Power Play

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Could it happen?

Even though this story is fiction, the premise-the kidnap-for-ransom of a major corporation's entire top leadership-is one of those scary possibilities that give corporate security directors insomnia. Or should. There have been a few, isolated cases of executives taken hostage: The best known is probably Thomas Hargrove, whose long captivity by guerrillas in Colombia inspired the Russell Crowe/Meg Ryan movie Proof of Life. But nothing like this, thank God, has ever been attempted.

Not yet, anyway…

As usual, I tried to get the details as accurate as possible, and as usual I couldn't have done it without my expert sources. Let me start with one man who did more than anyone to keep things real: Richard M. Rogers, the near-legendary former commander of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. Dick's willingness to run through scenario after scenario with me was an immense help; I can't thank him enough. Thanks to my friend Harry "Skip" Brandon, formerly of the FBI and now an international security consultant based in D.C., for introducing us.

On the secretive business of kidnapping and hostage negotiation and recovery, I was advised by Gary Noesner of Control Risks Group, Tom Clayton of Clayton Consulting, Frederick J. Lanceley of Crisis Negotiation Associates, Sean McWeeney of Corporate Risk International, and Dominick Misino, former hostage negotiator with the New York City Police Department. Gary Bangs, who runs the kidnap/ransom and extortion unit at the Chubb Group, explained K &R insurance to me. My invaluable team of security consultants included Roland Cloutier of the EMC Corporation, Jeff Dingle of LSI Security Services, and Mark Spencer of EvidentData.

On money-laundering, my experts included Matthew Fleming of Detica Inc; Thomas Erdin of EW Asset Management in Mдnnedorf, Switzerland; David Caruso of the Dominion Advisory Group; Barry Koch, global head of anti-money-laundering for American Express; and, most of all, one alarmingly knowledgeable friend in London who wishes to go unnamed. Gary Sefcik of Mellon Global Cash Management, the financial journalist Danny Bradbury, and Tom Cimeno of the Boston Private Bank all briefed me on the intricacies of bank security and electronic funds transfers. Ernie Ten Eyck, a forensic accountant, helped structure Geoff Latimer's scam (and explained how it might be uncovered). My old friend and unindicted co-conspirator, Giles McNamee, of McNamee Lawrence in Boston, once again devised some really clever schemes.

A truly top-notch legal team guided me on internal corporate investigations and various corporate shenanigans: Paul Dacier, general counsel of the EMC Corporation; Jamie Gorelick of WilmerHale; Nell Minow of the Corporate Library; Craig Stewart of Arnold & Porter; and Judge Stanley Sporkin. But, most of all, Eric Klein of Katten Muchin Rosenman in L.A., who shared his wide-ranging expertise with great generosity. Peter Reinharz, former chief of New York City's Juvenile Prosecution Unit, told me how the New York State juvenile justice system works (and doesn't). I was particularly moved, and inspired, by Dwight Edgar Abbott's powerful account of his years in the California Youth Authority, I Cried, You Didn't Listen.

On the aerospace business, I got some excellent in-depth background from the CFO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, Chris Kubasik. (Boeing flatly refused to cooperate-protecting their trade secrets against the threat of suspense fiction, I guess-with the sole exception of a spokeswoman, Loretta Gunter, who was nevertheless hamstrung in what she was allowed to tell me.) But I got plenty of insider detail from former Boeing execs who don't want to be named, as well as the veteran aerospace reporter Jim Wallace of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer; Ralph D. Heath, Lockheed's executive vice president for Aeronautics; and Greg Phillips, former senior air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. On the ways and wiles of the business world in general, I received astute advice from my friend Scott Schoen of Thomas H. Lee Partners; Joanna Jacobson (who shared some keen insights into the challenges of being a female CEO); and, once again, my friend Bill Teuber, the vice chairman of EMC.

