Moscow Rules

consulted hundreds of books, newspaper and magazine articles, and websites while preparing this manuscript, far too many to name here. I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention the extraordinary scholarship and reporting of Robert Service, Peter Baker, Susan Glasser, David E. Hoffman, David Remnick, Alex Goldfarb, Marina Litvinenko, Anna Politkovskaya, Hedrick Smith, Peter Landesman, Douglas Farah, Stephen Braun, and Anne Appelbaum. Anne’s columns inspired me, and her Pulitzer prizewinning book, Gulag, is an unforgettable reminder of what lies buried in the not-so-distant Russian past.
    Chris Donovan gave me a research packet from heaven. Louis Toscano made countless improvements to the manuscript, as did my copy editors, Tony Davis and Kathy Crosby. A special thanks to the remarkable team at Putnam, especially Neil Nyren, Marilyn Ducksworth, and Ivan Held, who graciously allowed me to borrow his first name for my villain. It goes without saying that none of this would have been possible without their support, but I shall say it in any case. You are all simply the best in the business.
    We are blessed with many friends who fill our lives with love and laughter at critical junctures during the writing year, especially Henry and Stacey Winkler, Andrea and Tim Collins, Greg Craig and Derry Noyes, Enola Aird and Stephen L. Carter, Lisa Myers and Marcia Harrison, Mitch Glazer and Kelly Lynch, and Jane and Burt Bacharach. I listened constantly to “Painted from Memory,” Burt’s brilliant collaboration with Elvis Costello, while finishing the manuscript, and even managed to slip the title into the final chapter. The members of “the Peloton” were great friends and company during a long hard winter of writing. My study partners—David Gregory, Jeffrey Goldberg, Steven Weisman, Martin Indyk, Franklin Foer, Noah Oppenheim, and Erica Brown—kept my heart focused on what is truly important, even if my thoughts were sometimes elsewhere.
    I wish to extend the deepest gratitude and love to my children, Lily and Nicholas, who were at my side throughout this journey, as they have been from the beginning. Finally, my wife, Jamie Gangel, helped find the essence of the story when it eluded me and skillfully edited my early drafts. Were it not for her patience, attention to detail, and forbearance, Moscow Rules would not have been completed. My debt to her is immeasurable, as is my love.