Brad Meltzer - The Escape Artist

Twenty years. This book marks twenty years(!) since my first novel was published. That means, dear reader, if you were there from the start, youre old. It also means I owe you big for giving me this writers life.

This book is a mystery. Its also a mission. Six years ago, I went on a USO trip to entertain our troops in the Middle East. Soon after, I learned about the heroes at Dover Air Force Base. Looking back, it seems clear I was in the midst of my own crisis, examining my life and my place in this world. The point is, I believe every book is born from a need, and it was this book that helped me realize the difference between being alive and actually living. Its what gave birth to the two new characters in these pages.

With that said, I owe tremendous thank-yous to the following: My first lady, Cori, who opens my heart and brings me to life. She is in every single page of this novel. I love you for it, C. Jonas, Lila, and Theo are always my best blessings. With these kids, I know what I live for. Jill Kneerim, my friend and agent, is the great soul. I have been enriched by her soul for two decades. Friend and agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at WME goes to battle for us every day. Extra thanks to Hope Denekamp, Lucy Cleland, Ike Williams, and all our friends at the Kneerim & Williams Agency.

This book is about a fight for ones life. So I need to thank my sister, Bari, who was there as we fought for ours. Also to Bobby, Ami, Adam, Gilda, and Will, for always standing with us.

I pride myself on my loyalty. Noah Kuttler takes it one step further. I trust him like no one else. He is a vault and a well of kindness. My life is better with you in it, Noah. Ethan Kline dreams the big dreams with me. Then Dale Flam, Matt Kuttler, Chris Weiss, and Judd Winick pour through my various drafts, telling me all the parts that make no sense and all the jokes that arent funny. They dont realize all my jokes are funny.

With every book, a few people become so vital to the process its as if their souls get poured into these pages. So let me start with William Zig Zwicharowski. As the Port Mortuary Branch Chief at Dover, he spends every day taking care of our fallen troops, making sure theyre treated with honor, dignity, and respect. Ive spent twenty years doing research. Ive never been more humbled by someones work. Im embarrassing him now, so let me just say this: To everyone on the Dover team, thank you for what you do for Gold Star families. In addition to Zig, a special thank-you to another of my heroes, former Dover man Matt Genereux, who kept me honest at every level. Matt and Zig are family to meand were my moral compasses. (Heart!) Finally, my master of all things military and one of my oldest friends, Scott Deutsch. In junior high school, we went to Michael Jacksons Victory Tour together. Today, he works in the military. I asked him hundreds of inane questions and he gave me all the right answers. Im the one who then screws it up. You inspire me every day, pal. Thanks for all your trust.

I also need to thank everyone at Dover, including Major Ray Geoffroy, Tracy E. Bailey, Edward Conway, Chris Schulze, Mary Ellen Mel Spera, and Master Gunnery Sergeant Frederick Upchurch. (And yes, I know what really happened to Building 1303.) Also, much appreciation to my friend Senator Chris Coons for the hospitality in his home state of Delaware.

Even more details came from First Sergeant Amy L. M. Brown, our real-life Army Artist-in-Residence; Chris Semancik and everyone at the US Army Center of Military History, Museum Support Center at Fort Belvoir; Mary Roach, whose mastery of the dead left me breathless (as you read this thriller, when I reference my favorite professor, Im referencing Marygo buy her book Stiff; its brilliant); Chuck Collins of Compassionate Friends (if you know someone who has lost a child, go to their site); Ben Becker, for the gun knowledge; Caleb Wilde (along with his dad, Bill, and grandfather Bud), who spent a day talking about the dead and Pennsylvania; Steve Whittlesey and Howland Blackiston, for the honeybee details; Joel Marlin for the best history of magic; Mark Dimunation and everyone in the Houdini Collection at the Library of Congress; The Amazing Mr. Ash at Ashs Magic Shop, and the ever elusive Master of the Book, who deserves to be acknowledged but will only do it with a code name.

Extra thanks to Eljay Bowron, Bob Mayer (the godfather to Zig), Jake Black, David Howard, and Mark Ginsberg; Dr. Lee Benjamin and Dr. Ronald K. Wright, for always helping me maim and kill with authority; and the rest of my own inner circle, who I bother for every book: Jim Day, Chris Eliopoulos, Jo Ayn Glanzer, Denise Jaeger, Katriela Knight, Jason Sherry, Marie Grunbeck, Nick Marell, Staci Schecter, Simon Sinek, Eling Tsai, and David Watkins. Finally, major thanks to everyone in the military and veterans community, especially family members of those who serve. Your sacrifice is never lost on me. To that end, if you are thinking about suicide, especially in the military, call 1-800-273-8255. You are not alone. And thanks to everyone else who anonymously enriched these pages. You know who you are.

The books The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, Art of the American Soldier by Rene Klish, Stories in Stone by Douglas Keister, Houdini!!! by Kenneth Silverman, and articles including The Things That Carried Him by Chris Jones, Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt, What Suffering Does by David Brooks, and the writings of Linton Weeks were all greatly informing to this process; Last Inspection by James Dao and The Child Exchange by Megan Twohey led me to both Zig and Nola; our family on Decoded and Lost History, and at HISTORY, including Nancy Dubuc, Paul Cabana, Mike Stiller, and Russ McCarroll, for bringing me Houdini; Rob Weisbach, for being the very first; and of course, my family and friends, whose names forever inhabit these pages.