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. -- Booklist (starred review) Nick Stone s first novel Mr. Clarinet took the crime fiction world by storm--winning enthusiastic raves ( Exquisite --South Florida Sun-Sentinel; A spellbinding thriller of the highest order --Chicago Tribune) as well as a Macavity and a CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. In The King of Swords Stone brings back Detective Max Mingus in a chilling and mesmerizing prequel that combines murder police corruption and voodoo black magic. The King of Swords 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.