KING OF SWORDS

Now available in the UK in hardcover (Penguin)

Now available in continental Europe in trade paperback (Penguin)

UK paperback (Penguin) publication - Now Available

US hardcover (HarperCollins) publication - 1st December 2008

Miami, 1981 – aka: Cocaine Central, Murder Capital USA, the new Dodge City ….

When Detective Max Mingus and his partner Joe are called to the scene of a death at Miami's Primate Park, it looks like another routine - if slightly bizarre - investigation. Until two things turn up: the victim's family, slaughtered; and a partly digested tarot card in the dead man's stomach - "The King of Swords".

An increasingly bloody trail leads Max and Joe first to a sinister fortune-teller and her scheming pimp son, then to the infamous Solomon Boukman. Few have ever met the most feared criminal in Miami, but rumours abound of a forked tongue, voodoo ceremonies, human sacrifice, zombies and friends in very high places.

Against a backdrop of black magic and police corruption, Max and Joe must distinguish the good guys from the bad - and track down some answers. What is the significance of the "King of Swords"? What makes those who have swallowed the card go on a killing spree just before they die? And can Max find out the truth about Solomon Boukman, before death's shadow reaches his own front door ...

King of Swords is a prequel to Mr Clarinet.

Praise For King of Swords

"Brilliant."

Booklist starred review.

“Nick Stone captures the real 1980s Miami with his gritty, brutal and expertly plotted The King of Swords. Stone offers an authentic vision of South Florida along with plenty of hard-boiled action.”

Oline Cogdill, The Sun Sentinel

“...Chilling second thriller… The violence is every bit as gruesome as in Clarinet, but Stone expertly harnesses it to propel his multilayered saga of good, evil and everything in between.”

Publishers Weekly starred review

“The Miami setting and Haitian voodoo backdrop give Stone’s interesting noir thriller added weight….This series entry builds on Stone’s award-winning debut, with [the protagonist] Mingus more complex this time and resulting in an even better read.”

Library Journal starred review

“…Impossible to put down…”

David Montgomery, The Chicago Sun-Times

"Miami gangsters, drug lords, dirty cops, and Haitian voodoo are just some of the key aspects of this gritty and dark prequel. King is a great starting point for new readers, and fans of Mr. Clarinet are guaranteed to enjoy reading about how Max Mingus got his start."

 Bookbitch.com

“If you enjoy a masterfully written chiller with plenty of surprises, gore galore, and horror in spades, then The King of Swords is not to be missed!”

 Bookloons.com

“Like your crime with a little voodoo cocktail? Author Nick Stone is your conjure man. . . . Stone's new thriller, The King Of Swords (HarperCollins, $24.95) is an excellent way to catch grizzled Miami detective Max Mingus in his earlier years of crime fighting.”

  Madison Country Herald

“If you like very gritty crime novels you will love The King of Swords by Nick Stone . .. The writing is exceptional in this character-driven prequel to Mr. Clarinet, Stone’s award-winning debut novel.”

 Kingston Observer

“A thrilling plot and menacing atmosphere of black magic should make this one
a hit among mystery lovers.”

Wisconsin State Journal

If you're looking for rough-edged crime fiction that will seriously unsettle you (and many of us seek exactly that), then King of Swords does the business - look no further

Barry Forshaw

This is a superbly drawn and heady mixture of the dark arts, violence and corruption on both sides of what passes for the law. Don’t miss Mingus.

Jon Swift - Citizen.co.za

"With Stone's talent, do not be surprised if Max Mingus becomes one of the great fictional detectives of our time".

Freddy Gray - Catholic Herald

With his second novel, King of Swords, Stone really gets into his stride ... This is brilliantly assured storytelling: fast-paced, funny, frightening.

Peter Guttridge - The Observer

"King of Swords rivals some of the greats of the thriller genre with its deep and detailed evocation of the rotten spirit at the heart of 1980s Miami"

Daily Express

"Stone really scores in his extraordinary portrait of a city at boiling point, a giant Molotov cocktail of racial tension, police corruption, voodoo, and the cut-throat trade in women and drugs"

Laura Wilson - The Guardian

"This is highly evocative writing, carrying a powerful and original story"

Jane Jakeman - The Independent

"If you thought George Pelecanos was out there by himself as the king of race-ridden US cities and of crime fiction that drilled to the heart of society, think again. Stone is a magnificent talent"

Sharon Wheeler - Reviewingtheevidence.com

"The man who brought you the ground-breaking Mr Clarinet has done it again, and even better than before"

Daily Sport

"King of Swords is better than Mr Clarinet, which is pretty high praise. What it does, though, is cement Stone's reputation as a writer of fierce crime fare"

Bookmunch

"A healthy mixture of thriller and hardboiled crime novel, with a little hint of the supernatural thrown in to spice it up, King of Swords is not only the perfect follow up to Mr Clarinet but a damn fine crime thriller in its own right. If you haven’t read Stone before, I’d suggest you start right now"

Crimescenescotland.com

King of Swords delivers thrills and frights with the rocking rhythm of a runaway train and the shock of getting a voodoo doll and a packet of pins through the post.

Mike Ripley - The Birmingham Post

"A highly entertaining read"

Melbourne Times

"A gruesome, adrenaline-fuelled masterpiece"

Jonathan Gibbs - Metro (Best Crime Books of 2007)