Every book is a group effort. I want to thank my old friend and colleague from Madagascar, Annie Rajao for her help. My gratitude goes also to Virginia Kincaid and Patricia Alston for their sharp-eyed editing suggestions, to Veryl Behrens for his knowledge of firearms, and, as always, to my wife, Felicia, for her advice and support. Thanks, too, to my agent, Kimberley Cameron, and to all the good people at Blank Slate Press and Amphorae Publishing, including Kristina Blank Makansi and Lisa Miller. And my gratitude to J. David Ivester for his work on publicity and for his encouragement.