PLAYLIST

If you purchased either of my previous two Supernatural novels—Nevermore and Bone Key—you know that each of those came with a playlist of suggested songs to listen to while reading the novel. From AC/DC’s “Back in Black” playing over the Impala driving down the highway to the brilliant use of such songs as Styx’s “Renegade” and Kansas’s “Carry on, Wayward Son” to Sam and Dean singing a dreadfully off-key version of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” music has been an integral part of Supernatural’s very soul.

Those two playlists still apply to Heart of the Dragon, but as with Bone Key, I’ve made some additions:

America: “A Horse with No Name”

The Band: “Across the Great Divide,” “Tears of Rage,” “We Can Talk”

The Beatles: “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Come Together,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”

David Bromberg: “Suffer to Sing the Blues”

The Contours: “Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)”

Creedence Clearwater Revival: “Fortunate Son.”

Crosby, Stills, & Nash: “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”

The Charlie Daniels Band: “Still in Saigon”

The Doobie Brothers: “Black Water,” “China Grove”

Bob Dylan: “Ballad of a Thin Man,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Tangled Up in Blue”

Norman Greenbaum: “Spirit in the Sky”

Arlo Guthrie: “Chilling of the Evening,” “Coming Into Los Angeles,” “The Motorcycle Song”

Jimi Hendrix: “Purple Haze,” “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Iron Butterfly: “In-A-Gada-Da-Vida”

Jethro Tull: “A New Day Yesterday,” “Nothing is Easy,” “Teacher”

Janis Joplin: “Me and Bobby McGee”

Taj Mahal: “Keep Your Hands Off Her,” “Stagger Lee”

Van Morrison: “Caravan,” “Moondance”

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition: “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”

The Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

Sam & Dave: “Hold On, I’m Coming”

Simon & Garfunkel: “I am a Rock,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “The Sound of Silence”

Cat Stevens: “Moonshadow,” “Peace Train,” “Wild World”

The Subdudes: “Papa Dukie and the Mud People”

Paul Thorn: “Angel Too Soon,” “Mission Temple Fireworks Stand”

Traffic: “Many a Mile to Freedom”

The Ventures: “Wipe Out”

The Who: “Love Ain’t for Keeping,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again”

The Zombies: “Time of the Season”

—Keith R.A. DeCandido somewhere in New York City, November 2009