I would like to thank my parents, who both sadly passed when I was a teenager. When I was a child, they were great believers in the written word, so I was encouraged to read from an early age. For my tenth birthday, they bought me The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and my love of crime fiction and crime thrillers was born. From that point on, I read everything I could find at the library, especially Agatha Christie.
A few years later I watched John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People starring Alec Guinness on the BBC and was so enthralled by his portrayal of the spymaster Smiley that I saved up my pocket money to buy the books. I was hooked on the spy/thriller genre. I would go to the library on a Saturday and bring home books by such authors as Graham Greene, Alistair MacLean, Gerald Seymour, Frederick Forsyth, and James Grady as well as many more. In short, I would like to thank all those thriller writers for how they influenced a young, working class, English teenager into one day pursuing a writing career.
Thank you to all those who have been willing to act as beta readers for this manuscript, especially fellow chef and writer Will Pieratt who, over many a glass of bourbon, has offered advice and encouragement.
Many thanks to Doctors Meek and Barko for their input regarding any medical questions and all those with the local medical examiner’s office who were gracious with their time and extremely helpful.
To the exceptional people at Blackstone for all their assistance in bringing The Vicar to fruition. Especially Josh Stanton, Josie Woodbridge, Levi Coren, Ananda Finwall, Alex Cruz, and Celia Johnson.
Lastly, to all the men and women of the British Army with whom I served. It was an honor and a privilege.