Criminal Enterprise (34 page)

I remain ever grateful to Stacia Decker, my agent, and Neil Nyren, my editor, for all of their wisdom and encouragement. I’m exceedingly fortunate to have landed with such a Hall of Fame team, and this book owes much to their patience and dedication.

Thanks also to the fine people at Putnam whose hard work would otherwise go unheralded, including (but certainly not limited to) Alexis Welby, Katie Grinch, Lydia Hirt, Margot Stamas, Kate Stark, Chris Nelson, Sara Minnich, Marilyn Ducksworth, and Ivan Held.

Thanks to my home team at Penguin Canada, in particular Steve Myers and Beth Lockley. And a million thanks to the copy editors and proofreaders who’ve saved me from embarrassments both minor and major altogether too often.

Steve Berry, C. J. Box, Alafair Burke, Lee Child, Jonathan Kellerman, John Lescroart, Thomas Perry, and John Sandford lent their names and kind words to my cause. I’m still pinching myself. Thanks to you all.

Thanks to Ilsa Brink, who built me a stunning website and who works tirelessly to maintain it.

Thanks to Kristi Belcamino, Alex Kent, Mickie Turk, and Officer Lynn Cronquist and Sergeant Michael Young of the Minneapolis Police Department for dedicating their time and expertise to showing me around the Twin Cities, and for giving me plenty of excuses to come back to Minnesota.

Thanks to the booksellers whose enthusiasm for
The Professionals
inspired me as I wrote this second installment in the Stevens and Windermere saga, and to the readers who tore through
The
Professionals
and came back demanding more.

Thanks to my friends, old and new, whose extraordinary love and support continues to overwhelm me. Truly the best part of publishing is sharing my success with you all.

Thanks, especially and always, to my family.

ALSO BY OWEN LAUKKANEN

The Professionals