I have never been to Chechnya and was, therefore, reliant on the published work of a number of writers and journalists. They are Arkady Babchenko, Yuri Felshtinsky, the late Alexander Litvinenko and Anna Politkovskaya. Politkovskaya’s work was particularly invaluable as she spoke to both Russians and Chechens directly caught up in the last two conflicts. Much of it makes sombre reading. I also recommend the travel journals of Colin Thubron and Andrew Meier, especially for Meier’s historical perspective on Russia. To gain an understanding of combat, I must make mention of Sniper One by Sergeant Dan Mills, a riveting narrative of fighting under siege in Iraq.
Personal thanks are due to Phillip Williams, Operations Manager, The Refugee Council, Birmingham, for giving up a morning in a very busy schedule to talk to me. Any views expressed in the book are entirely my take, and with poetic licence, and are not necessarily representative of the Council. I’m grateful to Jim O’Kane, formerly of the Mine Action Coordination Centre, who was assiduous in providing me with up-to-date information on mines and whose knowledge was key for a major scene in the novel. Thanks also to Eddie Todd, of VIP Helicopters, Doncaster, for entertaining me with hilarious tales of flying derring-do, and who provided the inspiration for Tallis’s unconventional flight to Berlin. Huge thanks to Martin Rutty at Fly-Q, Leominster, for his generosity, humour and patience, more especially for introducing me to the thrills of flying at two thousand feet! Any technical mistakes in the text are my own, not his.
As always, I’m grateful to my agent, Broo Doherty, for her tireless enthusiasm and friendship, to Catherine Burke, my editor at MIRA, and, indeed, all the MIRA team. Ali Karim and Mike Stotter, of Shots magazine, deserve a special mention for rooting for Tallis from the very beginning.
Lastly, this was a difficult book to write. In common with many thriller writers, I study the news, apply the what if principle, add two and two and come up with five. Essentially, I write fiction and must make clear I have no political axe to grind, no side to take. Nevertheless, and inevitably, I found myself inhabiting some fairly dark places during the course of research. In short, I was not an easy person to live with. My husband, Ian, deserves a medal for putting up with my sombre moods without complaint or criticism, which is why this book is dedicated to him.