The Ex (26 page)

Authors: Alafair Burke

Author’s Note

T
HE EX
IS
set in the real New York City, with very slight modifications. The football field is a larger, fictionalized version of the sports courts south of Pier 40, and Olivia and Melissa had a more classic college dorm than the actual student housing at Columbia University. Though every legal process in Jack’s case is authentic, some of the bumps along the way are not typical of the run-of-the-mill trial. Café Lissa isn’t real, but oh, how I wish it were.

Acknowledgments

Writing is a solitary exercise, but the completion of
The Ex
was a collective effort. My editor, Jennifer Barth, is a smart and loyal perfectionist with a careful eye and sharp instincts; she forces me to be a better writer. My agent, Philip Spitzer, remains my biggest champion. NYPD Lt. Lucas Miller, Nic Wolff, and Roy Simon generously allowed me to pick their very impressive brains for information.

I am endlessly grateful for the support I receive at the Spitzer Agency from Lukas Ortiz and Jennifer Woodason; at HarperCollins from Amy Baker, Erica Barmash, Jonathan Burnham, Heather Drucker, Michael Morrison, Katie O’Callaghan, Kathy Schneider, Leah Wasielewski, Erin Wicks, and Lydia Weaver; at Faber & Faber from Angus Cargill and Sophie Portas; and from Jody Hotchkiss.

I’d especially like to thank readers. Until a book is read, a story hasn’t really been told. Your imagination is what completes the process, so thank you for sharing it with me. Some of you have gone even further by telling friends about the books, serving as volunteer photographers and tour guides at book events, and acting as informal publicists, advisors, life coaches, and dog trainers in the online “Kitchen Cabinet” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I’m humbled and grateful for the support.

Finally, I don’t know how I’d stay (relatively) sane without the love, support, and patience of my family and friends. And hey you, Sean: Happy tenth anniversary.

About the Author

ALAFAIR BURKE
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of ten previous novels, including the stand-alones
Long Gone
and
If You Were Here
, as well as the Ellie Hatcher series:
All Day and a Night
,
Never Tell
,
212
,
Angel’s Tip
, and
Dead Connection
. She is also the coauthor of the
New York Times
bestselling Under Suspicion series with Mary Higgins Clark. A former prosecutor, she now teaches criminal law and lives in Manhattan.

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Also by Alafair Burke

Long Gone

If You Were Here

THE ELLIE HATCHER SERIES

Dead Connection

Angel’s Tip

212

Never Tell

All Day and a Night

THE SAMANTHA KINCAID SERIES

Judgment Calls

Missing Justice

Close Case

THE UNDER SUSPICION SERIES (WITH MARY HIGGINS CLARK)

The Cinderella Murder

All Dressed in White

Credits

Cover design by Jimmy Iacobelli

Cover photograph © Magnus Fond/plainpicture/Johner

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE EX.
Copyright © 2016 by Alafair Burke. 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 JANUARY 2016 ISBN 9780062390509

ISBN: 978-0-06-239048-6

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