The Underground Los Angeles chapter pertaining to the L. A. Archives is based on personal experience. The Archives used to be accessible to the public, however, it is my understanding that since 9/11 the underground tunnels have been closed to the public, and, as I have been informed, any interloper will be escorted out by bad-ass guards. We do not recommend this as a “how-to” primer on illegal activity. 

Stock manipulation and insider trading is highly illegal. In this book, these characters knew back-office (i.e. not public) information about the companies they were dealing with to give themselves an edge on their stock trading. The same applies to unlawful gunrunning, where the Federal Government has cracked down, foreclosing the described avenues of such pursuits, and/or have drastically increased the penalties.

The subjects of diamorphine and SV-40 are fundamentally factual but are very controversial and the author does not vouch for the veracity of the claims regarding them. For more information on the carcinogen, SV-40, read “Dr. Mary’s Monkey” by Edward T. Haslam, which alleges on page 300 that a genetically altered compound bio-weapon of SV-40 was tested on a prisoner who died within 28 days. Diamorphine is a combination of heroin and morphine. It is illegal in the United States but is used as a painkiller in Britain. Believe it or not, heroin addicts have a blog wherein a contributor stated that a combination of heroin and morphine would obliterate the pain of even a gunshot. Being an addict does not necessarily make him a liar, so I ran with it. More information is available through Wikipedia. Again, the purpose of the description of these two substances is solely to advance the plot of the book.