The Night Monster: A Novel of Suspense

The shadowy side of the Sunshine State, where blood runs cold even in the tropical heat, is the tantalizing, terrifying territory few know better than James Swain. His razor-sharp tales of criminals, cops, and South Florida—style suspense bite like a hungry gator and never let go.

The past has come back to haunt P.I. Jack Carpenter, former head of the Broward County Missing Persons Unit. As a young cop he failed to stop the kidnapping of a college coed by a shockingly large assailant-and neither of them was ever seen again. The abduction has remained Carpenters most chilling cold case, and even now the mystery of the missing girl lurks in his darkest dreams. But after eighteen years, its about to become terrifying reality once more.

When his daughter, Jessie, asks him to bird-dog a camera-toting creep whos been shadowing her college basketball team, Carpenters hot pursuit of the video voyeur leads him smack into another run-in with his old hulking nemesis, who abducts one of Jessies teammates. While the Broward County cops are determined to pin the rap on a convenient suspect, Carpenter isnt about to let grim history repeat itself-especially when he discovers a pattern of unsolved kidnappings involving the same massive perp.

With the eager assistance of the kidnap victims high-powered tycoon father, the uneasy cooperation of his old units new commander, and precious little time before the trail goes cold, Jack and his trusty dog, Buster, hit the ground running. And theyll need all the help they can get-including backup from an FBI man with a personal stake in the hunt-as they follow a twisted trail from the ruins of a shuttered mental asylum with an infamous past to the streets of a sinister small town with a ghastly secret.

With smooth-talking, uncompromising hero Jack Carpenter as guide, The Night Monster is an exhilarating journey into the heart of the American underworld. Bestselling author James Swains fiendish plotting and energetic pacing will keep you electrified straight through till morning.

"Spock-like logic and a bullet-train — paced plot drive Swain's third thriller to feature Florida PI Jack Carpenter (after Midnight Rambler and Night Stalker). When Carpenter fails to stop the brutal abduction of his daughter's college basketball teammate, he's painfully reminded of a serial abduction case he bungled 18 years before. Unearned guilt makes this latest case personal. Half-wit giant Lonnie and fellow inmate/mentor 'Mouse' escape from an asylum for the criminally insane, and start seizing student nurses. Lonnie twice nearly kills Carpenter, once by tossing a 400-pound Coke machine at him. Carpenter's (and pooch Buster's) 'dogged' search takes them to a small, eerie Florida townwhere the victims have been imprisoned. Bullets predictably fly when Carpenter's FBI friend, Ken Linderman, whose daughter has been abducted, pitches in to help. This installment grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the last page. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Featuring charismatic hero Jack Carpenter, Swain's new thriller is his most relentlessly-paced work yet.

James Swain, winner of the prestigious Prix Calibre 38 for Best American Crime Fiction, is the bestselling author of nine previous novels. He lives with his wife, Laura, in Florida, where he is currently at work on his next novel.