Epilogue

“How to sum up everything important that happened from the end of Chapter 19 (July 2022) all the way through our deadline (May 2023)? The prospect felt nearly impossible! Besides all the twists and turns of Alex’s cases and the trials of his enablers, there was Mandy and David’s wedding, the launch of Cup of Justice, and the enormous growth of Lunashark and their subscriber model! It was impossible to choose what to focus on and what to leave out; there were too many huge plot points! We decided to keep the trial coverage brief, as by this point there had been so much national news attention on the ins and outs of testimony. We wanted the book to offer something that none of that other coverage could: depth and context and the particular weight of everything that had happened as seen through Mandy’s eyes. I still remember texting with Mandy on the day the verdict came down; it was clear that this was an enormous, peak experience in her life and after working with her for over a year, I knew it would be important to capture those emotions for the page. Same with her wedding: both of us felt that even though the last page of the book is about the wedding, we didn’t want it to come off like a marriage plot, happily-ever-after neat ending. Mandy and David are true partners in love and work, and the gathering of their friends and colleagues at the end of the book represents so much more than just an exchange of rings and toasts. It’s a new beginning for so many people and things, a recognition of everything they’ve built and how far they’ve come, and a moment of gratitude and hope to everyone in attendance. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

– Carolyn Murnick