Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166418 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-25
• Released on: 2007-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Swain, author of the gambling crime series starring Tony Valentine (Grift Sense, etc.), avoids many of the clichés 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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
If you listen to this book at night, youÕll have every light in the house burning. Detective Jack Carpenter lost his wife and his job with the Miami Police as a result of losing his temper while capturing the sadistic serial killer Simon Skell, dubbed Òthe Midnight Rambler.Ó A fan of the Rolling Stones, Skell would play ÒMidnight RamblerÓ as he tortured and killed his victims. CarpenterÕs world-weary tone is expertly rendered by Peter Jay Fernandez. The steamy South Florida setting is perfect for the mŽlange of well-crafted characters, colorful accents, and pulse-quickening plot twists. DonÕt say you werenÕt warned. R.O. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"Swain is one terrific writer." -- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Customer Reviews

Loved this book
I have read all of Mr. Swain's Tony Valentine books and enjoyed each of them. Then I picked up Midnight Rambler. What a surprise! The subject matter of this book is quite a departure from the Tony Valentine books. And while the other books were interesting, I found this book riveting. The pace never slowed, the characters were fascinating and the plot was creative yet totally believable. If you love thrillers you won't be disappointed with this book.

Should have been better
This book was disappointing. I liked the main character, I liked his dog, I liked a couple of his low life buddies, but the plot needs work. The best part of the book was when Carpenter was finding missing children. The Disney world section was great. Those were the only sections with real detective work going on.

But the main plot line about the all-powerful, all knowing serial killer gang was not well written. Also, I hate plot lines where the police(and the media)just hate the hero and believe the killer for no good reason. There were too many opportunities for the hero to catch the bad guys and he lets them get away. I was tired of the story way before it was finished.

I dunno about this one
Hmmm. I like a good serial killer cop novel as much as the next guy (and even more if they're set in south Florida, for some reason -- must be residual affection for "Dexter" DVDs), but this one really didn't do it for me. Felt sloppy, pieced together, rushed, slightly implausible. There were some good scenes, the child abduction at Disney World being the most exciting, but on the whole I've read better.