The October List Part 32

Foreword.

We have Stephen Sondheim to thank for this book. Several years ago I was listening to a National Public Radio interview by the inimitable Terry Gross, on her Fresh Air program, with Sondheim, one of my favorite musical theater composers and lyricists. One of the plays he discussed was Merrily We Roll Along, which happened to be perhaps the only play of his I had not seen. I was fascinated by the fact that it began in the present and moved back in time. Of particular interest was his comment about a song that meant one thing in the present and meant something different when first (well, later) introduced.

I happen to love the concept of a fractured time line. Look at Stanley Kubrick's second best film, The Killing (Strangelove not 2001 is my number one), or Pulp Fiction, Memento, Back to the Future. And, of course, the cla.s.sic Seinfeld episode 'The Betrayal,' which was an homage to Harold Pinter's own reverse-chronology play, Betrayal.

I began wondering if it was possible for a thriller writer to pull off a backward-told story that was filled with the cliffhangers, surprises and twists and turns that are, to me, the epitome of good crime fiction. The task, of course, is to present the twist (the 'reveal' as they say in Hollywoodspeak) before giving the facts that led up to it and still make the surprise thrilling. It's like telling a joke's punch line first, then giving the set-up itself and yet still making the audience laugh just as hard as if they'd heard the gag in proper order. It can be done: The bartender says, 'We don't serve time travelers in here.'

A time traveler walks into a bar.

Many, many Post-it notes later I plotted out and wrote The October List a novel that begins with the last chapter and then moves backward in time, over the course of about two days, to the first chapter. Though it's a bit shorter than most of my novels, I can say that it was more challenging, byte for byte, than anything I've previously written.

Because of my heroine's pa.s.sion for photography, I thought I would include images throughout the book, at the beginning of each chapter. Some are merely ill.u.s.trative. But some are clues as to mysteries the book holds, and some are twists in themselves. As Gabriela has said, 'There's something seductive about taking reality and controlling it. Sometimes I make a literal image, sometimes I start there and manipulate it. Sometimes the end result is obscure, abstract; only I know the truth.'

I couldn't agree more.

Rather than give the t.i.tles to the pictures where they appear in the book, I thought it was best to include them in the table of contents. That surprise thing, again.

J.D., Chapel Hill, NC.

Acknowledgments.

With special thanks for taking a chance on this one (and helping me get as backward as was humanly possible) to Mitch Hoffman and Carolyn Mays. Thanks too to Jamie Hodder-Williams, Michael Pietsch, Jamie Raab, Lindsey Rose, Katy Rouse and David Young. And I really appreciate all the juggling my regular crew did to keep this book on track and me more or less sane: Madelyn Warcholik, Julie Deaver, Deborah Schneider, Cathy Gleason, Vivienne Schuster, Betsy Robbins, Sophie Baker, Jane Davis, Will and Tina Anderson and Hazel Orme.

About the Author.

A former journalist, folksinger and attorney, Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the Times of London, Italy's Corriere della Sera, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Los Angeles Times. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages.

The author of thirty-one novels, two collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, he's received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world. His The Bodies Left Behind was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers a.s.sociation, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller The Broken Window and a stand-alone, Edge, were also nominated for that prize. He has been awarded the Steel Dagger and the Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers' a.s.sociation and the Nero Wolfe Award, and he is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for Best Short Story of the Year and a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award. The Cold Moon was recently named the Book of the Year by the Mystery Writers a.s.sociation of j.a.pan, as well as by Kono Mystery Wa Sugoi magazine. In addition, the j.a.panese Adventure Fiction a.s.sociation awarded The Cold Moon and Carte Blanche their annual Grand Prix award.

He contributed to the anthology Books To Die For, which won the Agatha Award this year.

His most recent novels are The Kill Room, featuring Lincoln Rhyme, XO, a Kathryn Dance thriller, for which he wrote an alb.u.m of country-western songs, available on iTunes and as a CD, and before that, Carte Blanche, the latest James Bond continuation novel, a number-one international bestseller.

Deaver has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony Award and a Gumshoe Award. He was recently shortlisted for the ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Best International Author.

His book A Maiden's Grave was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. And, yes, the rumors are true; he did appear as a corrupt reporter on his favorite soap opera, As the World Turns. He was born outside Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.

Readers can visit his website at www.jefferydeaver.com.

Also by Jeffery Deaver.

Mistress of Justice.

The Lesson of Her Death.

Praying for Sleep Speaking in Tongues A Maiden's Grave.

The Devil's Teardrop The Blue Nowhere.

Garden of Beasts The Bodies Left Behind Edge.

The Rune Series Manhattan is My Beat.

Death of a Blue Movie Star Hard News The Location Scout Series.

Shallow Graves b.l.o.o.d.y River Blues.

h.e.l.l's Kitchen The Lincoln Rhyme Thrillers.

The Bone Collector.

The Coffin Dancer The Empty Chair.

The Stone Monkey The Vanished Man The Twelfth Card The Cold Moon The Broken Window The Burning Wire.

The Kill Room The Kathryn Dance Thrillers.

The Sleeping Doll Roadside Crosses.

XO.

A James Bond Novel.

Carte Blanche Short Stories.

Twisted.

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