Douglas: Having a partner helps you manage all the other odds and ends that go into being a novelist, as well. For example, we’re taking turns answering the questions in this very document.
What inspired this new series and character?
Douglas: Much as we love Pendergast, we thought it was time to shake things up a bit by inventing a new series character. We wanted to create someone who was totally different from Pendergast, clever, younger, and sketchier. We have a mortal fear of boring our readers—and ourselves.
Lincoln: We also were looking to write a series of novels that were shorter, faster-paced, with a lot more action, fewer subplots and less ratiocination. The Gideon Crew series was the answer to all that.
Gideon Crew is so different from Agent Pendergast. Did you purposefully write him that way?
Lincoln: Yes, we did. While we wanted Gideon to be as interesting and attractive—in his own way—as Pendergast, part of the idea of branching out into a new series was to create a character who was very much his own person. In some ways, Gideon is the polar opposite of Pendergast. Also, you might think of Gideon as our present to those readers who have been mourning the demise of Bill Smithback.
Douglas: Yes, there’s a wee bit of Smithback in Gideon, no doubt about that. As for Pendergast and Gideon, they’d be like oil and water. Their ways of dealing with people and getting what they want are totally different. Pendergast crushes people mentally and verbally and sometimes physically. Gideon tricks them, he fools them, he hoodwinks them. He is the king of the brave new art of social engineering.
Do you tend to model your characters after people in your own life?
Douglas: Not at all. In fact, for the most part, we avoid it.
Lincoln: Never. That’s a scary thought. We do, however, steal bits and pieces, mix and match—every novelist has to do that.
How did you learn so much about Hart Island? Why did you decide to use that as a location in this book?
Douglas: People ask if we do our own research and the answer is yes. Hart Island is a perfect example why. I was browsing the Wikipedia entry on potter’s field for a completely different reason and came across a mention of Hart Island, the largest public burial ground in the world. I was stunned to learn that, within the boundaries of New York City, there was an uninhabited island, of over 100 acres in extent, that is the final resting place for a million people. As I read on, I was captivated by the history of the island: it had been used as a sanatorium, a place of quarantine, and a Nike missile base, and for a boy’s workhouse, among other things. There was an entire town on the island, abandoned and falling apart now. Being a baseball fan, I was amazed to learn that some of the original bleachers from Ebbets Field had been moved there in 1960 and are still there, covered with vines and rotting away. It made the perfect setting for the book’s climax.
Lincoln: Doug was caught sneaking onto Hart Island and got in serious trouble. But that’s a story for another day…
In this book you brought back the character Eli Glinn. Did you always intend to write him into new books? Will he continue to play an important role in this series?
Douglas: No, we didn’t. In fact, once we finished The Ice Limit, we really had little thought of bringing him back at all. We thought he was dead. But requests for a sequel to that book have been so persistent that we ultimately brought him back in what we call the Diogenes trilogy of the Pendergast novels. From there, it seemed almost natural to bring him back as Gideon’s employer.
Lincoln: The man is a quintessential survivor, and he reappeared, unbidden, as we were writing the Diogenes trilogy. And, yes, Eli Glinn will appear in future Gideon Crew novels.
Do you plan to write more Gideon Crew books?
Lincoln: Yes, we do! The second Gideon Crew novel, Gideon’s Corpse, is already well underway, and we hope to do more—perhaps as many as twelve in all. (We can’t do more than that for reasons that will be clear to anyone who reads Gideon’s Sword.) The actual number of books we write, though, will probably depend in part on reader enthusiasm: we hope people like him and his adventures as much as we do!
Douglas: We’ve already sold the movie rights to the Gideon series to Paramount Pictures, for the most excellent producer Michael Bay. So we do expect this to be a long and fruitful series. Gideon is only going to get better.
You both have been in the business for a long time. How have you seen book publishing change over the years? How much does changing technology affect the challenges of being a writer?
Lincoln: There were two big changes in writing technology. The first was the advent of the computer, which made revising infinitely easier. The second was the rise of the World Wide Web, which made research much easier. Research that once took days now only takes hours.
