I have the amazing good fortune to work with three of the best women in publishing. My agent, Meg Ruley, my editor, Carolyn Marino, and my publicist, Dee Dee DeBartlo, not only contributed hugely to this book, but they make every day of this job fun. I am also grateful to all of the other wonderful people at the Jane Rotrosen Agency (especially Don Cleary, Peggy Gordijn, and Christina Hogrebe) and at HarperCollins (especially Lisa Gallagher, Michael Morrison, Lynn Grady, Liate Stehlik, Jennifer Civiletto, and Wendy Lee) who do so much for me.
I’m lucky to be able to call upon colleagues from my law enforcement days when memory fails or when I need to catch up with changing times. I am indebted to Eric Friedberg, former chief of narcotics in the EDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office, now one of the nation’s leading experts on computer crimes; Christopher Falkenberg of Insite Security, formerly a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service; and Special Agent John Kleczkowski of DEA, who’s still fighting the good fight. They gave generously of their time and knowledge; any errors or exaggerations are mine alone.
Many thanks to Micah Fink for reading and commenting on an early draft of this book. His insightful comments improved it greatly.
I am grateful to Dean Larry Kramer and the terrific staff at the Stanford Law School Alumni Office for their extraordinary support. Susan Charlton is a happy and successful lawyer in large part because of the three joyous years she spent in Palo Alto.
Love and gratitude to Mom/M and Dad/B for giving me shelter and sustenance when I needed to disappear and write. And of course none of this would be possible without the love and support of my three great guys–my husband, Jeffrey, and my sons, Jack and Will–who have endless patience and enthusiasm for my writing career.