The Patriots' Club

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance: Detective First Grade (retired) Thomas McKenna, NYPD; Special Agent-in-Charge (retired) Thomas Sloan of the United States Secret Service; Dr. Doug Fischer, Special Agent with the California Department of Justice; Dr. Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro; Dr. Raghu Ramakrishnan; Richard Brookhiser; Jeffrey Kroessler; Bob Friedman at the Blackstone Group; Tom Flanagan at Lehman Brothers; the kind folks at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan; and my good friend, Niklaus Leuenberger at The Peninsula Hotel New York.

A special thank-you to Dan Starer of ResearchforWriters.com, also in New York. Dan is a wiz at finding whatever a writer needs, and I’m always happy to thoroughly recommend his services.

At Bantam Dell, I offer my thanks to Irwyn Applebaum, Nita Taublib, Micahlyn Whitt, Susan Corcoran, Betsy Hulsebosch, and most especially to my editor, Bill Massey.

Every author owes a huge debt to his family. My wife, Sue, is a partner in every aspect of my work. Words are not enough…

Finally, I’d like to thank my agent, Richard Pine, to whom this book is dedicated, and his colleagues at Inkwell Management, especially the indefatigable Lori Andiman.

Author’s Note: It is normal for both the House and Senate to be adjourned prior to the Presidential Inauguration. I took it upon myself to convene a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee during that time. I hope our august legislators will pardon the license taken.

Christopher Reich

Olivenhain, California

April 2005