hank you, first and foremost, to my early draft readers, Lee Brockmann and Ed Gaffney. (Thanks, also, to Deede Bergeron and Patricia McMahon, who were standing by, ready to help!)

Thank you to the wonderful people at Ballantine Books, who work hard to put the latest installment of my ongoing series featuring SEAL Team Sixteen, Troubleshooters Inc., and Max Bhagat’s FBI Counter-terrorist team into readers’ hands as quickly as humanly possible: Gina Centrello, Linda Marrow, Arielle Zibrak, and Signe Pike. Thank you, also, to my wonderful editor, Shauna Summers.

Thanks to Gail LeBlanc for lending me her name!

Thanks to Vivian Tönnies for helping with German translations, to Erika Schutte for standing ready with information on Kenya, and to Major Michelle Gomez USAF, Retired, for too many things to list!

Thanks to the home team: Ed, Jason and Melanie Gaffney, and Sugar and Spice, the world’s greatest schnauzers.

Thanks, as always, to Eric Ruben, Steve Axelrod, and Tina Trevaskis.

Thanks to everyone involved in my Target: Tampa weekend: Maya Stosskopf of EMA, Gilly Hailparn and the publicity team at Ballantine Books, and my wonderful guest authors: Catherine Mann, Alesia Holliday, and Chuck Pfarrer.

A shout out to the Target: Tampa volunteer coordinators—Suzie Bernhardt, Karen Metheny, and Sue Smallwood—who made this weekend-long gathering of readers possible, as well as all of the wonderful volunteers: Elizabeth and Lee Benjamin, Lee Brockmann, Jeanne Glynn, Michelle Gomez, Kim Harkins, Stephanie Hyacinth, Beki & Jim Keene, Regina LaMonica, Kay Luecke, Laura Luke, Jeanne Mangano, Heather McHugh, Peggy Mitchell, Barbara Mize, Dorbert Ogle, Gail Reddin, Marla Snead, Shannon Short, Erika Shutte, and Melissa Thompson. You rock!

An extra thanks to Maya for coming up with the promotional line “The war is within” for the (fictional!) movie American Hero, and to Kathy Lague for letting Max borrow her Giant Forks from Outer Space nightmare.

Check my website at www.SuzanneBrockmann.com/Appearances.htm for information about my next readers weekend. You’ll also find information about my west coast Breaking Point July 2005 book tour!

Last but certainly not least, thank you to my readers. I love hearing from you via e-mail and letters, chatting with you on my bulletin board, and meeting you at book signings.

As always, any mistakes I’ve made or liberties I’ve taken are completely my own.