‘No,’ I say. ‘It’s not that. Let’s eat together, but there’s someone coming over at eight. Young man called Dan I’d like Tam to meet. He made me a handsome ‘get well soon’ card according to his mum, and he wants to give it to me in person.’

‘You got competition,’ Tam says to Noora.

‘He’s seven,’ I say.

‘I’ll keep my eye on him,’ says Noora.

‘The doctor who saw me last night said the tooth looked okay. Checked for wounds or infections, gave me some anti-bacterial stuff. Said I could see a dentist today if I wanted.’

They both look at me.

‘I don’t want to see a dentist for a very long time,’ I say. ‘The tooth feels okay. The procedure never hurt that much and I got the feeling Tobias actually did a decent job. I’ll get X-rays but I don’t want any work done anytime soon.’

‘Ratshit bastard,’ says Tammy.

There’s a quiet knock at the door.

‘There’s the new boyfriend,’ says Tammy, winking at Noora.

I stand up and open the door.

But it’s not little Dan with a ‘get well soon’ card.

It’s Julia, with soaking wet hair. Before I know what to do, she aims her gun and pulls the trigger.

And all at once, my world changes.

Acknowledgements

To my literary agent Kate Burke, and the team at Blake Friedmann: thank you.

To my editor Jenny Parrott, and the team at Oneworld: thank you.

To my international publishers, editors, translators: thank you.

To Maya Lindh (the voice of Tuva): thank you.

To all the booksellers and bloggers and reviewers and early supporters and tweeters and fellow authors: thank you. Readers benefit so much from your recommendations and enthusiasm. I am one of them. Special thanks to every single reader who takes the time to leave a review somewhere online. Those reviews help readers to find books. Thank you.

To @DeafGirly: thank you once again for your help and support. In many ways your opinion matters to me more than anyone else’s. I continue to be extremely grateful.

To Sweden: what a place! Thanks for welcoming me in.

To my family, and especially my parents: once again, thank you for letting me play alone for hours as a child. Thank you for taking me to libraries. Thank you for letting me read and draw and daydream and scribble down strange stories. Thanks for not censoring my book choices (too much). Thank you for allowing me to be bored. It was a special gift.

To my friends: thanks for your ongoing support (and patience, and love).

To Mary Shelley and Irvine Welsh: I read Frankenstein and Trainspotting back-to-back as an awkward teenager. The books blew my mind. Thank you.