One of the best days of my personal and professional life was the day I met my astonishing agent, Heide Lange of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. I owe Heide more thanks than I will ever be able to convey. Thank you, Heide. You mean the world to me.
As James Bond has Q, Heide (and I) have the incredible Stephanie Delman and Samantha Isman. I thank you both for everything you do for me on a daily basis. And to that, let me also thank everyone else at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for such wonderful assistance throughout the year.
In a word, Yvonne Ralsky is marvelous. The key to being successful is surrounding yourself with great people and letting them do what they do best. Yvonne, you are one of the greatest. My thanks to you and your wonderful family for being part of the team.
Every year, I thank my awesome entertainment attorney and dear friend, Scott Schwimer. He’s not only a superstar in Hollywood, but he’s also one of the best people I have ever met. Thank you, my friend.
Finally, my biggest thanks of all go to my spectacular family. If it weren’t for you, this book would not have happened. Ours truly is a “family business.” You do more for me than I can list here. No father or husband could ever ask for more supportive people in his life. I love you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
In closing, please visit my website. I not only create a lot of bonus content for the novels, but I also put out a fun, fast, free newsletter each month that includes a terrific prize. Swing by BradThor.com and check it out.
Now, with the novel complete and everyone thanked, I am off on my next adventure!
RESOURCES
I spend a lot of my time between books reading and doing research. Material ends up piled all around my office, taped to the walls, etc. Picture the movie A Beautiful Mind and you’re about halfway there.
In writing Use of Force, a few resources stand out, and I would like to share them with you:
No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
No Hero by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
Fearless by Eric Blehm
Beyond Repair by Charles S. Faddis
Fair Play by James M. Olson
As I mentioned in the acknowledgments, I also highly recommend the reporting of Barbie Latza Nadeau on ISIS, the Mafia, and the European refugee crisis.
Scott Onstott’s blog at secretsinplainsight.com provided fascinating information about sacred geometry and patterns of distance between major world landmarks.
Burningman.org and burners.me are excellent resources for anyone wanting to learn more about the Burning Man celebration.
For the writers out there, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi put out a great series of books covering character expression, flaws, and attributes. If you’re looking for insight into why people do what they do, this is a great place to start.
Finally, in order to satisfy the time constraints of the novel, I took artistic liberty with the start/stop dates of the Burning Man festival and the Fête des Tuileries in Paris. In all other areas, I worked to be as accurate as possible.
Any mistakes in the novel are on me, and I take full responsibility for them.
Thank you for reading Use of Force.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRAD THOR is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Foreign Agent, Code of Conduct, Act of War, Hidden Order, Black List, Full Black (one of Suspense Magazine’s best political thrillers of 2011), The Athena Project, Foreign Influence (one of Suspense Magazine’s best political thrillers of 2010), The Apostle, The Last Patriot (nominated best thriller of the year by the International Thriller Writers Association), The First Commandment, Takedown, Blowback (recognized as one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” by NPR), State of the Union, Path of the Assassin, and The Lions of Lucerne. Visit his website at BradThor.com.