The Last Detective

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Eli and Tara Lucas, masters of Emydon out of Petersburg, Alaska, provided information about commercial fishing and the Alaskan brown bear; more important, they allowed me to share in the richness of their lives.

Kregg P.J. Jorgenson and Kenn Miller provided insight and detail about U.S. Army Rangers, Ranger operations, and LRRP (lurp) missions conducted during the Vietnam war. Gary Linderer provided additional information. The liberties taken with reality (i.e., use of the term hoo) are my responsibility, as are all errors of fact.

Randy Sherman, MD, Professor and Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the USC School of Medicine, provided information, illustrations, and early-morning counsel on wounds, wound trauma, and recovery; Joe Pike could not have a finer surgeon.

Elyse Dinh-McCrillis provided Vietnamese translations.

Detective-3 John Petievich, LAPD – retired, opened doors to Missing Persons operations within the Los Angeles Police Department.

Additional thanks go to Aaron Priest. Jason Kaufman, Steve Rubin, and Gina Centrello made it better, and demonstrated patience beyond any that could reasonably be expected. Thank you.