Douglas: The biggest change in our writing lifetimes is the advent of the e-book. This is an exciting new frontier. We are just at the cusp of what I think will be the biggest transformation of publishing since the Gutenberg Bible.
By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Fever Dream
Cemetery Dance
The Wheel of Darkness
The Book of the Dead
Dance of Death
Brimstone
Still Life with Crows
The Cabinet of Curiosities
The Ice Limit
Thunderhead
Riptide
Reliquary
Mount Dragon
Relic
In answer to a frequently asked reader question:
The above titles are listed in descending order of publication. Almost all of them are stand-alone novels that need not be read in order, except for the pairs Relic/Reliquary and Dance of Death/The Book of the Dead, which are ideally read in sequence.
By Douglas Preston
Impact
The Monster of Florence (with Mario Spezi)
Blasphemy
Tyrannosaur Canyon
The Codex
Ribbons of Time
The Royal Road
Talking to the Ground
Jennie
Cities of Gold
Dinosaurs in the Attic
By Lincoln Child
Terminal Freeze
Deep Storm
Death Match
Utopia
Tales of the Dark 1–3
Dark Banquet
Dark Company
PAGE-TURNING THRILL FROM PRESTON AND CHILD!
FEVER DREAM
Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago. Today, he discovers she was murdered.
Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all… Who murdered her?
Revenge is not sweet: It is essential.
CEMETERY DANCE
[clipped news article]
New York, Thursday, October 8
JOURNALIST SLAIN
William Smithback Jr., a prominent New York Times reporter, was killed in a brutal attack last night in his Upper West Side apartment. His wife, Nora Kelly, an archaeologist at the Museum of Natural History, was injured as well. Multiple eyewitnesses identified the assailant as a neighbor in the building, Colin Fearing: a man who, by all reports, was dead and buried ten days ago. There are reports that FBI Special Agent Pendergast has taken an interest in the case, but no further…
THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS
A luxury ocean liner on its maiden voyage across the North Atlantic, awash in wealth and decadence… An ancient Tibetan box, its contents unknown, sealed with a terrifying warning…
An FBI agent destined to confront what he fears most—himself…
The waters shall rise up in fury…
THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
A brilliant FBI agent, rotting away in a high security prison for a murder he did not commit. His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime. A young woman wit
h an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violent breakdown. An ancient Egyptian tomb about to be unveiled at a celebrity-studded New York gala, an enigmatic curse released. Memento Mori…
DANCE OF DEATH
Two brothers. One a top FBI agent. The other a brilliant, twisted criminal. An undying hatred between them. Now, a perfect crime. And the ultimate challenge: Stop me if you can…
BRIMSTONE
A body is found in the attic of a fabulous Long Island estate. There is a hoofprint scorched into the floor, and the stench of sulfur chokes the air. When FBI Special Agent Pendergast investigates the gruesome crime, he discovers that thirty years ago four men conjured something unspeakable. Has the devil come to claim his due?
STILL LIFE WITH CROWS
A small Kansas town has turned into a killing ground. Is it a serial killer, a man with the need to destroy? Or is it a darker force, a curse upon the land? Amid golden cornfield, FBI Special Agent Pendergast discovers evil in the blood of America’s heartland.
THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
In an ancient tunnel underneath New York City a charnel house is discovered. Inside are thirty-six bodies—all murdered and mutilated more than a century ago. While FBI agent Pendergast investigates the old crimes, identical killings start to terrorize the city. The nightmare has begun. Again.
THE ICE LIMIT
The largest known meteorite is discovered entombed on a frigid, desolate island off the southern tip of Chile. Palmer Lloyd is determined to have this incredible find for his museum. Stocking a cargo ship with the finest scientists and engineers, he builds a flawless expedition. But from the first approach to the meteorite, people begin to die…
THUNDERHEAD
Archeologist Nora Kelly receives a letter written sixteen years ago, yet mailed only recently. In it her father, long believed dead, hints at a fantastic discovery—the lost city of an ancient civilization that vanished a thousand years ago. Now Nora is leading an expedition to find her father and his glory, but she unearths the newest of horrors…
RIPTIDE
In 1695, a notorious English pirate buried treasure in a maze of booby-trapped tunnels on an island off the coast of Maine. Now a treasure hunter and his high-tech, million-dollar recovery team plan to unearth the bounty. The island has guarded its secrets for centuries, and it isn’t letting them go—without a fight.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, police departments, government agencies, corporations, religious institutions, and incidents are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Falun Gong as portrayed in this novel is entirely fictional, and the authors extend their apologies for any inaccuracies in their depiction of this spiritual practice.
