Last to die

Acknowledgments

Carolyn Marino and Richard Pine were as usual a tremendous help in shaping this story, but my gratitude goes way beyond that. Whenever aspiring writers ask my advice, I tell them that rule number one is “Keep it fun.” I’m not sure how you do that without the best editor and agent in the business, but thankfully that’s something I don’t have to worry about.

As always, I am indebted to my readers/critics-at-large for the comments on early manuscripts, Dr. Gloria M. Grippando (thanks, Mom), Eleanor Rayner, Amy Kovner, and Cece Sanford. Wesley Reid was more helpful than he realizes on traveling in Africa (be careful what you say, it might end up in a book), and on the legal side I am again grateful to probate attorney Clay Craig for his insights into “the Slayer Statute” and other mysterious doings in the world of “Whisper Court.” Of course, the mistakes are all mine, including those in Found Money. (Okay, Clay, are we square now?)

Many people contributed to my understanding of modern-day child slave trading in Africa, including Sudarsan Raghavan and Sumana Chatterjee; the staff of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman, Senate Agricultural Committee; and a long list of other people at Anti-Slavery International, the U.S. Department of Labor, the United Nations, International Labour Organisation, Free the Slaves, and the Child Labor Coalition. Thank you as well to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the United States of America, American Cocoa Research Institute, and the World Cocoa Foundation, which provided information on the international chocolate industry and the harvest of cocoa.

Once again, I got a little help on character names, this time from the Roberts family, whose generous contribution at the annual auction in support of St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School in Coral Gables, Florida, earned them a fictional trip to Africa. For an extra five hundred bucks, I would have packed you bug spray. Better luck next year.

Finally, for Tiffany-Thank you, I love you, I could write a book about you. But I promise you, I won’t.