Hidden Order: A Thriller (50 page)

Lara looked at him and slowly smiled back. In that moment, he thought or maybe hoped that he was seeing something fall away, much like the armor of her police persona, which dropped piece by piece on her way home at the end of the day.

Standing up from their blanket, she wrapped her arms around them both and kissed them. “I know it’ll be okay,” she said. “Why don’t we all go in together.”

W
ith each thriller I create, my goal is to stretch myself as an author and become better at my craft. I had a lot of fun writing
Hidden Order
and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

The acknowledgments section is where I get to thank all the people who helped me over the past year. Of those, I owe my greatest thanks to you, my terrific
readers.
I work for you, and it is the greatest job anyone could ever have.

Equally important are all of the wonderful
booksellers
around the world who continue to help sell and introduce new readers to my novels every day. Thank you.

Once again, my dear friends
Barrett Moore, James Ryan, Rodney Cox,
and
Sean F.
were incredibly helpful. Without them, this book would not have happened. Thank you, gentlemen.

A special thanks for their support and friendship over the last year goes to
Joel Brumlik, Dan Bitton, Mike Bitton, Ray Hamilton,
and
Shawn Landa.

I owe an additional debt of gratitude to
Frank Gallagher, Steve Tuttle, Evan Jones,
and
John Levin.

To those who contributed to the novel, but whose names I am not able to include for security reasons, thank you for both your help and for your service to our great nation.

In
Hidden Order,
the
Lydia Ryan
and
Bill Wise
characters are so named because of their real-life spouses, who generously gave to two very worthwhile causes. I thank both
Mrs. Wise
and
Mr. Ryan
for their generosity.

On the publishing front, you will find no better people in the business than the amazing team at
Simon & Schuster.
To that end, I extend my deepest thanks to everyone at
Emily Bestler Books
and
Pocket Books,
particularly my phenomenal editor,
Emily Bestler.
Not only are her contributions invaluable, but working with her has proven to be one of the greatest joys of my career. Thank you, Emily.

I have surrounded myself with the absolute best, and so much of my success is directly attributable to the unparalleled business acumen of my outstanding publishers:
Carolyn Reidy, Judith Curr,
and
Louise Burke.
Ladies, thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for me and for the Brad Thor novels.

When I speak to aspiring novelists, I explain that writing a novel is only 40 percent of the work. You can write the greatest book in the world, but if no one knows about it you won’t realize much success. This is why you need an astounding publicist and why I am blessed to have the greatest one ever:
David Brown.
My thanks go to David and the rest of our outstanding
PR team,
including the world-renowned
Cindi Berger
and
Cara Masline,
as well as the second-to-none
Valerie Vennix
and
Ariele Fredman.

I also want to thank all the stellar people on the
Emily Bestler Books/Pocket Books sales staff,
including
Gary Urda, Colin Shields, John Hardy,
the awesome
art and production departments,
the marvelous
Sarah Lieberman, Desiree Vecchio, Armand Schultz,
and the
Simon & Schuster audio division,
as well as the fantastic
Michael Selleck, Kate Cetrulo, Caroline Porter, Irene Lipsky, Lisa Keim, Jeanne Lee, Al Madocs,
and
Tom Pitoniak.

Heide Lange
of
Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc.
is hands down the best literary agent ever. Her sage counsel, deep friendship, and the example she sets as a consummate professional are but the tip of the
iceberg when it comes to the qualities I cherish in Heide. Add to that, Heide’s spectacular assistants
Rachael Dillon Fried
and
Stephanie Delman
and
everyone else at SJGA,
and you have my constellation of lucky stars that I am thankful for every day.

My dear friend and peerless entertainment attorney,
Scott Schwimer,
has my deepest gratitude for all he has done and continues to do for me in Hollywood. Thank you, Scottie.

This year, Thor Entertainment Group is honored to be joined by the extraordinary
Yvonne Ralsky,
who has helped take our game to an entirely new level. We have many, many exciting things planned, and Yvonne is key to making those happen. Thank you, Yvonne.

Finally, I would not be where I am without my beautiful wife,
Trish,
and our two wonderful
children.
They are my inspiration and I love them beyond words. They put up with my late nights and weekends at my desk, always greeting me with a smile, a hug, and a love that knows no bounds. I am truly blessed and could not ask for anything more. Now that the book is done, what adventure can we take off for?

 • • • 

For a look behind the scenes of
Hidden Order
, plus up-to-the-minute information on Brad, make sure to visit
BradThor.com
and sign up for Brad’s fast, fun, easy-to-read newsletter.

A
LSO BY
B
RAD
T
HOR

The Lions of Lucerne

Path of the Assassin

State of the Union

Blowback

Takedown

The First Commandment

The Last Patriot

The Apostle

Foreign Influence

The Athena Project

Full Black

Black List

Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books

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New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Brad Thor

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.