James Swain

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About James Swain
James Swain is the author of twenty national bestselling novels and has worked as a magazine editor, screenwriter, and novelist. His books have been translated into twelve foreign languages and chosen as Mysteries of the Year by Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. Swain has received a Florida Book award for fiction and the prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Writing. When he isn't writing, he enjoys performing close-up magic.
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Titles By James Swain
Family secrets become a blackmailer’s deadly weapon in this pulse-pounding thriller by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of No Good Deed.
The shocking suicide of Beth Daniels’s father—a prominent surgeon—has thrown the FBI agent into a tailspin. But when Beth heads to Saint Augustine, Florida, for the funeral, she’ll need more than the emotional support of her boyfriend, retired detective Jon Lancaster. She’ll need his gut instinct for solving a mystery.
No sooner do they arrive than suspicions are aroused. There’s the pair of Russians who seem to be watching every move the family makes. A final, cryptic phone call Martin Daniels made to his granddaughter. Strange blood evidence on his estate. More than $1 million missing from Martin’s account. And his cell phone, wiped clean, along with clues to a double life. To Beth, it’s disturbingly clear: the man she loved was a stranger.
As she and Jon delve into Martin’s past, they have no idea where the secrets will take them. Or how dangerous it will be to expose the conspiracies, the cover-ups, and the terrible truths of Martin’s life—and death.
A human-trafficking case hits dangerously close to home in a heart-racing thriller by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The King Tides.
A disturbing missing-person case reunites ex-Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster and FBI Agent Beth Daniels. Skye is just one of a dozen young women who have disappeared from Florida without a trace. Beth can do more than just imagine their fear. She was a victim herself—a trauma that’s strengthened her fight for justice.
Then Lancaster uncovers a scrap of evidence, and the mystery begins to unravel. But the lead comes with a personal sting: the involvement of his estranged brother, Logan, an ex-con recruited into the shepherding of human trade. The only way for Logan to shed his demons is to come clean. For Lancaster and Daniels, that means being drawn, secret by secret, into a dangerous underground world.
With time running out, three damaged pasts will collide; more secrets will spill; and Lancaster, Daniels, and Logan will have to fight to save themselves first if they ever hope to find the girls alive.
This time around, it's personal. Tony Valentine's ex-partner Doyle Flanagan has been blown to pieces by a car bomb. Shortly before his death, Doyle had been filling Valentine in on the details of his latest, most baffling case -- an impressive $6 million blackjack scam at Atlantic City's legendary Bombay casino.
Valentine determines that the only way to bring his friend's killers to justice is to crack the Bombay heist himself. But standing between Valentine and his goal is a head-spinning assortment of ruthless gangsters, crooked croupiers, eccentric millionaires, and Croatians with bad haircuts. His only ally: an irresistibly enigmatic female wrestler.
With diamond-hard prose, triple-crossing plot twists, and a deliciously noir-inflected atmosphere, Funny Money finds James Swain more than living up to his promise as a razor-sharp storyteller with unlimited surprises up his sleeve.
There’s a new casino in town, aptly named Sin, the largest on The Strip: three thousand guest rooms and a gambling floor as big as an airport terminal. The owners of Sin want Valentine to show them how the scams are done. But these powerful men harbor ulterior motives: They want to use their newfound skills to put a rival casino out of business.
Sin’s competition is the Acropolis, run by Valentine’s longtime pal. Nick taps Tony to figure out how an amateur won $50,000 at his blackjack tables. But the small job is full of landmines. For starters, the suspect bears a strong resemblance to his late wife. What’s more, Valentine’s son is still M.I.A. Upping the ante, a dead stripper is found with Valentine’s calling card—and her grief-stricken boyfriend is vowing revenge.
Yet in a city where barracudas wear pinstripes, time seems motionless even while it flies, and reality and illusion shift depending on the neon light, a greater threat maneuvers through the streets: an all-new breed of criminal with an agenda propelled by fury that will shake not just Valentine, but the city of Las Vegas.
Ricky Smith was once a small-town loser. Then he went to Las Vegas, jumped out the window of a burning hotel, lived to tell the tale, and tore up the Strip on an incredible winning streak. Ricky didn’t just win at one slot machine or table game. He won at blackjack, roulette, and craps, and then beat the pants off the world’s greatest poker player. Tony knows that goofy, loudmouthed Ricky Smith–or anyone else, for that matter–couldn’t possibly be that fortunate. But when “Mr. Lucky” returns home to the little town of Slippery Rock, North Carolina, he keeps on winning everything from a horse race to a $50,000 lottery.
