Day Zero

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The list of people I need to thank grows longer with each book. I find myself returning to the same group of experts, and then adding more as I seek out help on more and more subjects. My friends Steve Arlow, Sonny Caudill, Nick Hefner, and John Janes offered tremendous help and insight into the mysteries and vagaries of flight and flying in large commercial aircraft as well as small bush planes. Steve Symanski helped me with mechanical aspects of airframes, FOD’s and such. Arlis Hamilton let me bounce ideas about explosives off him and nodded quietly when I got something close to correct. As always, I have taken certain literary license with the specifics of things like security procedures, where to put a bomb on an airplane, etc. because I’m not in the business of writing how-to books for terrorists. There are already plenty of those on the Internet. I hope, though, with the help of all these great resources, I’ve been able to add enough verisimilitude that folks in the know will nod and say, “Yeah, that’s pretty danged close.”

As is my habit, I consulted with my friend and jujitsu sensei Ty Cunningham regarding the fight scenes. A big thanks to Ray, Ryan, Mike, Lori, Doug, and all the folks at Northern Knives for giving me a place to talk blades, guns, fighting, and war stories.

The Yup’ik Eskimos on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska are a tough people with an incredibly rich culture. I am proud to have friends among them — Perry, James, Nathan, and Clayton to name a few.

My editor at Kensington, Gary Goldstein, my agent, Robin Rue, and her assistant, Beth Miller, continue to be great friends and mentors in this daunting business.

And, of course, my hat goes off to the men and women of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and my old friends at the United States Marshals Service who provided me friendship and grist for the writing mill for decades.

And finally, to my dear bride, who gave me two gifts the first year of our marriage: a ballistic vest, and an electric typewriter, so I could chase after both of my dreams.