Copyright © 2011 by Splendide Mendax, Inc. and Lincoln Child
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
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New York, NY 10017
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www.twitter.com/GrandCentralPub
First eBook Edition: February 2011
Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-446-56433-5
BONUS NOVEL
* * *
A Note from the authors:
We have long wanted to do something special for our loyal e-book readers. Now we've found a way. We are delighted to be giving away a free e-book copy of our novel THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, bundled with every copy of our friend Brad Meltzer's amazing new book, THE INNER CIRCLE. Also, Brad will be giving away a free copy of one of his e-books with our new novel, GIDEON'S SWORD. It's a way of welcoming and inviting Brad's readers to sample our work, and vice versa.
Brad Meltzer is one of the most exciting, brilliant, and original thriller writers working today. We can't speak highly enough of this fabulous and creative author. We love his books for their tight, fast pacing, fascinating historical detail, masterful command of the language, and beautifully realized characters. We are delighted to be partnering with him in this way.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
* * *
Please turn the page for a complimentary copy of
Brad Meltzer’s
THE ZERO GAME
THE ZERO GAME
BRAD MELTZER
NEW YORK BOSTON
For Jonas, my son, who holds my hand, tugs me along, and takes me on the most cherished adventure of all
Acknowledgments
THERE’S ONE NAME on the cover of this book, but I’ve always maintained it takes far more than that to transform an imagined idea into reality. For that reason, I’d like to thank the following people: always first, my love Cori. To paraphrase someone far smarter than myself: The words aren’t real until Cori reads them. She’s always been my first editor and adviser, but for this book, in her real-world position as a lawyer in Congress, she was also my eyes and ears into the complex world of Capitol Hill. What she doesn’t know is how humbled I was to watch her do her job. Forever the fighter of the good fight, she thought she was teaching me political mechanics. What she really did was remind me what idealism is all about. I love you for that and so much more. There are endless reasons I couldn’t do this without you, C. Jill Kneerim, my agent and friend, whose insights and intuition challenge me to bring honesty to the forefront of my writing. Her guidance is among the first I seek, but it’s her friendship that I treasure (even more than she knows). Elaine Rogers, for the amazing work she’s done from the very start. Ike Williams, Hope Denekamp, Elizabeth Dane, Seana McInerney, and all the other incredibly nice people at the Kneerim & Williams Agency.
Now more than ever, I’d also like to thank my parents, whose unflinching love brought me here today. They keep me grounded, support me, and forever remind me where home really is. Everything I am, everything I have—it started with them. My sister Bari, one of the strongest people I know, for sharing that strength whenever I need it. Thanks, Bari, for everything you do. Dale and Adam Flam helped brainstorm the game, while Bobby Flam and Ami and Matt Kuttler read early drafts. Their love and support helped me throughout. Steve “Scoop” Cohen, fellow dreamer, brother in creativity, and all-around mad genius, for the eureka moment that led to this entire book. The ideas are fun; the friendship is far more valued. Thanks, Cheese! Noah Kuttler, without whose help I’d be insanely lost. Noah’s the first sounding board I go to after my wife. He’s that talented. He knows he’s family—I just hope he realizes how blessed I feel to have him in my life. Ethan and Sarah Kline helped develop the game, and Ethan has fearlessly pushed me as a writer since my very first manuscript. Paul Brennan, Matt Oshinsky, Paulo Pacheco, Joel Rose, Chris Weiss, and Judd Winick, my alter egos, whose reactions and unwavering friendship are an endless source of inspiration.
