First I’d like to thank my agent, Jenny Savill, for her guidance and wisdom, as well as the steak lunches, which are creative stimulants of great potency. I’d like to thank my editors, Kate Fletcher and Jessica Tarrant, for their hard work and sensible suggestions, as well as everyone else at my literary agency and publishing houses who had a hand in bringing this book to you.

I’d like to thank my family for their love and support, and I’d like to thank the many people who read early drafts of this novel.

The ancient Greeks only spoke of five rivers that flowed through the Underworld: the Styx, the Lethe, the Acheron, the Phlegethon, and the Cocytus. Since the magic of Luke’s story hinges around the number eight, I’ve fabricated the rivers Apelpsion, Algos, and Elys.