Bestiary

Author’s Note and Acknowledgments

Much of the action in this book takes place in two Los Angeles locations: the J. Paul Getty Museum in Brentwood and the George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, a satellite facility of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

While most of what I write about these places is accurate, a lot of it, I’ll be the first to admit, is pure conjecture. The characters, too, are wholly fictional.

That said, these two institutions are, to my mind, the jewels in the crown of L.A., and I hope that this book conveys my boundless admiration for both.

Bestiary is also filled, as you have no doubt noticed, with a great deal of information about everything from illuminated manuscripts to paleontology. Again, much of the information is based on scrupulous research… while some of it is founded on nothing but fictional license. I will say this: For the paleontological material, I have relied heavily upon a fascinating volume called Gorgon: Paleontology, Obsession, and the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth’s History by Peter D. Ward (Viking Press, 2004) and on several books available in the Page Museum’s public bookstore. Anything I got right, I owe to these sources; everything wrong is entirely my own fault.

The same principle holds true for the sections dealing with medieval manuscripts. But I do owe a huge debt to one man: Christoper de Hamel, without whose books, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts (Phaidon Press, 1986) and Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminators (University of Toronto Press, 1992), I would not have known where to start.

Now, a note about the text: Readers of this book will occasionally come across references to a character named Arius and his mysterious relationship to Beth and Carter Cox. Anyone whose curiosity is sufficiently piqued by these references may wish to read my previous novel Vigil, in which all is made abundantly clear.

I’d also like to thank some real people, for their unflagging help and support: my editor, Natalee Rosenstein; my agent, Cynthia Manson; and my cousin, Rob Masiello (yes, I know, we spell the family surname differently), who bailed me out repeatedly with his extensive knowledge of firearms and related security issues. (Again, any mistakes are all mine.)

Finally, I’d like to thank my wife, Laurie, for seeing me through yet another of my great big book ideas. It’s never easy.