Have I mentioned how much I love Jeff Somers‘ Avery Cates series?
I’m sure I’ve left a clue or two around here . . .
Speaking of clues, Mr. Somers is offering copies of his latest Avery Cates book, Final Evolution, to the first ten people to solve the puzzle on his website.
Speaking further of clues, it’s become obvious that I’m missing one, perhaps several. I’ve been working on the puzzle off and on all day, but can’t quite crack it.*
It’s possible my impatience—a kinder word than obsession— is getting in the way. Or I’m really that dense, which I can’t deny — I slept through my alarm this morning for the first time since Sunny was a newborn, and the caffeine isn’t doing much.
It’s not like I haven’t had the book preordered since it was possible, but it won’t be out until the end of June. And there’s something about a free pre-release that channels my inner Gollum. We wantsss it, the preciousss. We wantsss it now.
Besides, that puzzle is mocking me.
If you decide to give the puzzle a try, I have one request: please, please, PLEASE let me read it after you do? We could call it an early birthday presssent . . .
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* I’m about to call in my mother, who hasn’t missed a single episode of Wheel of Fortune since 1975, does paragraph cryptograms in under twenty minutes, and could have been a code-breaker in any war of your choosing.
Earful of Cider 