Nevermore (30 page)

To Eric Kripke, who could’ve just done a show about two pretty guys who shoot monsters in the head, but has given us something far more than that in
Supernatural.
It’s a show about two brothers, it’s a show about family, it’s a show about demons both physical and internal, it’s a show about 317 Acknowledgments

the importance of music, and it’s a show about
people.
Thanks also to his crack team of writers, in partic u lar Raelle Tucker and Sera Gamble, who’ve provided some of my favorite moments on the show, and Ben Edlund, who has rocked my world ever since the glory days of
The Tick.

To my other editor, Emily Krump; my wonderful agent, Lucienne Diver, who both rocks and rolls; to the good folks at the café who plied me with hot chocolate during my marathon writing sessions; and to CGAG, the bestest writers group ever.

To Anthony C. Greene of the Bronx County Historical Society, who generously gave me an informative tour of the Poe Cottage, and fi lled me with all sorts of useful facts. Also to the BCHS in general for their books by Lloyd Ultan and Gary Hermalyn about the Bronx, in partic u lar
The Birth
of the Bronx, 1609-1900
, and also to Kenneth T.

Jackson’s superlative reference,
The Encyclopedia
of New York
, and Susan Blackhall’s
Ghosts of
New York.

To Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, the voices and faces of Dean and Sam Winchester. Again, they could’ve just stood around and looked pretty, but they’ve infused their characters with, well, character, which made it much more fun to get inside their heads for this novel.

To Constance Cochran, GraceAnne Andreassi 318

Acknowledgments

DeCandido, Heidi Ellis, Marina Frants, and Les-ley McBain, for invaluable feedback that made the book a lot better.

To the various online resources, from the “Super-wiki” at supernatural.oscillating.net, to the offi cial
Supernatural
site at supernatural.warnerbros.com, to the
Supernatural
entries on the main Wikipedia, to the various other folks on the Internet who support, discuss, overanalyze, and lust over the show.

To Dr. Judith Richardson, who really does offer a literature class at Stanford University called

“American Hauntings,” to the NYPD’s website at www.nyc.gov/html/nypd for research assistance, to Susan McCrackin for financial aid neepery, and to Steven H. Silver and Rachel Ward for bringing the Latin.

To Gregory Mcdonald, from whose
Fletch
books I stole the “Park in Rear” joke.

Finally, it should be noted that, while most of the details about the life of Edgar Allan Poe and his home and family are as true as the author could determine, the historical figure of Percival Samuels is wholly fi ctional, as is his resurrection ritual.

Last, but not least, thanks to them that live with me, both human and feline, for constant compan-ionship and encouragement.

About the Author

Keith R.A. DeCandido
wrote the fi rst
Farscape
novel (
House of Cards
), the fi rst
Gene Roddenber-ry’s Andromeda
novel (
Destruction of Illusions
), the fi rst
Command and Conquer
novel (
Tiberium
Wars
), and now the fi rst
Supernatural
novel. This means absolutely nothing, but he likes mentioning it anyhow, ’cause it almost sounds cool.

In total, Keith has written more than thirty novels, as well as a mess of short stories, a smattering of novellas, a dollop of essays, and a gaggle of eBooks. Most are in various media universes—besides the ones mentioned:
Star Trek
(most recently the
Next Generation
novel
Q&A
),
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
(most recently
The Deathless
),
World of
Warcraft
(
Cycle of Hatred
),
Doctor Who
(a story in the
Short Trips: Destination Prague
anthology),
StarCraft
(
Nova
),
Resident Evil
(the novelizations 320

About the Author

of all three fi lms),
Spider- Man
(
Down These Mean
Streets
),
CSI:NY
(the upcoming
Four Walls
), and whole bunches more. The majority of his original work is in the world of his 2004 novel
Dragon Precinct
.

Keith is also an editor—he’s responsible for the monthly
Star Trek
eBook line and has edited dozens of anthologies, including the upcoming
Doctor
Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership
—

and a

musician—currently the percussionist for the parody band the Boogie Knights. A fan of classic rock (Dean Winchester would approve of much of his iTunes “favorites” playlist), Keith is also a practitioner of
Kenshikai
karate and a devoted fan of the New York Yankees. As should be blindingly obvious from the book you’ve just read, Keith was born, raised, and educated in the Bronx, and still lives there with his fiancée and two insane cats.

Learn less about Keith at his official website at DeCandido.net, read his tiresome ramblings at kradical.livejournal.com, or send him your Bronx cheers directly to [email protected].

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

SUPERNATURAL Books

From HarperEntertainment

Nevermore

Coming Soon

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Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SUPERNATURAL™: NEVERMORE. Copyright © 2007 by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. SUPERNATURAL™ &

© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader July 2008

ISBN 978-0-06-172912-6

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Publisher

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Document Outline

• Title Page
  
• Dedication Page
  
• Epigraph Page
  
• Contents
  
  • Historian�s Note
    
  • Chapter One
    
  • Chapter Two
    
  • Chapter Three
    
  • Chapter Four
    
  • Chapter Five
    
  • Chapter Six
    
  • Chapter Seven
    
  • Chapter Eight
    
  • Chapter Nine
    
  • Chapter Ten
    
  • Chapter Eleven
    
  • Chapter Twelve
    
  • Chapter Thirteen
    
  • Chapter Fourteen
    
  • Chapter Fifteen
    
  • Chapter Sixteen
    
  • Chapter Seventeen
    
  • Chapter Eighteen
    
  • Epilogue
    
  • Author�s Note
    
  • Acknowledgments
    
  • About the Author
    
  • Supernatural Books From HarperEntertainment
    
  • Copyright Notice
    
  • About the Publisher
    

Table of Contents

Epigraph

Historian’s Note

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments 316

About the Author

Other Books by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Cover

Copyright

About the Publisher

T WELVE

Ac know ledg ments