The Flight Attendant(107)

Cassie opened the first-class bar on the flight, looked at the liquor bottles, as beautiful to her as Fabergé eggs, and reached for a can of Diet Coke.





Acknowledgments




“Nothing can be more limiting to the imagination, nothing is quicker to turn on the psyche’s censoring devices and distortion systems, than trying to write truthfully and interestingly about one’s own hometown,” John Gardner taught us in The Art of Fiction.

I agree. I rarely write what I know. But I always do my homework, and I have come to love the research that goes into my books—partly because of what I learn, but also because of the new friends I make. In this case, I offer my deepest thanks to easily a dozen and a half people.

Jerrold H. Bamel and Tristram Coffin were my guides through how the FBI might be involved in this story. My sense is that each of them could someday write a gripping spy thriller. Tris is the former U.S. attorney for the District of Vermont. Jerrold is a retired FBI agent and now a corporate fraud investigator. He also makes some mighty tasty jam from mangos, pineapples, and key limes.

Carla Malstrom and Daphne Walker shared with me what life is like as a flight attendant at thirty-five thousand feet and at sea level. Chat with either of them for an hour and you will thank your flight attendants for all they do (and endure) the next time you board a plane.

Adam Turteltaub (a great friend from college), Khatchig Mouradian (my Armenian godfather), and Matthew Gilbert taught me about Dubai. Adam and Khatchig also read early drafts of this manuscript and offered valuable insights. I have dedicated books in the past to the two of them; I know I will again.

J. J. Gertler (another friendship that dates back to when I was eighteen years old) was my expert on drones and chemical weapons and National Intelligence. He is a professional national security geek, and it is a pleasure to have his name again in the Acknowledgments.

Also helping me once more with a novel: Steven Shapiro, chief medical examiner for the State of Vermont, assisted with the autopsy scenes. Ani Tchaghlasian was my guide through the labyrinthine world of offshore money and OFAC laws, and the sort of fund one of my characters is managing.

My biking buddies in Vermont, Andrew Furtsch and Stephen Kiernan—again, I have dedicated books to them both—allowed me to bounce plot machinations off them over hundreds of miles. Stephen Gragg assisted with airport security. And while traveling with me on the backroads of Artsakh and in a bar in Stepanakert, Fred Hayrapet shared with me stories of what happens when a deal goes bad in places like Donetsk or Dubai.

I have to give a very special shout-out to Sarah Hepola. I fell in love with her hauntingly beautiful memoir, Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget, soon after I finished the first draft of this novel. I keep a screenshot of page 214 of Blackout on my phone.

Among the books I read and enjoyed while writing this novel were: Heather Poole’s memoir of being a flight attendant, Cruising Altitude; Patrick Smith’s book about flying, Ask the Pilot; and Richard Whittle’s history of drones, Predator.

I extend my deepest thanks to my remarkable editor, Jennifer Jackson (this is our sixth book together, and, yes, I dedicated a novel to her, too) and the whole team at Doubleday, Vintage, and Penguin Random House Audio: Maria Carella, Todd Doughty, John Fontana, Kelly Gildea, Zakiya Harris, Suzanne Herz, Judy Jacoby, Jennifer Marshall, Anne Messitte, Charlotte O’Donnell, John Pitts, Nora Reichard, William Thomas, and Margaux Weisman.

I am so grateful to my agents: Penelope Burns, Miriam Feuerle, Jane Gelfman, Cathy Gleason, Brian Lipson, Abigail Parker, Deborah Schneider, Hannah Scott, and Andrew Wetzel.

Finally, I am—as always—so appreciative of the counsel of my lovely bride, Victoria Blewer, and our daughter, the always amazing Grace Experience.

I thank you all.





About the Author


Chris Bohjalian is the author of twenty books, including The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; The Double Bind; and Midwives, which was a number one New York Times bestseller and a selection of Oprah’s Book Club. Chris’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and three novels have become movies (Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers). Chris lives in Vermont and can be found at www.chrisbohjalian.com or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Litsy, and Goodreads.