Professor James H. Williams of MIT gave me an overview of the use of composite materials in airplanes (and how hard it is to know when they're damaged). Les Cohen of Hitco Carbon Composites explained how a composite vertical tail is manufactured; and Michael Bacal of the Hexcel Corporation and Bill Webb of Cytec Engineered Materials told me about adhesives technology. Thanks as well to Sara Black, technical editor of High-Performance Composites (a great name for a rock band, as Dave Barry would say). But no one was more unstinting with his time and expertise on this stuff than Dr. Seth Kessler, president and co-founder of Metis Design in Cambridge, who first told me about "chicken rivets." For that alone I owe the guy big-time.

Rivers Inlet is a real place, a remote salmon-fishing paradise on the central coast of British Columbia. I thank Pat Ardley of Rivers Lodge and especially John Beath of Rivers Inlet Resort for helping me get it right, mostly. Thanks as well to Maciek Jaworski, head fly-fishing guide at King Pacific Lodge, Princess Royal Island, B.C.; Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard, for some great details. Ron MacKay, of Forensic Behavioural Analysis in Ottawa, told me about the Canadian RCMP. My thanks as well to Brick Ranson of Ocean Marketing in Guilford, Connecticut; John Harris of Harris Digital Networks; the forensic pathologist Dr. Stan Kessler; my fellow watch fetishist, the writer Paul Guyot; my firearms expert, Dr. Edward Nawotka; my Special Forces source, Kevin O'Brien; and my weapons and tactics adviser since my first novel, Jack McGeorge. Jack Hoban, expert in the Bujinkan method and former instructor in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, was Jake's trainer. My brother Dr. Jonathan Finder gave some useful medical advice, as did Dr. Tom Workman. For help with Spanish, my thanks to Marguitte Suarez and to Carlos Ramos of my Spanish publisher Roca Editorial.

For all those team-building offsite games that my guys didn't get to play, I got some great ideas from John Sargent, CEO of Holtzbrinck USA; his friend Tom Zierk; Richard Vass of Offsite Adventures; and David Goldstein of Teambonding. Ed Hurley-Wales of Workscape helped with Ali's HR career.

A couple of people made generous contributions to charities in exchange for the naming rights to some of my characters: Pamela Daut, who donated to California State University at Fullerton on behalf of her son, Peter Daut; and Deborah Yen Fecher, who contributed to the Center for Women and Enterprise on behalf of her son, Ryan Fecher.

I've come to consider my publisher, St. Martin's Press, my publishing family, and I'm grateful to everyone there for their constant support, from Paranoia on. Sally Richardson, president and publisher, has been the greatest cheerleader and advocate, as have Holtzbrinck CEO John Sargent; Matthew Shear, vice president and publisher of the paperback division; Matt Baldacci, VP and marketing director, editor in chief George Witte; and executive editor Jen Enderlin. And Publicity Director John Murphy, Alison Lazarus, Steve Kleckner, Merrill Bergenfeld, Jeff Capshew, Dori Weintraub, Andy LeCount, Brian Heller. Ken Holland, Tom Siino, Rob Renzler, Christina Harcar, Nancy Trypuc, Bob Williams, Anne Marie Tallberg, Sofrina Hinton, Ronni Stolzenberg, Esther Robinson, Steve Troha, Harriet Seltzer, Chris Holder, Craig Libman, and Gregory Gestner. At Audio Renaissance, publisher Mary Beth Roche and Laura Wilson. And the artists who come up with such great covers: Michael Storrings, Jerry Todd, and creative director Steve Snider.

I'm fortunate to have a couple of wonderful assistants: Sarah Blodgett, who runs my office and lets me write my books, and my web goddess, Ellen Clair Lamb.

My wife, Michele Souda, endured my long absences during the writing of this book with patience and constant encouragement. Our daughter, Emma, always knows how to cheer me up and restore my perspective. Special thanks to my brother Henry Finder, a brilliant editor, who gave generously of his limited time (since he does, after all, have a day job) and whose editorial advice I always value. Molly Friedrich is not just a terrific agent but also a trusted editor; her input on this book at a crucial point really got me back on track.

And what can I say about my editor, Keith Kahla, that I haven't said before? I lucked out, getting an editor like Keith. He really worked overtime on this book, completely transforming an early draft. There isn't an aspect of my publishing career that he doesn't care about. What success I've had in publishing I owe largely to him-for which I'm eternally grateful.