A big thank-you to my good friend Dr. Peter Scheer, who provided priceless research guidance in the areas of plastination and facial surgery. He’s a brilliant doctor and a wonderful man who bears no resemblance whatsoever to any of the multiple mad doctors in this book. The same can be said for Geoff Symon, who provided invaluable insight into law enforcement technique, particularly at the federal level, and who bears absolutely no resemblance to certain shady government agents referenced within these pages.

Thanks as well to Paul Shreve, who provided insight into computer hacking and keeping online communications as private as possible, and additional gratitude to his insanely talented wife, novelist Meg Gardiner, for being willing to loan out his brains to another writer. Bone Music is a novel that walks the line between thriller and science fiction, and any creative license within should be seen as just that, and not the result of misinformation offered by the very smart and skilled individuals mentioned above.

Invaluable early reads of the manuscript were provided by Jillian Stein, Eric Shaw Quinn, and Becket Ghiotto. And, as always, thanks to my own team that makes it possible to write early and often; my agents, Lynn Nesbit at Janklow & Nesbit and Elizabeth Newman at CAA; my attorney, Christine Cuddy; my mother, Anne Rice; and again, because he likes it when I mention him a lot, my best friend and partner over at www.TheDinnerPartyShow.com, Eric Shaw Quinn.

Scarlet’s a made-up town, so don’t go looking for it on a map. So’s Altamira, along with many of the locations I describe as being nearby, including State Mountain Road 293, Bayard Rock, and the Copper Pot, which stinks because I hear they have good pie.