Acknowledgments
This is my first Ty Hauck book in five years, and it was like getting back together with an old friend. Though the setting is not a familiar one for Ty, the nature of his character, his dogged search for the truth, usually undertaken on behalf of someone else (generally female), his humble and overachieving way, and his unfailing willingness to put his life on the line have always made him kind of a white knight for me, an idealized version of who I aimed to be.
But I’m just a guy who sits at my desk with a keyboard and a computer, and writing a thriller is more often a battle in problem solving than a search for inspiration, so this is a good time to thank the handful of people who did truly help in getting this one done, and hopefully done well: Tree Trujillo, an accomplished rafter, for vetting my whitewater scenes (I knew taking my family on those crazy rides down the Snake and Kennebec Rivers would come in handy one day). Tim Hopper, chief economist at TIAA-CREF in Houston, for some timely info, over dinner in Steamboat, on the economics of the fracking process; and Roy Grossman, an early reader of many of my books, and whose perceptive comments helped make this one a whole lot better.
Also a nod of thanks to my longtime team at William Morrow: Henry Ferris, David Highfill, Lynn Grady, Liate Stehlik, Danielle Bartlett, and Julia Wisdom, who, despite a few bumps and spills over the years, have guided me on one of the most memorable rides of my life. And to Simon Lipskar of Writers House, who continues to guide me, wherever that leads.
Two articles that helped me in this book deserve mention: “Option for Drilling Pits Farmers Against Oil Thirsty Wells” (New York Times, September 6, 2012). And a blog post by Brendan Demelle on desmogblog.com, “Gas Fracking Industry Using Military Psychological Warfare Tactics and Personnel in U.S.” (September 6, 2011).
The themes of this book are cover-up and vindication, but the story leads through fracking and horizontal drilling, and in writing it, I immersed myself in much of the technology and environmental impact. Normally I just say it’s not for me to agree or disagree on such issues. I’m a thriller writer, not a journalist. It’s merely a device. But if I had to take sides on this one, I think I would come down on the side of being for it—with as much environmental oversight as possible. Many of the characters in this book are drawn from real people—and they are passionate, committed, and moral about their jobs. To me, the long-term strategic goal of making our country energy independent outweighs, for now, at least by a margin, the environmental risks. Subject to change, of course. But for once, even as just a thriller writer, I thought I’d take a stand.