He exhales.
(Requisite monologue complete.)
364.
Paige is quiet for a while.
She doesn’t say anything, and Eric wonders what she’s thinking.
Finally, she smiles, and just as the guard’s coming over to tell them their time is up, Paige stands and puts her hand on the glass.
“Apology accepted,” she says. “See you next week.”
365.
And that’s pretty much the end of the Suicide Pack.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I’m indebted to my agent, Stacia Decker, for her wise and patient counsel. This book was a bear at times, and I would have gone nuts without a sounding board, advocate, confidante, and friend. I’m a lucky guy to have a superagent who fills all those roles and then some.
Kristen Pettit’s editorial input played a vital role in shepherding this book from its nebulous beginnings to the finished product you hold in your hand. And I’m grateful to (the indispensable) Elizabeth Lynch and Jennifer Klonsky at HarperCollins, and to Catherine Knowles at HarperCollins Canada for her publicity efforts north of the border.
I’m particularly grateful to the copyeditors who worked slavishly over this manuscript and who saved me from ruin on countless occasions. If you ever happen to meet a copyeditor, hug them.
To my partner, Shannon Kyla, I’m sorry for what I said when I was hangry. Thank you for your faith in me, for inspiring me, and for sticking with me through the darkest hours. I love you.
Thanks, finally and always, to my family. Dad, Mom, Terry and Andrew, Laura and Phil: I don’t want to get sappy, but you guys are the best. I couldn’t have done this—any of it—without you.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Robert Thompson
OWEN MATTHEWS was raised on rap music and violent video games. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program, has worked on fishing boats and in casinos all over the world, and currently writes critically acclaimed crime thrillers under a secret identity. A fan of fast cars and sugary breakfast cereals, Matthews lives in Vancouver, Canada, with his girlfriend and their rescue pit bull, Lucy.
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BOOKS BY OWEN MATTHEWS
How to Win at High School
The Fixes
CREDITS
Cover art © 2016 by The Heads of State
COPYRIGHT
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE FIXES. Copyright © 2016 by Owen Laukkanen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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ISBN 978-0-06-233689-7
EPub Edition © August 2016 ISBN 9780062336910
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FIRST EDITION
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1. Not, like, literally.
2. He’s a movie star, very A-list. The lawyers won’t let me tell you his name, but you can probably figure it out. Think former teen idols and nautical disasters.
3. The publisher made me include a life lesson or two in this book. It’s like a contractual thing. Sorry to sermonize, but I gotta get paid.
The Fixes Page 25