This novel takes place in Vietnam during the early 1960s before U.S. military involvement. The jacket needed to convey that colonial period, as well as appeal to women. I tried to convey the steamy heat of Vietnam through color, and the cover’s graduated bands and shadows evoke a time of ceiling fans and louvered blinds. I also wanted to show that the “Dangerous Friend” in question was a westerner—not an Asian—by the panama hat, which plays a role in the book.