Bone Music
Page 41
It’s these monsters she’s thinking of as she closes her fingers around the pillbox and slides it into her pocket. It’s these monsters to whom she silently says, I know you’re out there. And I’m coming for you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Like most of my novels, this title had several editors, and I owe a big debt of gratitude to each of them, beginning with Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry, who helped bring Charlotte into existence, and continuing on through Caitlin Alexander and Thomas & Mercer’s Liz Pearsons. A big shout-out to the rest of the Thomas & Mercer / Amazon Publishing team, specifically Grace Doyle, who showed great faith in this book from the beginning.
A big thank-you to my good friend Dr. Peter Scheer, who provided priceless research guidance in the areas of plastination and facial surgery. He’s a brilliant doctor and a wonderful man who bears no resemblance whatsoever to any of the multiple mad doctors in this book. The same can be said for Geoff Symon, who provided invaluable insight into law enforcement technique, particularly at the federal level, and who bears absolutely no resemblance to certain shady government agents referenced within these pages.
Thanks as well to Paul Shreve, who provided insight into computer hacking and keeping online communications as private as possible, and additional gratitude to his insanely talented wife, novelist Meg Gardiner, for being willing to loan out his brains to another writer. Bone Music is a novel that walks the line between thriller and science fiction, and any creative license within should be seen as just that, and not the result of misinformation offered by the very smart and skilled individuals mentioned above.
Invaluable early reads of the manuscript were provided by Jillian Stein, Eric Shaw Quinn, and Becket Ghiotto. And, as always, thanks to my own team that makes it possible to write early and often; my agents, Lynn Nesbit at Janklow & Nesbit and Elizabeth Newman at CAA; my attorney, Christine Cuddy; my mother, Anne Rice; and again, because he likes it when I mention him a lot, my best friend and partner over at www.TheDinnerPartyShow.com, Eric Shaw Quinn.
Scarlet’s a made-up town, so don’t go looking for it on a map. So’s Altamira, along with many of the locations I describe as being nearby, including State Mountain Road 293, Bayard Rock, and the Copper Pot, which stinks because I hear they have good pie.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2016 Cathryn Farnsworth
Christopher Rice is the recipient of the Lambda Literary Award and is the New York Times bestselling author of A Density of Souls and the Bram Stoker Award finalists The Heavens Rise and The Vines. He is the head writer and an executive producer of The Vampire Chronicles, a television show based on the bestselling novels by his mother, Anne Rice. Together they penned Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra. With his best friend, New York Times bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, Christopher hosts the YouTube channel The Dinner Party Show with Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn (#TDPS). He lives in West Hollywood, California. Visit him at www.christopherricebooks.com.