One of the brightest new stars in the thriller genre. Chicago Sun-TimesNick 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."