I would like to take a moment to acknowledge my experience with osteonecrosis, a condition that has left me with chronic pain and sometimes requires the use of a cane. It's no coincidence that I chose to create a protagonist struggling with similar symptoms, and I often felt that Kaz and I were persevering together despite the obstacles. We wouldn't have made it to the end without the support of many wonderful people.
I am grateful to my group of outcasts and troublemakers: Michi, Rachael, Sarah, Robyn, Josh, and especially Morgan, who gave this book its name and helped me bring it to fruition. I would also like to thank Jimmy, who dragged me off to Santa Barbara and helped me overcome my writer's block by being an amazing friend.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Noa Wheeler for helping me solve a particularly challenging puzzle, and to Jean Feiwel, Laura Godwin, Jon Yaged, Molly Brouillette, Elizabeth Fithian, Rich Deas, April Ward, and the entire team at Henry Holt and Macmillan Children's who have helped bring the Grisha world to life. Thank you also to Pouya 'he was a young' Shahbazian, Kathleen Ortiz, Danielle Barthel, Jaida Temperly, and Jess Dallow. And a special thank you to Team Grisha in the UK: Fiona Kennedy, and the wonderful crew at Orion – most especially Nina Douglas, who is an extraordinary publicist, an excellent travelling companion, and a born Ravenclaw. I would also like to express my gratitude to the readers, librarians, booksellers, BookTubers, and bloggers who celebrate stories all over the world.
Any successful heist requires a team of talented specialists, and I have been fortunate to have been aided by the best:
Steven Klein provided invaluable expertise on how beginners learn magic and introduced me to the work of Eric Mead and Apollo Robbins, a gentleman thief. Angela DePace helped me find a realistic way to knock out a room full of prisoners, and Richard Wheeler advised me on how government buildings and high-security facilities actually keep out ne'er-do-wells. Emily Stein walked me through knife wounds and introduced me to the term 'apex of the heart'. Conlang king David Peterson tried to point me in the right direction, and Hedwig Aerts, my dear friend and Soberumi, thank you for helping me improve my Dutch.
I would like to thank Marie Lu, Amie Kaufman, Robin LaFevers, Jessica Brody, and Gretchen McNeil for keeping me laughing and putting up with my whining. Thanks also to Robin Wasserman, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Kelly Link, and Cassandra Clare for plot advice, margaritas, and introducing me to Teen Wolf. I will never be the same again. Anna Carey can be blamed for the Fjerdan guard's nosebleed. Please send your complaints her way.
I am so grateful to have my family, Christine, Sam, Emily, and Ryan, who make me feel supported and loved. And to Lulu, my sweet friend, I hope you know that I'm proud of you, despite your failure to save the city.
The books that helped shape Ketterdam, the Barrel, and my team of crows include Sarah Wise's The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum; The Coffee Trader by David Liss; Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto; Criminal Slang: The Vernacular of the Underworld Lingo by Vincent J. Monteleone; David Maurer's The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man; and Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists by Anthony M. Amore and Tom Mashberg.
Finally, I would like to thank the music that brought this book to life: the Black Keys, the Clash, and the Pixies. It was born in a drafty old schoolhouse, with In a Time Lapse playing on a continuous loop, and a bat flying around the eaves. Special thanks to composer Ludovico Einaudi and the bat for their contributions.
