Thanks are due to: Patrick Walsh, my agent at Pew Literary who kept the faith; Martin Fletcher; Ellie Wood; and Tim “Hawk-eye” Pedley. My experts, advisers and facilitators include: Professor Carole Mundell and Tim Kaner of Bath University; Professor Tim O’Brien of Jodrell Bank; Dr Karen Bower; Oli Wood and Eric Pinkerton; DCI Andy Mortimer of the Metropolitan Police; Colonel (ret’d) AWG Snook OBE, late PARA; Dr Eamon McCrory of UCL and Philip McGill. Thanks too to Mei Lin; Grahame Morris, MP and Karie Murphy; Michael Reilly-Cooper; Dr Malcolm Bates; Nick Mann; Dr Will Elliott and Dr Stephanie Greenwell FRCA. They have done their best to keep me right with the facts. Any willful misinterpretations and outright mistakes are of my own making.
I also received guidance and support from: David Morrell (the Father of Rambo); Steven James; Jem Poster; Sarah Hall; Shelley Weiner; Venetia Butterfield; Lisanne Radice; Sophie Wilson; Carrie Plitt from Conville and Walsh; John Ash at Pew; Georgina Aldridge and the team at Clay’s; Charlotte Summers; Sophie Atkinson; Stephen Waddington; Iain Dale; Warren Shore; Sorrel Briggs, Ella Paul, Lottie Macdonald, Megan Constable; Rob Watts; Andrew Alderson and the legendary Ray Wells. Special thanks are due to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for her timely and generous pre-publication advice, as well as to Karen Robinson, and Anne Cater.
First readers and cheerleaders include: Sue Brooks and Andrew Macdonald; Abigail Bosanko; Angela Barnes; John Woodman; Joanne Robertson; Fiona Ward; Allison Joynson; David Paul; Clare Grant; Fiona Sharp; Helen Le Fevre and Tim Burt; Marie Sedgwick and Grace Coates; Mary and Stuart Manley; and Mary Major. Hey, it takes a village.
In particular, I need to acknowledge Helen Chappell for her brilliant design and IT skills, as well as her advice on algorithms and probability, and of course her friendship.