EPILOGUE
GRANDPA TOM’S wooden writing box, long thought to be lost, turned up mysteriously in the post, sent by a cousin who had heard I was researching the Boxer Rebellion. Tom’s medals, in envelopes long since opened, still had iridescent silk ribbons that looked as if they had been made that day.
The Novelist’s novel was published to huge acclaim, winning prizes both here and in the United States. It was indeed his breakthrough novel.
In a most dramatic turn of events, the Major was wounded in a shoot-out in the London Library, having taken A. S. Byatt hostage in the stacks. She was miraculously unharmed after a heroic “swap” was made with a red-coated library flunkey. The red-coat was an armed policeman in disguise, who shot the Major at point-blank range. The Major is currently under armed guard at the Cromwell Hospital, awaiting extradition to Australia on charges of marsupial genocide.
Months later, and unasked, Lord Howland’s housekeeper sent the yellow jumper back.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is necessary to thank first all those without whom this book could not have been written, including the following: the Marquess and Marchioness of Tavistock; Lavinia; Callum, for his patience and help, and all the staff who took the time to be of service at Woburn Abbey; Lord Andrew Howland, for unfailing hospitality and assistance; Klaudia, though I’m sorry it didn’t quite work out as planned; Andrew Kidd, for the considerable faith and vision to take the project on; Brigitte, of course, and Stephanie Cabot, for the sudden inspiration and constant support; in China: Dr. Ho Lee Fuk and Mr. Wang Fu Dong; in France: Dr. J. Rushbrooke, for invaluable research assistance, and Mme. C. David, for wise advice.
About the Author
ROBERT TWIGGER, the author of Angry White Pyjamas and Big Snake, was born in 1964 and educated at Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. In 1991 he went to Japan, studied traditional martial arts, and completed the course for the Tokyo riot police. In 1996 Twigger trained as a bullfighter in Spain, went looking for bona fide zombies in Haiti, and reported for the Daily Telegraph on chain gangs in Arizona. In 1997 he spent four months in Indonesia attempting to capture the longest snake in the world. After many setbacks and adventures, his team succeeded in capturing a python twenty-six-feet long—almost certainly a world record for a snake in captivity. In addition to writing books, he is a regular contributor to Esquire, Maxim, the Daily Telegraph, and the Financial Times. He lives in London.
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ALSO BY ROBERT TWICCER
Angry White Pyjamas
Big Snake
Copyright
THIS BOOK WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN IN 2001 BY HAMISH HAMILTON.
The first U.S. edition of this book was published in 2002 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE EXTINCTION CLUB. Copyright © 2001 by Robert Twigger
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-03179-2
First Perennial edition published 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 0-06-053596-2
03 04 05 06 07 ♦/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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