Death Day

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I always think that this kind of message at the beginning of a book should be more aptly called 'Author's Intrusion.' Those of you who agree with me will doubtless already be well immersed in chapter one. For those of you who remain with me, please excuse this brief moment of pretension and accept a word of explanation.

Deathday was originally written when I was nineteen, one of many manuscripts with which, at the time, I was bombarding publishers in the hope of getting accepted. Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a 'How I made it after years of struggling' congratulatory introduction. I just want to say that there are ideas and themes in Deathday which were developed in my later books, so, if you happen to find a scene that seems slightly familiar to some of my other stuff, don't think you're being ripped off. You're not. I leave that to certain other authors. Nevertheless, apologies for any feelings of deja vu in my regular readers. To those of you reading Deathday without having read my other work I have just one question: where have you been for the last six years?

Right, this is starting to become too self-indulgent. The novel beckons. But first, some people who deserve thanks for what they've done during the past few years. This list could be longer than the book so I'll be brief this time. Many thanks to Nicola Davies, who first wondered if there might be something about this novel. To Bob Tanner (blame him, he launched me). Special thanks to Sheelagh 'Smoke on the Water' Thomas for her continuing work with my efforts. To Ray Mudie and 'The Wild Bunch' (otherwise known as W. H. Allen's sales team). In fact, to everyone at W. H. Allen I extend my thanks. And, most important of all, to my parents and to Belinda.

To those named and dozens more who've given me friendship, love, inspiration and support (and who'll doubtless be mentioned in the acknowledgements of the next book…), thank you.

'Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed tn one self place; for where we are is Hell,

And where Hell is must we ever be…'

-Christopher Marlowe

Shaun Hutson