The Viper

A freezing gust of wind sent snow devils whirling across the pasture. He retreated to his car, drove down the town road, and headed north—back to the lodge—determined to figure out who he was, where he belonged, and why he felt so lost.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With the publication of The Viper, the Dave Gurney series enters its fourteenth year—an event unimaginable to me when I was sending out that first query letter for Think of a Number.

So much of the growth and success of the series, both domestically and internationally, is due to the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

My agents—Molly Friedrich, Lucy Carson, and Hannah Brattesani—are everything a writer could wish for. They are super-smart, super-energetic, and super-supportive.

I feel equally fortunate in my association with the fine professionals at Counterpoint. Dan Smetanka’s perceptive questions and suggestions make everything better. In fact, a recommendation he made for The Viper has resulted in it being one of the most surprising of the Gurney books. My thanks also to Dan López for his smart edits and improvements in pacing.

As always, I remain grateful to my readers, whose enthusiasm for the adventures of Dave Gurney has been a delightful reward for me, as well as a strong incentive to my creating intricate new problems for him to solve.

And finally, my thanks to my wife, without whose encouragement and patience these books could not have been written.

© Naomi Fisch

JOHN VERDON is the author of the Dave Gurney series of thrillers, international bestsellers published in more than two dozen languages: Think of a Number, Shut Your Eyes Tight, Let the Devil Sleep, Peter Pan Must Die, Wolf Lake, White River Burning, and On Harrow Hill. Before becoming a crime fiction writer, Verdon had two previous careers: as an advertising creative director and a custom furniture maker. He currently lives with his wife, Naomi, in the rural mountains of Upstate New York raising chickens, tending the garden, mowing the fields, and devising the intricate plots of the Gurney novels. Find out more at johnverdon.net.