M.R. Hall - The Disappeared

'I'm not talking about Mum now,' Jenny said. 'What happened to Cousin Katy?'

A second gull joined the first on the windowsill and snatched the remainder of the bun from its beak. Brian chuckled.

'Dad, it's important. I need to know.'

His eyes faded and seemed to mist over.

'Dad, please try.'

She took hold of his arm and shook it. He wrenched it away, the muscles in his forearms hard as iron.

'You remember, Smiler,' he said. 'You killed her.'

Acknowledgements

Writing a first book is an act of pure speculation. So what if it doesn't work, you say to yourself; at least I gave it a try. Writing a second, with a deadline to meet and people waiting expectantly for your manuscript, is a different enterprise entirely. Fortunately for me those people have been unfailingly supportive and encouraging. Special thanks go to Greg Hunt, my straight-talking screen-writing agent, who propelled me into writing novels with the unerring assertion that 'no one takes you seriously until you've written a book', and to Zoe Waldie, my literary agent, who has given me nothing but faultlessly sound advice. Huge thanks also to Maria Rejt, my publisher and editor at Macmillan, who has many fine gifts including the rare ability to convey her great wisdom in the subtlest and most respectful of ways, and also to all her friendly and highly professional team.

I would also like to thank my colourful and lively family and extended family, all of whom lend their unconditional support. In particular, my mother and stepfather, writers both, are always there with an understanding of what it takes to return day after day to the lonely task of putting one word after another, and my father, a musician, has consistently proved to me that a level head can rest on artistic shoulders. My wife and sons, daily spectators to the many ups and downs of the writer's life, make everything possible.

Ed Husain's book The Islamist (Penguin, London, 2007) was a great help in understanding the mind of the young Muslim radical. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to comprehend how young men raised in the West can be seduced by ugly extremism and also be delivered from it.

Finally, thanks to all those friends and former colleagues in the legal profession upon whom I rely for their experience and anecdotes, especially James Mclntyre, who leave me in no doubt that truth is always stranger than fiction.