Hired by a desperate casino, Tony starts to pry into Ricky’s past, his friends, and the strange little town that is benefiting from Ricky’s fame and fortune. Unfortunately for Tony, his cover is blown when he is forced to reveal a trick he has up his own sleeve: a pocket Glock he can shoot with laser-like precision. Suddenly, two men are dead, the cops are on Tony’s tail, and the investigation explodes in violence–putting the lives of Tony’s son and his young family in danger.
For years, Tony’s son Gerry has dueled with his own criminal impulses. Now, the Ricky Smith case has lured Gerry through the gates of temptation and into a murderous confrontation with the Dixie Mafia. With Tony stuck on the slippery slope of Slippery Rock and Gerry fighting for his life, the Valentines are finding out just how bad good luck can get.
Against a neon-tinted backdrop of adrenaline rushes, hard crashes, big money, and high-wire tension, the inimitable James Swain has set his best Tony Valentine novel yet: a funny, furious ride with an astounding array of crooks, marks, and one killer scam.
Reality and illusion blur in this Washington Post bestseller that Michael Connelly calls “a hundred percent adrenaline rush disguised as a detective novel.”
Nicki Pearl is the perfect daughter—every parent’s dream. And that of strangers, too. Wherever she goes, she’s being watched. Each stalker is different from the last, except for one thing—their alarming obsession with Nicki.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nicki’s father is turning to someone who can protect her: retired private detective and ex–Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster. Teaming up with FBI agent and former abduction victim Beth Daniels, Lancaster can help—his way. He’s spent most of his career dispatching creeps who get off on terrorizing the vulnerable. Unlicensed, and unrestricted, he plays dirty…But this case is unusual. Why so many men? Why this one girl? Does Nicki have something to hide? Or do her parents?
Trawling the darkest depths of southern Florida, Lancaster faces a growing tide of secrets and deception. And the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that finding the truth won’t be easy. Because there’s more to this case than meets the eye.
DEADLY PLEASURES MAGAZINE Review by George Easter
I’ve been a big fan of this series since its inception
with GRIFT SENSE. Swain has a natural gift for storytelling.
The various scams are fascinating in their ingenuity and for
the clever detection that thwarts them. And Tony Valentine
and his crew are among my favorite characters in
crime fiction. It’s a shame that this and JACKPOT are
only available on the Kindle (or on an IPad with a free
Kindle app – which is how I read them). He’s also published
two other e-book originals – one a Jack Carpenter novel
and the other a stand-alone (his first novel). I’d say that it’s
almost worth buying a Kindle to read them, but I’ll let you
make that decision.
WILD CARD by James Swain Rating: A This novel takes
us back to Tony Valentine’s early days as a policeman in
Atlantic City, New Jersey and how he came to be an expert
on gambling scams and crime. It also treats the reader to
his wife, the love of his life. In all the books in the series to
this date, Tony is a widower and we know little about his
beloved wife and Swain gives us a sweet portrait of
that loving relationship.
We also see the forces that shape his son, who at this
time is just about to enter his teens.
Highly recommended.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
From the bestselling mystery series Lee Child calls “Top class suspense ... one of my favorite series.” comes a novel of murder, mobsters and a police detective who doesn’t know when to say quit.
It’s 1979, and the Boardwalk Empire of Atlantic City is being torn down, replaced by a glitzy casino and all the terrible crime that goes with it. Cops on the take, mobsters stealing a million dollars a day, a serial killer preying on young women, and more con men and hustlers than you can shake a stick at, define the new Atlantic City. Only one man can clean up the little city by the shore, Detective Tony Valentine.
With the mob breathing down his throat and a sadistic killer stalking him, Valentine will put his own life in peril, and risk his career, to insure that justice prevails.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Swain is the author of fourteen nationally bestselling mystery novels. His novels have been chosen as mysteries of the year by Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and have received three Barry Award nominations, a Florida book award for Fiction, and the prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Fiction. His Tony Valentine novels have been purchased by Langley Films (Cops, Brooklyn’s Finest) for theatrical release, with the author to write the screenplay.
PRAISE FOR THE TONY VALENTINE SERIES
“Top class suspense... must reads for me, and one of my favorite series.”
– Lee Child
“In this series, the main character is a big winner.”
– Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“The momentum is great, the writing nimble, the action intricate.”
– Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Swain has hit on a winning combination.”
–Washington Post Book World
“Mixing humor, suspense, poignancy and insider-lore, Swain is one terrific writer. A thoroughly winning book.”
–The Wall Street Journal
“Ingenious entertainment.”
–The New York Times Book Review
“Swain’s mysteries are a sure bet.
