Matthew Costello - Vacation

and Vince Mitchell. They took my original short story and—with my blessing—created a powerful screenplay based on that story. This novel is certainly indebted to the creativity, ideas, and writing talent they put into that screenplay. Thanks too to the original publisher of the story, Richard Chizmar, publisher of Cemetery Dance Magazine, and the subsequent anthology that contained the tale. It was inside that anthology that Brendan and Vince first discovered “Vacation,” and then would just never let me forget about it. And as far as Brendan editing this book, every writer should be so lucky. Lastly, it was my wife, Ann, who told me about these guys who called one day and loved this story of mine. I think that somehow she always believed that there was more to come from the tale, and thus—so did I. When she believes, you’d be a fool not to…

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Copyright

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

VACATION. Copyright © 2011 by Matthew J. Costello. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.thomasdunnebooks.com

www.stmartins.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Costello, Matthew J. (Matthew John), 1948–

Vacation / Matthew J. Costello.

p. cm.

e-ISBN 9781429990511

1. Police—Fiction. 2. Family vacations—Fiction. 3. Cannibalism—Fiction. 4. New York (State)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3553.O7632V33 2011

813'.54—dc22

2011024813

First Edition: October 2011

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