be-released play about the love affair between Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. I expect it will get a lot of well-deserved attention from the public.

Other volunteer editors who helped enormously in this venture include my wife, Louise, whose training in psychology and years of clinical experience provided a wealth of insights and suggestions regarding character development in the story. She also came up with the story's title.

My brother, Mark, also played an invaluable role as a volunteer editor and reviewer. He didn't hesitate to tell me when I'd written something good or when I screwed up royally with some part of the story. My mother, Marvonne, also read a later version of the manuscript and made a number of useful suggested changes.

My good friend, Rich Blackwell, of Reston, Virginia, played a key role as a volunteer editor and reviewer. His insights into police and FBI procedures made those segments of the novel much more believable than I might otherwise have portrayed them. I can't wait for your first novel, Rich!

Special thanks to my niece, Michaela, whose love for life and ability to live within the moment inspired in part the character of Michaela Knight.

Greg LaFever of Cincinnati, Ohio did a fabulous job with the cover illustration. I very much appreciate his patience in continuing to render and re-render the image that resided in my mind until it came out exactly right. He has incredibly great talent as an illustrator.

Mona and Dan of Ciao Bella Photos in Warrenton, Virginia did a great job with the photo on the back cover.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my professional editor, June M. Saunders of A+ Wordsmith in Clifton, New Jersey, who did a marvelous job of helping me clean up the remaining typographic, punctuation, word usage, phrasing, and other problems in the novel after my volunteer editors did their part.

I take sole responsibility for the resulting product, including any remaining faults or typos you might find within it.