I should like to thank the following for their authoritative assistance in researching the background to this novel: Simon Carpenter, Adrian Cassar, Tuvia Fogel and Flavio Barbiero.
Anthony Cheetham, Laura Palmer, Lucy Ridout and Tom Webber provided greatly appreciated, expert publishing and editorial commitment. My heartfelt thanks to all of you at Head of Zeus.
Details of the mythical Hemlock Club derive from The Scrutinies of Simon Iff by Aleister Crowley (Teitan Press), edited by Martin P. Starr.
I am grateful to Patricia Churton, Michael Embleton, Philip Wilkinson, and to my agent, Fiona Spencer Thomas, for checking the manuscript.