by C. J. Box
The line moved slowly. A sixty-seven-year-old retired high school teacher had been flagged for a pat-down and asked to step aside. Already, a ruddy-faced TSA agent was eyeing his cast.
A female TSA agent with tight white curls and steel-rimmed glasses rooted through his carry-on and handed two bottles of pain pills prescribed for his recovery to a supervisor to inspect.
She reached into his bag and pulled out a hardcover book. She looked at the cover and scrunched up her face.
“What’s this?”
“The Looming Tower,” Joe said.
“What’s it about?” she asked Joe.
“This,” he said.
She glared back at him, puzzled, as if trying to make up her mind whether to be angry at him.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge several works referenced in writing this book, including Falconry and Hawking by Phillip Glasier, the 9/11 Commission Report, and especially The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright.
Thanks as well to Judge Jeff Donnell, the Martin and Mason Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota, Don Hajicek, Jennifer Fonnesbeck, Laurie Box, and Molly Box.
Kudos to the wonderful team of professionals at Putnam, including Ivan Held, Kate Stark, Michael Barson, and the legendary Neil Nyren.
And of course Ann Rittenberg, the greatest.
