King of Swords

<p><strong>A big crime novel. . . . Stone has a grand story to tell and he does it with panache. It's the story of a city and an era (the Reagan reference isn't gratuitous) at once hilarious and tragic. It's a story filled with characters that range from honorable to morally ambiguous to frighteningly evil. It's filled with voodoo rituals crooked cops street life and wrenching descriptions. . . . Brilliant. -- <em>Booklist </em>(starred review)</strong></p><p>Nick Stone's first novel <em>Mr. Clarinet </em> took the crime fiction world by storm--winning enthusiastic raves (Exquisite --<em>South Florida Sun-Sentinel</em>; A spellbinding thriller of the highest order --<em>Chicago Tribune</em>) as well as a Macavity and a CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. In <em>The King of Swords</em> Stone brings back Detective Max Mingus in a chilling and mesmerizing prequel that combines murder police corruption and voodoo black magic. <em>The King of Swords </em>blazes with Miami heat--and it earns Nick Stone a permanent spot in the winner's circle alongside the masters James Ellroy Dennis Lehane James Lee Burke Walter Mosley and Stephen King.</p>