Rain Storm aka Choke Point

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Deepest thanks:

To my agents, Nat Sobel and Judith Weber of Sobel Weber Associates, for the conception; to my editor, David Highfill of Putnam, for the execution; and to Michael Barson and the Barsonians of Putnam, for the dissemination. What a team!

To Lori Andreini, for her continued insights into what sophisticated, sexy women like Delilah wear and how they think, and for helpful comments on the manuscript.

To my once and future sensei Koichiro Fukasawa of Wasabi Communications, for years of insight, humor, and friendship, and, as always, for helpful comments on the manuscript.

To Doug Patteson, for consistently pointing me in the right direction, for refining numerous ideas for the book’s backstory, and for his enthusiasm for John Rain generally.

To Evan Rosen, M.D., Ph.D., and Peter Zimetbaum, M.D., for once again offering (reluctant) expert advice on some of the killing techniques in this book, and for helpful comments on the manuscript.

To Ernie Tibaldi, a thirty-one-year veteran agent of the FBI, for continuing to generously share his encyclopedic knowledge of law enforcement and personal safety issues, and for helpful comments on the manuscript; to Michael Stapleton, a thirty-three-year veteran Special Agent of the FBI, for sharing his expertise on fingerprinting and DNA forensic science; and to a certain active-duty FBI agent, who must remain nameless, for sharing his expertise on defending against improvised explosive devices.

To Amelia Chan, Monica Chan, Norman Chan, Daniel Fok, and Kai Cheong Fok, for being such wonderful hosts and guides during my research visits to Macau; for training Rain in how to look like a local and blend thereby; and for sharing their many insights about the territory and the region.

To Alika Yamamura, carioca and edokko, for imparting her firsthand insights on what it means to share Japanese ethnicity and Brazilian nationality, and for furthering my understanding of Brazil and Brazilians.

To Bob Baer, for his excellent Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude, to which Kanezaki owes some of his thinking regarding the U.S.-Saudi relationship, including his comments about a conspiracy of silence and “incest.”

To Gavin De Becker for The Gift of Fear, which has helped Rain (and countless others) spot subtle signs of danger and effectively deal with potential violence.

To Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman and Loren W. Christensen for On Combat, which has helped Rain-and, more importantly, is helping countless military and law enforcement personal-successfully manage deadly force encounters. Thanks too to Dave for helpful comments on the manuscript.

To Maj. John L. Plaster USAR (Ret.), for The Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Training Manual for Military & Police Snipers, and for his other excellent books and videos on sniping, all of which provided invaluable background on and tactics for Dox; and for SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam, which continues to provide critical insight into the combat crucible that shaped Rain’s character.

To Paulo Rocco and Ana Martins of Rocco, my Brazilian publisher, for showing me around Rio, for patiently answering all my questions, and for introducing me to the joys of caipirinha (while, it must be said, failing to mention that more than two over lunch can be dangerous). In particular, my thanks to Ana for introducing me to the marvelous bar/restaurant Scenarium in Lapa and to the music of choro, both of which appear in this book.

To Ralph Gracie, Sandro “Batata” Santiago, Dave Camarillo, Cameron Earle, Misho Ceko, Tom Cicero, Alan “Gumby” Marques, and my other instructors, formal and informal, and training partners at the Ralph Gracie JiuJitsu Academy, for teaching me some of the moves that help Rain keep his edge. Special thanks to Misho for helping me choreograph the Sambo grappling techniques that appear in Dox’s confrontation with Rain, and for being such a patient teacher and all-round ii hito.

To Carlinhos Gracie and everyone at Gracie Barra in Rio, for so warmly welcoming me to train with them while I was visiting Brazil for research, for teaching me some great moves while I was there, and for tapping me out with such graciousness and good humor, and to Scottie Nelson of OnTheMat.com for showing me around town.

To Randy Adams, for teaching Rain baccarat, and to Allan Murphy, for introducing Rain to Ben’s Café in Takadanobaba, Tokyo.

To Dr. Wolfgang Gilliar, Doctor of Osteopathic, for overcoming his queasiness about my questions just enough to explain exactly what would happen to a knee that has been victimized by a sambo foot lock.

To Tom Hayse, for helping me understand how satellite phones work and how their signals are intercepted, and for helpful comments on the manuscript.

To Seb Belisarius, ex-SEAL and shootfighting and combatives instructor; Craig Douglas, former Army Ranger, narcotics agent, and combatives instructor; and Dennis Martin, VIP Protection and close quarters combatives instructor, for sharing their incredible knowledge about surveillance, close quarters combat, and tactical awareness, and in particular for making sure that Rain includes in his EDC (Every Day Carry) an E1e SureFire flashlight, a Traser wristwatch, duct tape, a pen that can be used as a tension wrench, and some other handy and devious items.

To Tony Blauer, for sharing his decades of research and experience on effectively managing violence, and in particular for his feedback on Rain’s mind-set and tactics in the final confrontation in the book.

To Matt Furey, for devising the Combat Conditioning system that Rain uses to maintain his edge, and for sharing some of his incomparable grappling expertise to make Rain’s neck cranks the deadly weapons they are.

To Marc MacYoung, Dianna Gordon, and the rest of the Animal List denizens who hang out at www.nononsenseselfdefense.com, the most eclectic, eccentric bunch of experts on everything anyone could ever imagine. In particular, thanks to Dave Bean, mad scientist and moral philosopher, for sharing his knowledge of firearms and the results of his experiments on what really works and how to do it;Alain Burrese, former army sniper, for helping me understand Dox and refine his tactics; Ed Fanning, for his thoughts on martial arts, self-defense, and the difference between the two; Jack “Spook” Finch, veteran of the Vietnam war’s Easter offensive, Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Storm, and Silver Star awardee, for sharing his knowledge of firearms and his thoughts on living with the experience of combat and killing; Frank “Pancho” Garza, for his frequent philosophizing on violence, street etiquette, and sheep; Montie Guthrie, Peter Huston, Michael “Mama Duck” Johnson, and Justin Kocher, for sharing their well-founded thoughts on how “heavy hitters” carry themselves; Marc, for his observation that snipers tend to be a soft-spoken breed and for his continued insights into personal safety, violence, and street etiquette; Kevin Menard, Savate Silver Glove, for helping me get up to speed on how Savateurs fight and outfitting Belghazi thereby; Slugg, for sharing his knowledge of firearms, his thoughts on invisibility in crowds, and his cough syrup recipe; Tristan Sutrisno, former army Special Forces, Vietnam veteran, and keeper of the dreaded Nessie, for sharing his thoughts on living with the experience of combat and killing.

To Naomi Andrews and Dan Levin, Eve Bridberg, Alan Eisler, Judy Eisler, Shari Gersten and David Rosenblatt, Joe Konrath, Matthew Powers, Owen Rennert, Ted Schlein, Hank Shiffman, Pete Wenzel, and Jonathan Zimmerman, for helpful comments on the manuscript and many valuable suggestions and insights along the way.

To my friends at Café Borrone in Menlo Park, California, for serving the best breakfasts-and especially coffee-that any writer could ask for.

Most of all, always and forever, to the best of everything, my wife, Laura.