Joe Tone - Bones : Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream

If Im ever allowed to write more books, I vow to do that cool veteran-author thing, where the acknowledgments are two sentences, over and out. But just in case I dont:

My mom taught me to read, write, and edit, and even those are pretty low on the list of gifts shes given me, through genetics and the sheer force of motherly will. My dad and his siblings showed me by example how to tell a good story, and by ridicule how to avoid telling a bad one. My sister quietly demonstrated how to live generously and fully.

At Santa Clara University, professors Gordon Young and Barbara Kelley helped me find my place in journalism. In Cleveland, Pete Kotz taught me to think, drink, talk, listen, and write, between shifts producing powerhouse works of his own. My colleagues at the Dallas Observer and Voice Media Group, where I worked when I first started this project, were the ideal partners in mischief.

Several other journalists have reported on this story, and they were always gracious when our paths crossed, including Jason Buch, Jazmine Ulloa, Melissa del Bosque, Cecilia Ball, Alfredo Corchado, and Dianne Solis. Now at ProPublica, Ginger Thompson, who broke this story, was supportive and generous from the moment I decided to tell my own version of it.

I obviously couldnt have written this book if I couldnt report it, and reporting it required the intelligence and expertise of scores of people from the quarter-horse industry, law enforcement, the Texas legal bar, and other walks of life. There are too many to thank here, and many of them would rather not be called out anyway. That said, I do want to thank Mara Medina for her support and insight. And, obviously, I owe a great debt to Scott Lawson, for his generosity of time, spirit, intelligence, and wit. We didnt always agree but we did always get along, a feat that, nowadays especially, seems worth celebrating. I hope we get to soon.

Several families hosted and supported me in my travels, including the Bilanins, Kleinmans, Watkinses, and Nortons. I hope I left more beer than I drank. Other friends read early versions of this story, or otherwise helped me navigate the process of producing this book, including David Schechter, Justin Stenger, Obed Manuel, Gus Garcia-Roberts, Caleb Hannan, and Vince Grzegorek. The Salon and Marlin families offered bottomless love and support.

The teams at Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Random House, and One World Books worked magic on this project and manuscript, including Cindy Spiegel, Julie Grau, Nicole Counts, Tom Perry, Greg Mollica, Andrea DeWard, Maria Braekel, Allyson Lord, Shona McCarthy, and freelancers Bonnie Thompson and Beverly Kennedy. In the United Kingdom, agent Felicity Rubinstein and Arabella Pike at William Collins shepherded this story gracefully.

From beginning to end, my agent, David Patterson, saw promise in this story, and in me, that I didnt always see in myself. My editor at One World, Christopher Jackson, saw that promise, too, and then worked tirelessly to bring it to life. Chris is truly brilliant, and fearless, and diligent, and kind, and hey: I wonder if I own the copyright to all the notes he wrote in the margins of my manuscript? I should look into that. Theyd make a good little book themselves.

I had one son when I first started looking into this story. He was about ten weeks old. By the time this book was published, he was in kindergarten, and his little brother was three. They made their contributions, mostly ensuring that I never slept past six-thirty A.M. and occasionally hijacking my laptop to inject some kasjg89;SX/jkqwd/jkbqwd into the story. Im so thankful to them for not deleting Daddys horsey book. But mostly Im grateful they were there, which was always enough to keep me going.

No one is owed more thanks than my wife, Melissa, to whom this book is dedicated. Writing it was literally her idea. Once she convinced me to pursue it, she encouraged me to write as she has always encouraged me to write, even when it wasnt especially clear how that writing would support or propel our family. She read pages, told me what to cut, endured my book-induced moodiness, and otherwise kept our lives together, all while running a business rooted in her lust to repair the world. If nothing else, I hope this book always reminds me of our earliest days as parents, and the beautiful grit with which she makes our life go.