Acknowledgments

Dr. Jim Pugh played a huge role in helping me map out this novel, on napkins at Moe’s Southwest Grill in Statesboro, Georgia. I dedicate this novel to him with thanks for his help, and more important, his friendship.

I’m deeply grateful to my father, Brigadier General William F. McIntosh, for his assistance with the military aspects of Defenders. Before I began writing, I didn’t know a platoon from a division, an M-16 from an M1918A-1. I do now.

Sincere thanks to Ian Creasey, a terrific writer and one of the most insightful critiquers on the planet, for providing invaluable feedback on the first draft.

Thank you to Jacob Robinson for reading the first section of this novel early on, and making a few very crucial suggestions. You spared me from a great deal of backtracking, Jacob! And special thanks to Jacob, Donald De Line, and Michael Prevett for their encouragement and support in this project.

I’m grateful to John Joseph Adams, who bought “Defenders,” the short story, for Lightspeed magazine, and got the ball rolling.

Orbit Books took a chance on this novel before I’d written a word. I’m extremely grateful for their faith in me, and in Defenders.

As always, a shout-out to Clarion and Taos Toolbox, writing workshops that were crucial to my development as a writer.

Love and gratitude to my wife, Alison Scott, for her support and patience as I talked out plot and character over countless car rides and dinners.

Finally, thanks to my agent, Seth Fishman, who read the short story this novel is based on, and saw potential in it. Defenders would not exist if not for him.