The Darkest Corners (33 page)

This is a story I didn't think I had the guts to write. I might not have if Suzie Townsend hadn't said, “Do it!” Thank you, Suzie, for always getting it.

This book wouldn't exist without a huge leap of faith from Krista Marino, who is an editorial wizard. Thank you for helping me build this story from the ground up, and for loving it as much as I do. I feel like the luckiest author in the world to get to work with you.

To the team at Random House Children's Books—Beverly Horowitz, Monica Jean, Kimberly Lauber, John Adamo, Mary McCue, Dominique Cimina, Adrienne Waintraub, Rachel Feld, Laura Antonacci, Aisha Cloud, Anna Gjesteby, Sonia Nash Gupta, and Stephanie O'Cain—thank you for the warm welcome and for your endless enthusiasm and support.

I am so lucky to have the support of the Dream Team at New Leaf Literary and Media—Kathleen Ortiz, Joanna Volpe, Pouya Shabhazian, Jess Dallow, Danielle Barthel, Dave Caccavo, Jackie Lindert, Jaida Temperly, and Chris McEwen.

This book was inspired in part by the West Memphis Three and their willingness to share their stories. To Margaret Riley, thank you for the encouragement, and for steering me toward the
Paradise Lost
documentaires.

Thanks also to Larry Salz and Lucinda Moorhead at UTA; to Kathy Bradey and Lindsey Culli, for tirelessly reading all my drafts; and to my family, for their endless support and patience.

Kara Thomas has written for everything from her high school newspaper to Warner Bros. Television. She is a true-crime addict who lives on Long Island with her husband and rescue cat. To learn more about her and her books, visit her at
kara-thomas.com
and follow
@karatwrites
on Twitter.