End of Secrets (42 page)

SOURCES

If I were a clandestine agent of the US government and had acquired firsthand knowledge of actions and details similar to those portrayed in this book, I would be forbidden from acknowledging that here or anywhere else. So assuming
I’m
not,
I’l
l confess to relying upon a wide array of sources that I found invaluable in my research for this book. The most influential were
The Shadow Factory: The NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America
by James Bamford;
You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
by Jaron Lanier;
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
by Neil Postman; and
Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the Worl
d’s
Stolen Treasures
by Robert K. Wittman. These books are all highly readable, and I recommend them if you have further interest in grappling with the evolving roles of privacy, technology, and conscientious discourse in our culture.

Finally, it is incumbent on me to acknowledge that many readers will recognize in this book key plot devices inspired by Ayn Ran
d’s
novel
Atlas Shrugged
. Those similarities are as intentional as the differences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo © 2013 Vanessa Hansen

A native of Alaska, Ryan Quinn was an NCAA champion and an all-American athlete (skiing) while at the University of Utah. He worked for five years in New Yor
k’s
book-publishing industry before moving to Los Angeles, where he writes and trains for marathons. Quin
n’s
first novel,
The Fall
, was an award-winning finalist for the 2013 International Book Awards. For more, please visit
ryanquinnbooks.com
.