ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’d like to send out my thanks to all the usual suspects who make my books possible.

To my wife, Natalie, who was, once again, the first to cast her eyes over the manuscript, and thus the first to express her horror at the rat scene.

To Cate Paterson at Pan Macmillan, thank you for all of your support over the last fourteen years. I still think it’s pretty fantastic that you discovered me by finding Contest in a bookstore. And to Jon Wood at Orion in the UK, who was a fan long before he became my UK publisher.

To Catherine Day, my erstwhile editor, who keeps me honest.

To Tracey Cheetham in publicity and Jane Hayes in marketing for the many phone calls they make and take on my behalf and for being the ‘back office’ that organises my books tours; and to all the sales reps for the many hours they spend on the road between bookstores: thank you for all your hard work.

To my good friends in the military both in Australia and the US, you know who you are. Thank you for all the technical advice. Any mistakes—and fictitious weapons—are mine and mine alone, and were made over their objections. I’d also like to send a special shout-out to everyone at the Australian Army’s incredible 2nd Commando Regiment. Every Australian should know that the adjective ‘elite’ does not do our elite commandos justice; trust me, when you see them in action, their cool professionalism makes you feel very, very proud.

To the good folk at Azur resort in Queenstown, New Zealand. After being stranded in Singapore by that volcanic ash cloud in 2010, Natalie and I went to Queenstown and it was there that I sat down and, in the glorious peace of one of Azur’s lovely cabins, mapped out the story of Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves. The little collection of National Geographic magazines in their library was a great research tool, too, with excellent issues about both the Arctic and the old Soviet Union.

To those wonderful people who, in exchange for making the winning bids at charity auctions in aid of some of my favourite causes, got characters in this book named after them. They include: Peter and Lenore Grzonkowski who, a few years ago, generously paid to have the names of three teenagers, Emma Dawson, Brooke Ulacco and Bryce Ulacco in this book (sorry about the wait!); Marianne and Mike Retter (they got a fun character for their donation); Linda Duncombe who bought the name William Thompson (the Kid); and Don and Margaret Harris: their donation allowed Don to become the National Security Advisor. Don, your character may have survived this book, but mark my words, if you return in another one, you will most assuredly die a gruesome death! I promise! Let me also mention the fine charitable work of my good friend Gary ‘Smokey’ Dawson OAM, at whose Bullant Charity Challenge Gala Dinner most of the above character names were auctioned. Gary is a fine Australian who has raised millions of dollars for charity. If you want a character named after you, get a ticket to that gala, which is usually held in November.

To my Wednesday golfing buddies, the WAGS, for keeping me sociable. They have been calling me ‘Murderer’ ever since I killed one of them on page 1 of The Six Sacred Stones.

Lastly and most importantly, my sincere thanks to all of my fans out there: to those who enjoy my books on international flights or in their homes, or who come to my book signings and speeches just to say ‘Hi, I enjoy your books.’ (Sometimes people hurry past the signing table and call that out from a distance!)

I make no bones about the fact that I write to entertain. That is exactly what I do. And I firmly believe that reading for enjoyment has value in our world. So thank you just for enjoying my stuff.

Matthew Reilly
Sydney, Australia
October 2011