Acknowledgments
I usually love to write my acknowledgments, but not this time, because we at St. Martin’s Press have just lost our beloved publisher and friend Matthew Shear to cancer. This novel is dedicated to him, because I loved him and owe him so much, in so many ways. Permit me to tell you about him, because he was someone who loved books.
Matthew was simply a warm and wonderful man, with a big heart and an even bigger grin. He was a hugger. If you sat next to him at dinner, you knew you were going to have the best time of anyone at the table. He was honest and real and fun. He had great judgment. He loved life. He was witty, but no snob. He was the smartest guy in the room, but not a show-off. He could talk about books all day long, but he talked more about his wife of thirty-some years, Sabrina, and his two daughters, Hayley and Lindsey. As much as he loved to talk, he was a great listener. He listened intently when you spoke, and anyone who knew him can picture his direct, dark-eyed gaze while he listened as easily as they can recall the distinctive sound of his laugh, which was loud and joyful. It wasn’t a musical laugh. Musical is overrated, as far as laughs go.
Matthew was also a brilliant publisher, and if you don’t know what a publisher does, the answer is: everything. In my case, when I first came to St. Martin’s Press, Matthew took me under his wing and told me that the house would take great care of me, and it has. He read each of my manuscripts and called or emailed to tell me what he liked in each one. He looked at my book covers with new eyes and changed them so they would reach a wider audience. He weighed in on any newspaper ad for my books, tweaking the taglines, and he moved my publication dates around to get my books in stores when it was best. He took me out of mass market paperback, where I had been published for twenty-odd years, and put me into trade paperback, which got a book of mine on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, a sales record for me. The move was a radical change for a suspense author at the time, but now has become common. Most of all, he treated my daughter Francesca and me with respect and affection, and considered our opinions—as if we were his partners, not merely his authors. He helped develop the careers of so many authors like me, all because he loved our books and us.
Matthew Shear was larger-than-life, and so he will survive death. Those of us who knew him will never forget him. And we will always love him. In time, we will go on, because he’d want us to, and in so doing, we honor him. So I will thank that great group of wonderful people at St. Martin’s, all of whom he loved as his office family, most especially, my incredible editor and dear friend, Jennifer Enderlin, as well as our truly fearless leader, John Sargent, the divine Sally Richardson, and the great crew of Matt Baldacci, Jeanne-Marie Hudson, Brian Heller, Steve Kleckner, Steve Cohen, Jeff Dodes, Jeff Capshew, Nancy Trypuc, Kim Ludlam, John Murphy, John Karle, Rob Grom, Paul Hochman, Stephanie Davis, Caitlin Dareff, and all the wonderful sales reps. Thanks to adorable cover designer, Michael Storrings. Thanks to Mary Beth Roche, Laura Wilson, Esther Bochner, Brant Janeway, and all the great people in audiobooks. I love and appreciate all of you.
Now onto the experts and kind souls who helped me with Keep Quiet. Any and all mistakes herein are mine. I’m a former lawyer, but criminal law wasn’t my field, and my first thanks go to a supersmart and dedicated public servant, Nicholas Casenta, Esq., Chief Deputy District Attorney of the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. Nick has helped me with every book so far, including this one, and I throw hard questions at Nick, at all hours of the day and night, via panicky email. His answers are always spot-on, superbly well-reasoned, and incredibly helpful, and I couldn’t be more grateful to him. Thank you so very much, Nick!
Thanks to Binney Weitlisbach, Betty Tafel, and Holly Palermo, of Haverford Trust, who took the time to answer all my dumb questions about financial planning. Thanks to Chief Gene Dooley and Detective Patricia Logic of the West Whiteland Township Police Department, and Chief John M. Narcise, Lieutenant Robert P. Klinger, Detective Stephen Jones, Officer Andrew J. Wahn, and Nancy Sheehan of the Willistown Township Police Department, who took their valuable time to answer my dumb questions about police procedure. Thanks to Dr. Nicole Kimze, who took her valuable time to answer my dumb questions about medical procedures. Thanks to Michael Skinner, Esq.
Thanks to Doug Young of the Lower Merion School District, and his lovely staff. Doug is an amazing young man, who took his time to explain the techniques and Zen of basketball and basketball recruiting to me, as well as what life is like on a great basketball team in a great school like my alma mater, Lower Merion High School. Doug played on the same team as Kobe Bryant, and they are both rock stars to me. Thanks to Aces Nation, for being so welcoming to me, and congratulations to the championship-winning Aces!
Thanks and love to my wonderful agent and friend Molly Friedrich, who has guided me for so long now, and to the amazing Lucy Carson and Molly Schulman.
Thanks and love to my dedicated and wonderful assistant and best friend Laura Leonard. She’s invaluable in every way and has been for more than twenty years. Thanks, too, to my great assistant and friend Nan Daley, who helped so much with the research on this book and supports me every way she can.
Thank you very much to my family, and to my amazing daughter Francesca, for everything.
But my final thanks, as my first thanks, go to Matthew Shear.
I am eternally grateful.