The Conviction (48 page)

I also want to thank my friend Jim Russi, who owns the Piety Flats Winery and store in Yakima. Jim and I met on a trip back from Mazatlán to Seattle. I was standing at the airport curb with my daughter and seven thousand pounds of luggage, along with two boogie boards my kids insisted we drag all that way and back… and never used… when Jim greeted me. He held a briefcase and proceeded to tell me that his boogie board could fit inside it. After a very long day, tired, and waiting for my wife and son, who had gone to get the car, I don’t think Jim realized how close to death he really was. We laughed and exchanged information. He didn’t for a minute believe I was a writer and I didn’t for a minute believe he’d call. But he went home and looked me up on the computer. The next day he e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to speak to the Yakima Rotary, something I have now been blessed to do twice. On the first trip, two years ago, Jim gave my son, his two cousins and me a tour of the many hops fields in Yakima. I noted the type of plant and how it grew, its buds and smell to the untrained nose. I said I thought it the perfect cover for an illegal marijuana operation. Again, I had no idea this would become the premise for a book.

This last trip Jim arranged a tour of a hops-manufacturing factory. Gary McGrath was kind enough to give me an hour of his time and a tour of his facility. Gary was gracious with his information and the experience was a fascinating one. Again, Victor Dillon and his illegal operation were fabricated out of whole cloth and the idea of a hops grower using his business to cover for a marijuana operation is, to my knowledge, completely fictional.

I also want to thank Meg Peavey, a very bright young woman who helped me significantly by researching not only the history of juvenile boot camps, but also outdoor marijuana grows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her research was terrific and thorough and I was blessed to have it. Any similarities to any actual boot camps is pure coincidence. Fresh Start does not exist. And any mistakes
in this novel are not the product of the research, but belong to me. Thanks, Meg. I couldn’t have written the novel without your help.

I want to thank Dave Bennett and Lisa Lynch for lending me their names for this manuscript. Congratulations on winning the Character in a Book contest. I also want to thank Don Wicks for his generous contribution to the La Conner Rotary in exchange for becoming a character in this novel. Rotarians do good work across the United States and I am fortunate to be able to help their causes, even in a small way.

Could the premise for this novel—widespread corruption that allowed juveniles to be sentenced to a privately owned, for-profit facility—actually occur? If you doubt it, you might want to google “jailing kids for cash” and see what pops up.

Thanks to Meg Ruley of the Jane Rotrosen Agency, my stellar agent. Meg remains my champion and I am thankful for all that she continues to do for my career. Thanks also to the rest of the Rotrosen team who read my drafts and offer suggestions. I do appreciate all of your support. I couldn’t do it without you.

Thanks to Tami Taylor, who runs my Web site and does a fantastic job doing it. Thanks to the cold readers who labor through my early drafts and help make my manuscripts better. Thanks to Pam Binder and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association for their tremendous support of my work and all those other conferences who invite me to teach and speak.

Thanks to Touchstone/Simon & Schuster for believing in
The Conviction
and in David Sloane. This includes publisher Stacy Creamer, Sally Kim, Marcia Burch, David Falk, Meredith Kernan, art director Cherlynne Li, production editor Josh Karpf, production manager Alicia Brancato, and interior designer Renata Di Biase.

And the biggest round of applause to Lauren Spiegel, my editor. You made this manuscript better and remain a joy to work with. Thanks for your support, your attention to detail, and prompt responses to my inquiries. I’m glad to have you.

I’m also glad to have Jessica Roth. If there is a better publicist out there, you’ll have to prove it to me. Like Lauren, Jessica does
her often difficult job with a jovial personality that makes her a joy to work with. Here’s hoping the canceled flights and storms are a minimum this year and the publicity and marketing of
The Conviction
are smooth sailing. And if it is not, I’m glad you’re captaining this ship.

To Louise Burke, Pocket Books publisher, and Pocket Books associate publisher Anthony Ziccardi as well as editor Abby Zidle for great insight and support. And thanks to all on the Touchstone and Pocket Books sales forces. I wouldn’t be writing this without you.

Thank you also to you loyal readers who e-mail me to tell me how much you enjoy my books, raise questions, and await the next. I look forward to those e-mails and read every one. You are the reason I keep looking for the next David Sloane adventure, and beyond.

I’ve dedicated this book to my two kids, Joe and Catherine. I am blessed to have not one but two great kids. They make me proud in everything they do, from football to basketball and baseball and how they perform in the classroom. But I am most proud of the way they conduct their lives, generous and kind. For this I owe my wife, Cristina. She is such a good person, far better than I deserve, and a lot of that goodness has rubbed off on our kids. As always, thanks for standing beside me. Since I’m an old movie buff, and turned fifty this year and thus am officially an “old guy,” I’ll finish with this plagiarized and corny line a young guy could never get away with saying. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

Quick, e-mail me and name the movie.

Bob Dugoni,
June 2012

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