Long Gone

Acknowledgments

The idea for Long Gone came during one of my regular early morning strolls through New York City’s West Village. It was early 2009, when each cold day seemed to bring a new wave of unannounced and abrupt business closures. The familiar diner that was there on Monday would be replaced by an empty storefront on Tuesday. I found myself thinking about the employees who had lost their jobs. I wondered whether they received any more notice than the customers. I wondered what it would be like to show up at work one morning to find your entire professional life… gone.

By the time I was ready to start writing, I’d been living with that kernel of an idea for nearly a year. I felt like I knew Alice Humphrey, her family, and the other people in her life. To my surprise, during those intervening months, I also kept hearing from a missing girl and her guilt-stricken mother. To my amazement, I realized they belonged in this book as well.

Careful readers will probably recognize shadows of other recent events on the pages of Long Gone. Fictionalized versions of real world stories, either those I encountered as a prosecutor or have followed from afar, often seep into my novels. These are, of course, fictionalized, as in made up and untrue, and should not be construed as a comment upon any actual person or event.

I am so thankful to the people who help me take the voices in my head and turn them into books instead of a trip to the mental hospital: At Spitzer Literary Agency, my tremendous agent, Philip Spitzer, and his associates, Lukas Ortiz and Lucas Hunt; and at HarperCollins, Jonathan Burnham, Heather Drucker, Mark Ferguson, Angie Lee, Michael Morrison, Nicole Reardon, Jason Sack, Kathy Schneider, and Leah Wasielewski. I don’t have sufficient words of praise for the professionalism, dedication, and intelligence that my editor, Jennifer Barth, continually brings to our relationship. I’m forever appreciative.

Thanks as well to Carrie Blank, Jonathan Hayes, Nikki Jones, McKenna Jordan, Dan Judson, Julian Ku, Josh Lamborn, David Lesh, Chris Mascal, NYPD Detective Lucas Miller, Heidi and Greg Moawad, Gary Moore, Richard Rhorer, Anne-Lise Spitzer, and Richard Urrutia.

Finally, I am the luckiest girl in the world thanks to my super-cool husband, Sean.