Shadow War (32 page)

Thank you to Jessica, my wife, whom I met while writing this book. I'm sorry I spent so many late nights laboring over these pages.

Thank you to my agent, Peter McGuigan and everyone at Foundry, including Emily Brown, Kirsten Neuhouse, and Richie Kern. And to all the great people at HarperCollins: my editor, David Highfill, Chloe Moffett, Mumtaz Mustafa, Kaitlin Harri, Danielle Bartlett, David Palmer, and Mark Steven Long. And, of course, my co-conspirator, Bret Witter. None of this would have happened without you guys.

This book is a result of what seems like a lifetime in combat, and I am grateful to all those who served with me and helped along the way, especially Gifford Miles, my platoon sergeant from the 82nd Airborne Division, who has always been a big brother to me.

Thanks as well to those who helped me get it right. A CIA friend (you know who you are). Fred Kagan, a great muse of international intrigue. Henry Escher, a seasoned thriller reader, who showed me what good dialogue looks like. Elena Pokalova, my Russian/Ukrainian friend who helped with the slang and feel of the place. Deanne and Jim Lewis, Jay Parker, Corinne Bridges, Brett Duke, Elizabeth Butler, and Robert “the firewood guy,” who read my drafts with keen eyes.

Lastly, I wish to acknowledge all those professional warriors out there who serve in the complicated shadows of world politics. You will never be left behind or forgotten.

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.

SHADOW WAR.
Copyright © 2016 by Sean McFate and Bret Witter. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

EPub Edition MAY 2016 ISBN 978-0-06-240372-8

ISBN 978-0-06-240370-4

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