What started with a conman’s deathbed confession turns into a deadly Las Vegas grudge match during the world’s biggest poker tournament. While Gerry and his shady friends tangle with the Vegas mob, Tony enlists the aid of an aging grifter who’s fleecing suckers with a dazzling array of improbable betting stunts. Tony’s been hired to save the tournament (and stop a blind player who’s out to heist it), while Gerry’s just trying to stay alive–now that murder is in the cards.
Featuring insider tips for catching poker cheats, as well as a glossary of card hustler terms!
–Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Bask in Swain’s Las Vegas without having to set foot in the place and risk being skinned alive.”
–The Washington Post Book World
A blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world’s largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating-expert Tony Valentine and his son, Gerry, have been hired to find out how. DeMarco is tied to some dangerously desperate characters who will go to extremes–even cold-blooded murder–to ensure that the obnoxious DeMarco wins big.
While Gerry flies to Atlantic City to suss out DeMarco’s secret, Valentine stays in Vegas and teams up with an aging grifter named Rufus Steele, who has his own score to settle with DeMarco. On opposite sides of a deadly game, father and son work their way through a colorful landscape of conmen and hitmen. Together, they will have to prove there’s more to any game of chance than meets the eye.
Featuring insider tips for catching poker cheats, as well as a glossary of card hustler terms!
I’ve been a big fan of this series since its inception
with GRIFT SENSE. Swain has a natural gift for storytelling.
The various scams are fascinating in their ingenuity and for
the clever detection that thwarts them. And Tony Valentine
and his crew are among my favorite characters in
crime fiction. It’s a shame that this and WILDCARD are
only available on the Kindle (or on an IPad with a free
Kindle app – which is how I read them). He’s also published
two other e-book originals – one a Jack Carpenter novel
and the other a stand-alone (his first novel). I’d say that it’s
almost worth buying a Kindle to read them, but I’ll let you
make that decision.
JACKPOT by James Swain Rating: A This novel is set in
modern-day with Tony Valentine’s son playing a prominent
role as his sidekick.
Tony has a score to settle. Decades before, his
brother-in-law was gunned down by a gang of ruthless con
men, each of whom Valentine has sworn to track down.
Now, only one is left, the cold-blooded Bronco Marchese.
Valentine goes to Nevada to bring Bronco to
justice, while also helping the police figure out how
someone is stealing hundreds of slot machine jackpots
without ever touching the machines.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
From the national bestselling novelist the Houston Press calls “One of today’s best suspense writers” comes a electrifying story of murder, greed, and revenge.
Ex-cop Tony Valentine has a score to settle. Decades before, his brother-in-law was gunned down by a gang of ruthless con men, each of whom Valentine has sworn to track down. Now, only one is left, the cold-blooded Bronco Marchese.
Valentine goes to Nevada to bring Bronco to justice, while also helping the police figure out how someone is stealing hundreds of slot machine jackpots without ever touching the machines. It’s a case that only Valentine with his amazing “grift sense” can solve. Along the way, he will put his own life in peril, and risk everything that he holds dear, to bring his life-long enemy to justice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Swain is the author of fourteen nationally bestselling mystery novels. His novels have been translated into French, Russian, Japanese and German, and have been chosen as mysteries of the year by Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. Swain has received three Barry Award nominations, a Florida book award for Fiction, and the prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Fiction. His Tony Valentine novels have been purchased by Langley Films (Cops, Brooklyn’s Finest) for theatrical release, with the author to write the screenplay.
PRAISE FOR THE TONY VALENTINE SERIES
“Top class suspense... must reads for me, and one of my favorite series.”
– Lee Child
“In this series, the main character is a big winner.”
– Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“The momentum is great, the writing nimble, the action intricate.”
– Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Swain has hit on a winning combination.”
–Washington Post Book World
“Mixing humor, suspense, poignancy and insider-lore, Swain is one terrific writer. A thoroughly winning book.”
–The Wall Street Journal
“Ingenious entertainment.”
–The New York Times Book Review
“Swain’s mysteries are a sure bet.
But the missing dealer is part of an even bigger, far deadlier scheme. Valentine’s trail leads him to Rico Blanco, a ruthless gangster who once worked for John Gotti; his shady, elusive partner-in-crime, Victor Marks; and a bombshell named Candy Hart, a hooker with dreams of love—a combination tailor-made to double-cross. It appears they have a con going down involving a cocky, filthy-rich Brit and his millions of dollars. Valentine’s challenge: to figure out how all the pieces of the seamy puzzle fit together . . . before his luck runs out and his life goes bust.
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.
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