The Janus Reprisal

Author’s Note

My first experience with Robert Ludlum’s novels was through my mother, who came home one day with his book The Matarese Circle and proceeded to read it while making dinner and preparing for work. She was a jazz singer in Chicago at the time and would vocalize in the early evening before heading to the clubs. Not so that day. That day she was silent, reading. She finished it in twenty-four hours and then raved as she passed it to me. From that novel, our mutual love of thrillers was born. My favorite was, and still is, The Bourne Identity. A nearly perfect plot for a thriller.

When I was asked to write this novel, I thought about what made Robert Ludlum’s books so fascinating. Pacing, certainly, and plot, yes, but also characters. You really cared if Jason Bourne would discover his true identity, and you worried along with him that what he would discover would be abhorrent to him. I wanted to write about Jon Smith with the same humanity, and I wanted to give him a high-stakes plot that also fit within our current worldview. I also wanted to add some interesting tidbits from the real world, and so while this book is fiction, there are two aspects that are not.

First, the “electric” bacteria Shewanella MR-1 is real and does colonize, conduct through metal, and breathe through tiny wirelike pili. The Navy has been testing it to determine if it has the ability to generate electricity. It does, and from what I could gather, testing appears to continue. I didn’t find any studies regarding weaponizing it as described in the novel, and I hope there never will be.

Second, Nolan’s mining and use of “kilodollars” are actually based on a currency system called “Bitcoins.” I read about Bitcoins in a Forbes article some time ago, and I find the idea of a virtual currency that can be mined from the Internet fascinating.

However, the hotel under attack in the beginning of the novel is fictional and its architecture is a mixture of several hotels in The Hague and in the suburb of Scheveningen. If you’re planning on visiting either location, you can sleep without worry.

I’d like to thank Mr. Kevin Ortiz of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority for his assistance with some of the aspects of the New York subway system. While security considerations made it impossible for him to answer all of my questions, he helped me with facts and figures when he could. Any mistakes are mine.

I’d also like to thank my agent, Barbara Poelle; the Estate of Robert Ludlum, for giving me the opportunity to create a story using Mr. Ludlum’s characters; Henry Morrison, agent for the Estate; and everyone at Grand Central Publishing, for guiding me through the process. Thank you to my editor, Jaime Levine, for her astute insights and suggestions; my second editor, Mitch Hoffman, who picked up the reins so seamlessly; my production editor, Kallie Shimek; and my copy editor, Georgia Maas. As always, thank you to my family for their support and enthusiasm.

And lastly, to the late Mr. Robert Ludlum. It’s been an honor to play a small role in continuing his legacy. This book was a pleasure to write, and I hope that you enjoy reading it.

Jamie Freveletti

May 8, 2012