To my good friend and colleague, Kurt L. Hudson, thanks for planting the seed that sprouted Exam Cram. I hope you're as happy with the results as I am! Your offhand remarks and initial steps down this path gave me the inspiration to create this series.

To the LANWrights gang—Dawn Rader, Bill Brogden, Mary Burmeister, and Kim Lindros—thanks for helping me build such a valuable and successful organization. Special thanks to Kim Lindros for her work on this book. Even more special thanks to former co-worker James Michael Stewart, who gave me nearly eight years of his life before summoning the courage to go out on his own. Best of luck in your future efforts, and thanks for the great years we spent working together!

To Jeff Riley, Steve Rowe, Carol Ackerman, and the rest of the Que Publishing crowd: Thanks for your invaluable help in turning Exam Cram 2 into a raging monster. Thanks for believing in us and for giving us a voice in the way things turned out. I appreciate your many efforts, ideas, and programs, and your ability to deliver a quality product to the marketplace. Thanks also to Carole McClendon and the rest of the folks at Waterside Productions for their role in keeping everything on track. You guys are the greatest!

My biggest thanks go to my lovely and wonderful wife, Dina. From far, far away we found each other; I look forward to beginning a new hybrid Russian–American life as soon as the INS lets you into the country! Finally, thanks to my family—especially my mom and dad, and my sister, Kat—for your insight and support over the years. You've always been there for me when I've needed you!

To my friends, especially Robert Wiggins, and others too numerous to mention, thanks for letting me vent about work when that's what the doctor ordered and for reminding me that there's more to life than work when I needed a break. You people helped to keep me sane—or as sane as I get, anyway.…