I would like to thank the following for their faith and unflagging support during the writing of this book; Adam Pope, Andy Davis, Nikki Hurley and Gareth Chennells.
Sincere thanks to my publisher Ion Mills, at No Exit, for believing in The Drop. Thanks also to the whole team at No Exit, in particular Annette Crossland, Alan Forster for the cover design plus Claire Watts, Chris Burrows and Jolanta Kietaviciute for their hard work on my behalf, and also my anonymous copy editor – you know who you are.
A very big thank you to my Literary Agent, Phil Patterson at Marjacq, for his sound advice, editorial assistance and general good company, all of which is very greatly appreciated by me. Thanks also to the incomparable Isabella Floris at Marjacq for her amazing efforts in foreign markets and also to Luke Speed and Jacqui Lyons. Thanks also to Simon Kernick for taking the trouble to read The Drop and for his kind words thereafter.
Finally and most importantly a huge thank you to my loving wife, Alison, and beautiful daughter Erin for their amazing support and for putting up with me and all of this writing. This one is for you!