White Ghost (36 page)
Authors: Steven Gore
D
uring a number of trips to Thailand over the years, I met with drug traffickers and members of syndicates who came together as investors in heroin in deals, along with those who laundered their money and the enforcers, political figures, and military officers who protected their operations. I also spent a good deal of time in Taiwan and China and met with government officials and owners of factories and trading companies involved in heroin and other smuggling.
For dramatic effect, I have portrayed real, but more extreme, symptoms of lymphoma as reflected in the clinical literature, butâunlike the characters Ah Ming, Eight Iron, Kasa, and Zhangâthese should not be taken as typical. There has been substantial progress in lymphoma diagnostics and treatment, but it's still not specific enough to account for the disparate outcomes of patients with the same diagnosis, some surviving mere months and others, like myself, still alive after a decade and a half.
In recognition of the continuing resistance to the dictatorial rulers of the country, I have chosen to use the name Burma,
rather than Myanmar, a name imposed by the military.
The death described in the Note to the Reader is well documented in court rulings and news reports.
*
I am fortunate to have had the benefit of careful readings of the earliest version of this manuscript by Enid Norman, Seth Norman, and Chris Cannon and the careful readings of my medical condition by Doctors Ranjana Advani and Alan Yuen, and PA Katy Pose to whom I have dedicated this book.
To my wife, Liz, I dedicate me.
STEVEN GORE
is a former private investigator turned “masterful” writer (
Publishers Weekly
) who combines “a command of storytelling” with “insider knowledge” (
Library Journal
). With a unique voice honed on the street and in the Harlan Donnally and Graham Gage novels, Gore's stories are grounded in his decades spent investigating murder, fraud, organized crime, corruption, and drug, sex, and arms trafficking throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has been featured on
60 Minutes
and honored for investigative excellence. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
www.stevengore.com
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
.
COVER DESIGN BY RICHARD L. AQUAN
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS:
CITY © BOANO/GETTY IMAGES;
CIRCUIT BOARD © GETTY IMAGES
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
WHITE GHOST.
Copyright © 2016 by Steven Gore. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-202508-1
EPub Edition MARCH 2016 ISBN 9780062198143
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*
And a troublesome one it is. I will be discussing the reasons for its persistence and perniciousness and its commercial exploitation in a work of nonfiction,
In the Mouth of the Wolf
. The preface to that work can be found at http://www.ars-medica.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/13/50.
*
Northern District of California, Docket No. C 09-01019 WHA,
The Estate of Jerry A. Amaro III; Geraldine Montoya; Stephanie Montoya, Plaintiffs, v. City of Oakland; E. Karsseboom; R. Holmgren; S. Nowak; M. Battle; C. Bunn; M. Patterson; T. Pena; Edward Poulson; Richard Word, Defendants
.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Docket No. 10â16152,
The Estate of Jerry A. Amaro III; Geraldine Montoya; Stephanie Montoya, PlaintiffsâAppellees, v. City of Oakland; E. Karsseboom; R. Holmgren; S. Nowak; M. Battle; C. Bunn; M. Patterson; T. Pena; Edward Poulson; Richard Word, DefendantsâAppellants
. “Court-Oakland Cops Stonewalled Beaten Man's Mom,”
San Francisco Chronicle,
July 28, 2011.