I didn’t think I would ever get to say this again, but I want to thank my editor, Carolyn Marino. Carolyn and I did fifteen novels together, the last of which was Born to Run in 2009. After a couple of novels without her, I’m thrilled to have her back, along with her assistant, Wendy Lee. I also want to thank my agent and friend, Richard Pine at Inkwell Management; Sally Kim for early edits on Need You Now ; and two of the best proofreaders I’ve ever known, Janis Koch (aka Conan the Grammarian) and Gloria Villa. I can assure you that any mistakes in this novel are due to late changes I made after Janis and Gloria had already read the galleys.
Connie Ryan gets a big thank-you for lending her name and her love of scouting to the other Connie Ryan, who is a fictional character in Need You Now . She now joins her husband, Tom Bales, in the literary halls of immortality (Tom lent his name to a character in Intent to Kill ). Their generosity at a character auction will benefit the children of St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School.
Finally, to my wife, Tiffany. Thank you. I love you. I need you… always.
JMG
May 14, 2011
JAMES GRIPPANDO is the New York Times bestselling author of nineteen previous novels, including Afraid of the Dark , Money to Burn , Intent to Kill , Born to Run , Last Call , Lying with Strangers , When Darkness Falls , and Got the Look . He lives in Florida, where he was a trial lawyer.
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