Dying Is My Business

Reve Azrael. She stared at me through the homunculus.

Stared at me the way she always used to back in the fallout shelter.

She waved her hand, casting a spell. There was a brief flash as the homunculus was destroyed, and then the screen went blank.

About the Author

NICHOLAS KAUFMANN is the author of General Slocum’s Gold, Chasing the Dragon, and Still Life: Nine Stories. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Thriller Award. He and his wife live in Brooklyn, New York. Visit his Web site at www.nicholaskaufmann.com.

Acknowledgments

An enormous amount of thanks are due to Daniel Braum, M.M. De Voe, Ben Francisco, Sarah Langan, and David Wellington for their invaluable help. Many thanks as well to Richard Curtis and Michael Homler for making this happen. And, as always, to Mongo Bettina for lighting the way.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

DYING IS MY BUSINESS. Copyright © 2013 by Nicholas Kaufmann. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Ervin Serrano

Cover illustration by Chris McGrath

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available upon request

ISBN 978-1-250-03610-0 (trade paperback)

ISBN 978-1-250-03609-4 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781250036094

First Edition: October 2013