The village of Lake Madrid and Madrid County are fictional, but their resemblance to real communities is not coincidental. Lake Madrid stands for all the struggling rural farming communities whose traditions and ties run deep.
I would like to thank Andrew Wooldridge and Bob Tyrrell, publishers of the dynamic and innovative Orca Books, for continuing to believe in me and in this series, and my terrific editor, Ruth Linka, whose insightful questions and critiques made The Night Thief a better book. I’d also like to thank Barry Brown of Port Dover, Ontario, for his expertise in rifles, and my good friend and fellow writer Vicki Delany for her thoughtful suggestions on an earlier draft.