The Night Stalker (Jack Carpenter Series #2) »

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

Just days away from execution, Abb Grimes reaches out to ex-cop Jack Carpenter with a surprising request. Despite the fact that Carpenter was instrumental in putting the notorious serial killer behind bars, the doomed convict now wants Carpenter to find his missing grandson. The cops are convinced that the boy’s father–Abb’s troubled son, Jed–is behind his disappearance, but Jack’s not so sure. And yet, when the evidence in a gruesome murder leads straight to Jed, the question must be asked: Have the unspeakable sins of his father taken root in this disturbed young man? Searching through an underworld of predators, assembling the jagged pieces of a depraved puzzle, Jack Carpenter is desperate to catch a ruthless killer before he strikes again.

Publishers Weekly

What crime fiction fan can resist a guy who isn't afraid to knock a few slime-bag heads when no one is watching? In Swain's fine second suspense novel to feature South Florida PI Jack Carpenter (after Midnight Rambler), imprisoned serial killer Abb Grimes hires the tough, unrelenting ex-cop to find his kidnapped grandson, Sampson Grimes. The chief suspect is the child's father, Jed Grimes, but Jack thinks Jed is innocent, even though the evidence suggests otherwise. There's plenty of action and intelligent sleuthing, but it's Jack's uncompromising character and Swain's equally uncompromising writing that will keep readers turning pages and eager for the next installment: "I'd visited many prisons, and the smell was always the same: a choking mixture of piss, shit, fear, and desperation, wiped down by harsh antiseptics." The winner of France's Prix Calibre 38, Swain is also the author of Deadman's Bluff and six other books in his Tony Valentine gambling series. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.