Mind Virus

by Charles Kowalski

  She went home to her husband. He went home to meditate.

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, heartfelt thanks to Susan Brooks of Literary Wanderlust, for making this book a reality. Also, many thanks to the literary guardian angels who kept me going through the long journey: Leo J. Maloney for his extraordinary kindness to a fledgling author. Sean Vogel for his valuable comments on the manuscript, especially on military matters. Gloria F. Boyer for editorial guidance. Ruth M’Gonigle for her cover design. Peter Greene of the Adventure Writers Competition for being incredibly generous with his graphic design and filmmaking talents. And finally, Edith Hope Bishop for her constant encouragement and companionship.

  Thanks to Anna Baltzer for her guidance on Middle East issues, Rabbi Ilene Schneider for Jewish traditions and customs, and Imam Muhammed Rasit Alas for Islamic theology (and Turkish Delight). Any errors or misrepresentations that remain are my own fault.

  Dr. D.P. Lyle for medical advice. Jennifer McQuiston and Nitesh Parmar of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Christie Cullinan of the FBI, David Barker of the British police, and others at agencies that may or may not exist for any information they may or may not have provided. Again, for any errors or creative liberties (such as bringing the HIG to the Hoover Building rather than the off-site facility where they work in real life), the responsibility is mine.

  R. Martin Rogovein for Israeli cultural information. The staff at the Meir Medical Center and St. Peter’s Basilica for their help with location research. Elaine Hepburn and Chetan Rama for their hospitality in London.

  While writing Mind Virus, I referred to books, articles and websites too numerous to list, but I would like to acknowledge certain authors without whom this book could not have been written: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Darrell W. Ray for inspiration. Matthew Alexander, Tony Lagouranis, Chris Mackey, Joshua E.S. Phillips, Erik Saar, and Justine Sharrock on the life and work of military interrogators. Paul Ekman, William L. Fleisher, Nathan J. Gordon, Pamela Meyer, and Joe Navarro on interrogation and deception detection techniques. Ken Alibek, Richard Preston, and Amy E. Smithson on biological weapons in the former Soviet Union and Iraq. Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta (and the contributors to her book Refusing to Be Enemies), and Mark Frey on nonviolent resistance movements in the Middle East. Asma Afsaruddin, M. Amir Ali, and Imam Shamsi Ali on Islamic peace philosophy. Marietta Jaeger for her personal story of forgiving the unforgivable.

  And finally, many thanks to my very patient family, for believing in me.

  About the Author

  Charles Kowalski is almost as much a citizen of the world as his fictional character, Robin Fox, having lived abroad for over 15 years. Mind Virus won the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Colorado Gold Award and was a finalist for the Adventure Writers’ Competition, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award, and the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association Literary Award. Charles currently divides his time between Japan, where he teaches English at a university, and his family home in Maine.