In every novel, the goal is to make a complete fabrication sound like absolute fact. The only way to pull it off is to arm yourself with details. I owe the following people tremendous thank-yous for making those details available: Without question, when it came to explaining how the government actually works, Dave Watkins was my congressional sensei—an incredible teacher who was patient enough to answer all my inane questions. From initial brainstorming to final chapter gut-checking, I trusted him with every detail. He never let me down. Scott Strong was the Indiana Jones of the U.S. Capitol, guiding me through unexplored passageways and abandoned tunnels. His friendship and trust were indispensable to creating th
is reality. Tom Regan took me eight thousand feet beneath the earth’s surface and reminded me exactly how this country was built. I just hope he knows what an impact his kindness had on me. Sean Dalton, for spending days explaining every tiny detail of the appropriations process, which is no small feat. His mastery of the minutiae was vital to this book. Andrea Cohen, Chris Guttman-McCabe, Elliot Kaye, Ben Lawsky, and Carmel Martin, for making themselves available whenever I needed them. The best part was, since they’re among my closest friends, I could ask them the stupidest questions. Dick Baker is an institution unto himself. His generosity and historical insights brought the institution of the Capitol to life. Julian Epstein, Perry Apelbaum, Ted Kalo, Scott Deutchman, Sampak Garg, and everyone from the House Judiciary Committee are just the greatest. They made introductions, gave explanations, and came to my aid at every turn. Michone Johnson and Stephanie Peters, for being wonderful friends who helped bring Viv to life. Luke Albee, Marsha Berry, Martha Carucci, Jim Dyer, Dan Freeman, Charles Grizzle, Scott Lilly, Amy McKennis, Martin Paone, Pat Schroeder, Mark Schuermann, Will Smith, Debbie Weatherly, and Kathryn Weeden took me into their respective worlds and answered question upon question. Their help cannot be overstated. Congressman John Conyers, Congressman Harold Ford Jr., and Congressman Hal Rogers were generous enough to invite me inside—those were some of the best days of the process. Loretta Beaumont, Bruce Evans, Leif Fonnesbeck, Kathy Johnson, Joel Kaplan, Peter Kiefhaber, Brooke Livingston, and Chris Topik gave me a firsthand look at the incredible work that’s done in Interior Appropriations. Mazen Basrawi, for letting me see through a blind man’s eyes. Lee Alman, David Carle, Bruce Cohen, George Crawford, Jerry Gallegos, Jerry Hartz, Ken Kato, Keith Kennedy, David Safavian, Alex Sternhill, Will Stone, and Reid Stuntz for painting such realistic pictures of life on the Hill. Chris Gallagher, Rob Gustafson, Mark Laisch, William Minor, and Steve Perry were my experts in the art of lobbying. Michael Brown, Karl Burke, Steve Mitchell, and Ron Waterland of Barrick Gold, for all their help in getting me down into the mine. Michael Bowers, Stacie Hunhoff, Paul Ordal, Jason Recher, Elizabeth Roach, and Brooke Russ took me back to my youth and shared the excitement of being a page. Bill Allen, David Angier, Jamie Arbolino, Rich Doerner, and James Horning filled in the Capitol’s physical details. David Beaver, Terry Catlain, Deborah Lanzone, John Leshy, Alan Septoff, and Lexi Shultz, for helping me with mining issues and land exchanges. Dr. Ronald K. Wright, for his always amazing forensic advice. Keith Nelson and Jerry Shaw taught me all the fighting skills. Dr. Ron Flam and Bernie Levin shared their hometown. Edna Farley, Kim from L.A., Jon Faust, Jo Ayn “Joey” Glanzer, Harvey Goldschmid, Bill Harlan, Paul Khoury, Daren Newfield, Susan Oshinsky, Adam Rosman, Mike Rotker, Greg Rucka, and Matthew Weiss, for walking me through the rest of the details. Brian Lipson, Phil Raskind, and Lou Pitt, whose hard work and friendship are immensely appreciated. Kathleen Kennedy, Donna Langley, Mary Parent, and Gary Ross, for their tremendous faith, sight unseen. Rob Weisbach, for being the first to say yes, and the rest of my family and friends, whose names forever inhabit these pages.
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