The Ambassador's Mission

rub – trouble (got into some rub over it)

shine – attraction (got a shine for him)

show – introduce

space – allowances/permission

squimp – someone who double-crosses the Thieves

style – manner of performing busi-ness

tag – recognise (also means a spy, usually undercover)

thief – leader of a criminal group

watcher – posted to observe something or someone

wild – difficult

visitor – burglar

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The writing of this book was blissfully free of the stresses and distractions that made the previous one so difficult to complete, and so these acknowledgements are short and sweet.

Thanks to Paul.

A big cheer to the Orbit team, especially Darren Nash and Joanna Kramer, who have always been patient and delightful to work with even during times of frustrating technical glitches. An extra nod of appreciation to the local Orbit team and especially Adele, Amy, Linda and Todd, who took me on signing tours of bookshops in their respective Aussie cities and were such great company.

A special thanks to Marianne de Pierres for launching The Magician’s Apprentice with style, and statistics even I was amazed to hear.

Thanks, as always, to Fran and Liz, and all the agents around the world, doing the hard part for me.

And the feedback readers: Donna, Nicole, Jenny, Mum and Dad.

Finally, as always, to the readers. May you never run out of good books to read.