Many thanks to my test readers for their valuable feedback and comments.
I’d also like to thank my editors Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden at Tordotcom, Jenni Hill at Orbit, Marty Halpern for copyediting the entire series (not just this book), and my agent, Caitlin Blasdell, for their sterling work.
To any old punks who’re reading this: yes, Chickentown is a shout-out to John Cooper Clark’s memorable song, “Evidently Chickentown,” a striking evocation of heroin withdrawal in small-town/suburban England in the 1970s and 1980s.