your answer will be, now. Will you promise me you will sleep on it, though, and talk to Bret in the morning? And then talk to me. Morales is a problem we’ve never encountered before. Not since the Disappearance, anyway. A madman in charge of an emerging super-state. He’s already rattling the sabre over the Falklands. You know what that means, Caitlin. You know how far the consequences can run. How people like this can imperil innocents, even on the far side of the world.’
He didn’t do anything so gauche as letting his gaze drift upstairs to where her children were sleeping. He didn’t have to. He knew her too well.
Caitlin was quiet for a long time. Finally she pushed herself up out of her chair.
‘I’m going to bed, Wales. I’ll see you in the morning.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
So, the end of a story. Time not just to look back and say thank-you to everyone who contributed to this book, but also to the other two that came before it. Some have been with me all the way. Betsy Mitchell, Cate Paterson, Joel Naoum, Jon Gibbs and Nicola O’Shea at Random and Pan Macmillan. Russ Galen, my agent. You don’t know them, but without them you would not be holding this book in your hands.
Others popped in and out during the long journey, editing here, publishing there, sprinkling fairy dust on the marketing and publicity machine. Yes, that black engine. They all need to be given a hearty slap on the back and bought a drink as well, because the Disappearance series was mostly published in the darkest days of the Great Recession and the tireless efforts of the sales and marketing teams from both houses need a particularly loud ‘Huzzah!’ Most of you, I never even meet. But you have my deep thanks for what is largely a thankless job.
And hell, while we’re on it, how about a shout out to the frontline troops. The guys and gals in bookstores, actual real world bookstores, with shelves and everything, who’ve sold so many copies of these babies for me. Some of you I do know personally. Most I don’t. Again, thank you.
On a personal note, as ever, props to my blog buddies. They know who they are and how much they contribute to the creation of each book. One of the really lovely things about the modern world is the way that authors don’t have to hide themselves in the garret all the time now. If you want to reach out and spend time with your readers, even make some of them your friends, you can do so. My readers and friends hang out my blog, Cheeseburger Gothic.
Many more hang out at the digital cocktail party known as Twitter. Hugely distracting, but enormous fun, this social not-working service has become a very important part of my work. The cloud is the greatest instant feedback service ever cobbled together from electrons and rubber bands. I can’t possibly even begin to name everyone who’s helped me out with a research question or a bit of encouragement there. They know who they are.
And last, but most importantly. Jane, Anna and Thomas. The rest of you get the best of me. My public face. All shiny and smiley and scrubbed till my belly button shines.
They get the real me. The deadline me. The scruffy, smelly, grumpy where’s-my-goddamned-cup-of-coffee me. Feel for them.
I do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Birmingham is the author of the cult classic
Between writing books he contributes to a wide range of newspapers and magazines on topics as diverse as the future of media and national security. Before becoming a writer he began his working life as a research officer with the Defence
Department’s Office of Special Clearances and Records.
John Birmingham refuses to build a website, but you can find him online at his blog, http://cheeseburgergothic.com and on Twitter @johnbirmingham.
Also by John Birmingham
ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
John Birmingham
Without Warning
A wave of inexplicable energy has slammed into America. And destroyed it.
What will the world do without its last superpower?
For the jihadists, Allah has performed a miracle. For the US and its allies, Armageddon has arrived. Australasia, far from the noxious waste darkening Europe’s skies, beckons as a possible oasis.
Who and what will fill the void?
John Birmingham
After America
Four years after an inexplicable wave of energy decimated the American mainland, and then just as inexplicably disappeared a year later, US President James Kipper is no closer to explaining the catastrophe to the traumatised survivors.
In a decaying New York City, an assassination attempt on the President prompts the suspicion that the looters overrunning Manhattan may be more organised and sinister than previously thought.
Working on a farm in Texas to earn his citizenship, Miguel Pieraro believes in the promise of the New America. That is until tragedy cuts through his family.
In the English countryside, Echelon agent Caitlin Monroe must once again fight for her life, a sharp reminder that her nemesis is active again.
Then out of the smoking ruin of the Middle East comes an enemy that will be Kipper’s toughest challenge yet. The battle for the Wild East is just beginning, but does this New America, and its gun-shy President, have the strength of will to destroy the past in order to save the future?
John Birmingham
Weapons of Choice: World War 2.1
