Read The Countdown (The Taking) Online
Authors: Kimberly Derting
The Countdown (The Taking) (28 page)
CONCLUDING THE TAKING TRILOGY WAS BOTH rewarding and bittersweet. I wanted to give Kyra the ending she deserved, while also wrapping up as many threads as possible. I have a lot of people to thank, both those who have guided me through this storytelling journey, and those who stand by me day to day in my civilian (nonwriting) life to keep me sane.
The obvious is my literary agent, Laura Rennert, who never fails to surprise me with her unfailing support of my work. Thanks also to the fabulous Andrea Brown Literary Agency, just for being such an incredible pool of strong and smart women—I’m proud to be part of your crew. Also to my team at WME, Alicia Gordon, Erin Conroy, and Ashley Fox. I love that you have my back in that mystifying Hollywood world!
A huge thank you to HarperTeen, starting with Sarah Landis, who first acquired
The Taking
, and Kari Sutherland who picked up where Sarah left off. To Jen Klonsky and Alice Jerman, thank you for all your hard work and cheerleading, and for getting
The Countdown
to press. To the amazingly talented cover designers who, again, killed it
with this cover—it is truly stunning alone or beside its series companions! And again, to Olivia Russo, who is the World’s Best Publicist (you can quote me on that!).
I have to thank my critique partner, Shelli Wells, who was in the room when I first brainstormed the idea for
The Taking
, and was there again when I thought I’d backed myself into a corner during
The Countdown
. I hadn’t, I just needed her creative perspective to help me see my way out! And the awesome women of Cave Creek, who let me come back to our annual writing retreat every year even though I’m superstitious about sharing my ideas.
In my real life, I want to thank my friends and family for putting up with yoga pants and ugly writing sweaters and for not complaining when I send your calls to voicemail because I’m working out whether there will be an alien invasion or not. But I have to single out a few people, specifically Molly—sorry I decided to kill your character! And don’t worry, Madeline, your turn is coming. . . .
Thanks to (Mama) Shawn for keeping the Derting household operational. To my book club ladies for introducing me to characters and worlds I likely wouldn’t discover on my own . . . and also for making me laugh. A special thanks to my Amanda, Connor, and Abby, who’ve learned that “I’m busy” is code for “I’m working” even if it looks like I’m just daydreaming. To my husband, Josh, who constantly amazes me with his brilliant insights and support—thank you times infinity.
And lastly to Hudson, just for being you.
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KIMBERLY DERTING
is the author of the Body Finder series, the Pledge trilogy, and the Taking series. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where the gloomy weather is ideal for writing anything dark and creepy. Her three beautiful (and often mouthy) children serve as an endless source of inspiration and frequently find things they say buried in the pages of their mother’s books. You can visit her online at
www.kimberlyderting.com
.
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Cover art © 2016 by Colin Anderson
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE COUNTDOWN
. Copyright © 2016 by Kimberly Derting. 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, downloaded, 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.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015956262
ISBN 978-0-06-229366-4 (trade bdg.)
EPub Edition © April 2016 ISBN 9780062293688
16 17 18 19 20
PC/RRDH
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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