Given how certain aspects of my existence have shifted I feel especially lucky to have a team of people around me that are tried and true, and that I can rely on. Big thanks to my agent, Juliet, who gives great advice and has a way of making me feel better even in tough times. It’s taken me a while to learn that she is always right, but I think I’ve got it now.

We should probably all thank Natasha, for general editing awesomeness and for crushing a certain section of the book for the sake of your reading pleasure. Thanks too, for additional edits from Jack, copy edits from Joy, and general fabulosity from the Harper Voyager team of ninjas that continue to work from the shadows. And thanks to Chris Tulloch McCabe for the wonderful cover.

I’d also like to give a special mention to Emma for coming to the book’s rescue at one point with colour-coded post-its, an objective eye and a warm drink.

Lastly, thanks to you for picking up The Ruthless. I’m not always sure why people read the strange things I write, but it means the world that they do.

Also by Peter Newman

The Deathless

The Vagrant

The Malice

The Seven

Short Stories

The Hammer and the Goat

The Vagrant and the City

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