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THE CLEANER

Brett Battles lives and writes in Los Angeles. He grew up on a navy base in the middle of the desert, where his father was a civilian physicist working for the military. He is currently Executive Producer for E! Entertainment Television and has three children.

The Cleaner is his first novel. Brett Battles' second Jonathan Quinn novel, The Deceived, will be published in July 2008, also by Preface.

BRETT

BATTLES

THE CLEANER

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Adobe ISBN: 9781409025160

Version 1.0

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published in the United Kingdom by Preface Publishing in 2008

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Copyright © Brett Battles 2007

Brett Battles has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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ISBN 9781848090071

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To Mom and Dad

For all the obvious

and not so obvious reasons

Acknowledgments

To paraphrase John Donne, no writer is an island. While much of the work authors do is done alone, the final version of any work is touched by many. This book is no exception.

Thank you to Jon Rivera, Kathy Karner, Ann Epstein-Cohen, Pam Epstein-Cohen, Patty Kiley, and Jeremy Quayhackx, for acts of kindness that went beyond mere friendship. Also, to those members of the group whose suggestions and insights are weaved throughout this story: Derek Rogers, Brian Perry, Ken Freeman, Eloise Freeman, and Allison Stuart. Thanks to Tammy Sparks, Theresa Imback, Dawn Butler, Darren Battles, Mark Paoletti, Janet Joe, Jean Galbraith, Aki Norita, Hunter Athey, Bruce Lambert, and Raquel Rancier, who braved early drafts and provided feedback and encouragement. And to authors J.T. Ellison, Sandra Ruttan, and J. B. Thompson for doing the same. Also thanks to authors John Ramsey Miller and John Gilstrap for providing invaluable assistance and advice. Your unselfishness and help are appreciated more than I can ever express.

For advice on medical issues, I owe a large debt to Dr Phil Hawley, Jr. The same is also true for Andreas Kanonenberg and Christiane Freuss-Turgel, who helped with German language issues. As for any medical errors or German language mistakes, I wish I could blame them, but I can't. Those would be my fault.

Without the following people, this book would still be sitting in a box in my closet; Nathan Walpow for providing an unexpected introduction; Jim Pascoe and Tom Fassbender at Ugly Town for taking the initial chance on me, then arranging my transition to Bantam Dell; Shannon Jamieson Vazquez for enthusiastically bringing me into the Bantam Dell family; Danielle Perez for being a wonderful editor, friend, and champion; and Nita Taublib for being such an enthusiastic supporter from the moment she read my manuscript. Also, thanks to my agent, Anne Hawkins, who has become my guide and biggest supporter; it's amazing what a chance meeting will produce.

Finally, there are four people who deserve extra-special recognition. My mentor and friend, Bill Relling, who gave me more than any writer could ever hope for. I only wish he were still around to see the results of his work.