"I just wanted to let you know how much I loved Cemetery Dance! I'm a fan of all your books and anxiously await your next one. Even though you've written a lot of books, each one seems to get better! Agent Pendergast's oddities and intelligence make him one of the best characters I've ever read. Thank you for the great escape of reading excellent writing."

William Smithback Jr., a prominent New York Times reporter, was killed in a brutal attack last night in his Upper West Side apartment. His wife, Nora Kelly, an archaeologist at the Museum of Natural History, was injured as well. Multiple eyewitnesses identified the assailant as a neighbor in the building, Colin Fearing: a man who. by all reports, was dead and buried ten days ago. There are reports that FBI Special Agent Pendergast has taken an interest in the case. but no further.