Maya Angelou wrote: “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” Reader, this book was born of defeat. I worked on a different book for a year, writing, rewriting from scratch, again and again. By the time my beloved editor, Jody Corbett, told me that we should start over with a new idea, I hated that book so much it was a relief. Well, mostly … I did allow myself a one-day pity party to feel very, very sorry for myself, because those were legitimate feelings after having worked so hard and failed. But then I got up the next morning and started brainstorming new ideas, and I’m proud of the result.

So firstly, thanks to Jody and David Levithan for telling me to start over, because it gave me the opportunity to write a much better book. As always, Jody took my mess of ideas and helped me shape them into a book. I am truly grateful to work with her.

Thank you to the Scholastic team for getting this book out into the world: Josh Berlowitz; Maeve Norton, whose amazing design blew me away; Erin Berger; Elisabeth Ferrari; Rachel Feld; Shannon Pender; Lizette Serrano; Emily Heddleson; Danielle Yadao; Mariclaire Jastremsky; Anna Swenson; Ann Marie Wong; Robin Hoffman; and the entire sales team.

Jennifer Laughran is the best agent ever. She helps to keep me sane in an industry that is anything but.

One of the best parts about writing books is that it gives me the opportunity to speak to really interesting people for research. Any mistakes are all mine.

Thank you to Connecticut State’s Attorney Richard J. Colangelo Jr. for putting me in touch with Inspector Mark C. Sinise of the Stamford/Norwalk office. Being able to visit the Technical Investigation Unit of Southwest Connecticut was a highlight of my research, and I integrated some of what I learned there into the novel.

My sincere and grateful thanks to Alexander Bein, who gave me insight into qualifying as an EMT while still in high school. Thanks also Natalie Medico of the Greenwich EMS 911 Explorer Post and my Greenwich BJJ pal Jeff Brown for answering my questions. Readers of Backlash might remember a Dr. Delman. Well, David Delman, MD, is a real-life doctor—and friend—who continues to be extremely generous and patient about answering all my ER questions.

Thank you to Diane Morello for putting me in contact with her colleague Whit Andrews. Whit was incredibly helpful in helping me flesh out my rudimentary ideas with plot points that actually made sense.

I’m so proud of my children, Josh and Amie, for continuing to promote the love of books in their respective careers.

Hank, you are my rock. Thank you for knowing when to let me vent, when to remind me of which stages of neuroses are part of every book process, and when to just give me a hug and hand me another square of dark chocolate. There’s nothing fake about my love for you.

Finally, I am ever grateful for you, dear readers. Here’s a deep truth: Your emails and letters give me the courage to keep writing when the going gets tough.