AUTHOR’S NOTE
THERE MUST BE dozens of authors who have looked to the New Yorker for their inspiration, and I am one of them. An article appeared in that magazine on 7 June 2010 entitled ‘No Secrets’ by Raffi Khatchadourian. It described the visit of Wikileaks to Iceland in March of that year, while the volcano was erupting, to prepare for publication a leaked video of the accidental shooting of journalists by US forces in Iraq.
Freeflow is a similar organization to Wikileaks, but the Freeflow team portrayed in this book do not represent individuals who worked with or for Wikileaks. Neither are Freeflow’s leaks real scandals. While there were a number of controversial incidents in the ‘Gaza War’ of the winter of 2008–9, the shooting depicted in this book is fictional. Controversy also surrounds the late Bishop of Iceland, but Soffía and her experiences are invented. Belgium has its scandals, of course, but my Finance Minister and her past are entirely fictional.
My thanks are owed to the following: Pétur Már Ólafsson at Verold, Superintendent Karl Steinar Valsson, Chief Superintendent Sveinn Runarsson, Audur Möller, Alda Sigmundsdóttir’s Iceland Weather Report blog, Michael Olmsted, Deborah Gavish, Michael Kram, Kim van Poelgeest, Oli Munson at Blake Friedmann, Richenda Todd, Liz Hatherell and Nic Cheetham, Rina Gill, Becci Sharpe and Laura Palmer at Corvus. As always, I am grateful to my wife, Barbara, and my children for their patience and support.
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