Explosive. Pulse-pounding. Heart-racing. From the bestselling author the Wall Street Journal hails as "one terrific writer," Midnight Rambler is the breakout thriller of the year — a brawny, brainy novel of suspense that pairs James Swain's trademark smooth-as-silk prose with a plot bigger and bolder than anything he's done before.

In South Florida, Jack Carpenter is infamous. He's the cop who busted the notorious serial killer Simon Skell — aka the Midnight Rambler — and sacrificed his badge and marriage in the process. Haunted by the Skell case, Carpenter now works as an abduction specialist in Fort Lauderdale, reuniting families with their missing children.

But the body of one of the Midnight Rambler's victims has just been uncovered — and forensic evidence suggests Carpenter jailed the wrong man. With Skell just days away from release, the tarnished hero must reopen the case that shattered his life and the lives of eight murdered women.

As waves of heat and rain wash over the steamy streets, Carpenter races against the clock to reaffirm the case against Skell. Yet the deeper he digs, the more he starts to realize that Skell is just one piece in a terrifying puzzle of predation and murder, just one player in a shocking conspiracy that ranges across the state of Florida. And as the relentless Carpenter draws the net tighter, his enemies prepare to spring a devastating final surprise.

From the seaside bar that Jack Carpenter calls home to the glittering tourist kingdom in Orlando to the funky jungle of Coconut Grove, James Swain unleashes a wild ride into the heart of evil — with the Rolling Stones' "Midnight Rambler" as the throbbing, terrifying soundtrack.

"Swain, author of the gambling crime series starring Tony Valentine (Grift Sense, etc.), avoids many of the clichs of the antisocial ex-cop novel in this chilling stand-alone. A specialist in finding missing children, former cop Jack Carpenter was fired from the force for assaulting a prisoner. Broke after a civil lawsuit and estranged from his wife and daughter, he's living in a seedy beachside apartment north of Miami, Fla., with his dog. Then Simon Skell (aka the 'Midnight Rambler'), whom Carpenter helped convict for murdering prostitutes, is released from prison on a technicality. Determined to prove Skell guilty, Carpenter is frozen out by the cop on the case, but help comes from an FBI agent whose daughter vanished years earlier. The tension rises as the investigation widens far beyond Skell. Well-defined characters and intricately woven subplots, one involving a nail-biting scene at Disney World, make this a page-turner. 12-city author tour. (Oct.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"No one would accuse James Swain of writing mandarin prose; in fact, he uses language with such blunt force he could be hammering in nails. But that's just the sort of directness you want in a story like Midnight Rambler, a sturdy thriller..." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

"Swain's two-steps-forward-one-step-back plotting, redolent as it may be of real-life missing-persons cases, makes for wobbly suspense....Even so, Jack's likely to be a hit with readers who fantasize about noble roughnecks, and a sequel, maybe even a series, seems assured." Kirkus Reviews

"Swain steeps Midnight Rambler in Florida scenery from the seedy to the quiet....The multilayered Jack is a sturdy enough character to carry his own series. We hope Midnight Rambler isn't the last we've seen of Jack Campbell." South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"Swain knows his native Florida, he knows cops and missing-persons work, and he knows how to write. The plot is complex, the characters vividly drawn, and the action gripping. Highly recommended." Library Journal

"Some of the plot devices seem strained...and Swain doesn't spend enough time fleshing out his large cast of characters....Swain may be more at home with lighter, quasi-comic crime novels, but here he tries for a high-octane thriller. Not bad but not quite hitting on all cylinders, either." Booklist

"Swain is nothing short of marvelous here....[T]ry — just try — to put Midnight Rambler down before reading it at least once. It can't be done. This is a book destined for this year's 'Best Of' lists." BookReporter.com

James Swain is the author of seven bestselling novels. In 2006, he was awarded the prestigious Prix Calibre 36 for Best American Crime Fiction. He lives in Florida with his wife Laura.