Allan Folsom - The Hadrian Memorandum

Anne.

Marten reached down and rubbed Bruno’s head. The puppy looked up at him the way his father, Bruno the Elder had, as if he sensed everything that was going on inside him. It was then he realized he had tears in his eyes. They were tears for the victims of violence and injustice he had seen every day of his life on the LAPD, and later in France and Russia and Spain. Tears for the awfulness of what had happened in Equatorial Guinea, for the people he had seen and met there, and on his voyage since. All he could do now was breathe-in the sweet innocence of the puppy in his arms and know the tears came from his heart.

“I weep for them,” he said aloud. “I weep for us all.”

If you want to know more of the adventures of Nicholas Marten; his past with the LAPD; how and why he was forced to change his name and relocate to England; about his sister Rebecca and the enigmatic Lady Clementine Simpson; and how he became such close friends with John Henry Harris, the president of the United States; those stories are told at length in The Exile and The Machiavelli Covenant.

For technical information and advice I am particularly indebted to my friend and fellow writer Chase Brandon, retired CIA operations officer, clandestine services, who provided immeasurable counsel regarding the politics, mind-set, and inner workings of the CIA, and who was instrumental in preparing the formal text for the “Memorandum” itself; and to Anthony Chapa, assistant director (retired), United States Secret Service; Paul Tippin, former homicide investigator, Los Angeles Police Department; noted German mystery writer Hartmann Schmige was particularly helpful in providing information about Berlin and the Berlin police; Norton F. Kristy, Ph.D., gave me valuable insight into the psychological motivations of the characters.

For suggestions and corrections to the manuscript I am particularly grateful to Eric Raab, with a very special thank-you to India Cooper. I am also indebted to my agent, Robert Gottlieb; and to Tom Doherty, Linda Quinton, and Robert Gleason for their continued enthusiasm and support of my work.

Finally, I want to thank Jeffrey Weber, M.D., and Thomas Woliver, M.D., whose caring and expertise made the writing of this book possible.