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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 by Michael Farris Smith

The first chapter of The Hands of Strangers first appeared in slightly different form as a story titled “Anywhere” in The Summerset Review.

Previously published in 2011 by Main Street Rag Publishing.

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First Simon & Schuster ebook edition July 2014

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Interior design by Akasha Archer

Jacket design by Jason Heuer

Jacket art by Getty Images

ISBN 978-1-4767-8847-0