Ned Beauman - Glow

‘That doesn’t feel like a firearm,’ he says evenly.

‘It’s not,’ says the person behind him. ‘It’s a cordless rivet gun. It won’t make much noise. Put your hands behind your head.’

She has an American accent. He doesn’t recognise her voice.

I lived in at least ten different flats and houses (depending on how you count it) during the two years it took me to write and edit this book, so I’d like to express special gratitude to all my hosts, landlords and flatmates, including the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and the Omi International Arts Center in upstate New York, plus the British Council for all the travel. I’d also like to thank Professor David Sulzer and Dr. Carl Hart for talking to me about the chemistry of pleasure, although I must emphasise that I never offered them the opportunity to check the manuscript and so they cannot be held responsible for the outrages against serious neuroscience committed within. Finally, for all their help, I’d like to thank Jane Finigan and everyone at Lutyens & Rubinstein; Drummond Moir and everyone at Sceptre; David Forrer and everyone at Inkwell; and Gary Fisketjon and everyone at Knopf.