Christopher Reich - Rules of Vengeance

On a personal note, I’d like to thank the team at the Body Refinery in Encinitas, California, especially my trainer, Michael Barbanti, who goes the extra mile to find new and imaginative ways for me to work off my creative anxieties. Res firma, mitescere nescit .

Finally, I would like to give a “shout-out” to my family, who inspire me to give it my best day in, day out: to Noelle and Katja, who I love more every day, and to my wife, Sue, who is always my first and best critic.

This book is dedicated to James F. Sloan . I got to know Jim while researching The Devil’s Banker . Back then, Jim headed up the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He and his team pulled out the stops to illustrate the varied ways and methods used to track terrorist finances. When I met with Jim in his office, I sensed right away that I was in the presence of an extraordinary individual. Jim possesses the quiet confidence and steely competence of the born leader. Prior to working at FinCEN, he put in over twenty years with the Secret Service, retiring as Special Agent-in-Charge of the Baltimore office. I’ll never forget the smile on his face when he showed me the photograph of him driving the Popemobile during John Paul II’s visit to the United States in 1979. The Irish Catholic boy from Springfield, Massachusetts, had made good!

Over the years, I never stopped in D.C. without paying Jim a visit. I followed his career ever upward as he left FinCEN and joined the Coast Guard as their first civilian Deputy Commandant for Intelligence. In that time he had several opportunities to leave government service for the far richer fields of private security. He turned them down, feeling (rightly) that he could make a greater contribution to the country and to our society by continuing to serve in the government.

Two years ago, Jim contracted ALS, better known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” It was a bitter and incomprehensible blow. This was not supposed to happen to a healthy, vital man who had so much left to accomplish, so very much to live for. My initial reaction was disbelief and sadness. Then, I got mad. How dare this disease strike a man who exemplifies the best in the human spirit?

At this printing, Jim continues his valiant battle against this terrible illness. He is weakened in body, but not in mind. That same confidence, charisma, and steadfastness that I observed when we first met hasn’t deserted him.

It never will.