Synopsis (from
the publisher):
Miami, 1981 – aka: Cocaine Central, Murder Capital USA, the new
Dodge City …
When Detective Max Mingus and his partner Joe are called to the scene
of a death at Miami's Primate Park, it looks like another routine - if
slightly bizarre - investigation. Until two things turn up: the
victim's family, slaughtered; and a partly digested tarot card in the
dead man's stomach - "The King of Swords".
An increasingly bloody trail leads Max and Joe first to a sinister
fortune-teller and her scheming pimp son, then to the infamous Solomon
Boukman. Few have ever met the most feared criminal in Miami, but
rumors abound of a forked tongue, voodoo ceremonies, human sacrifice,
zombies and friends in very high places.
Against a backdrop of black magic and police corruption, Max and Joe
must distinguish the good guys from the bad - and track down some
answers. What is the significance of the "King of Swords"? What makes
those who have swallowed the card go on a killing spree just before
they die? And can Max find out the truth about Solomon Boukman, before
death's shadow reaches his own front door ...
— ◊ —
— ◊ —
The King of Swords
A Max
Mingus Mystery
Nick
Stone
Harper (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-089731-7 (0060897317)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-089731-4 (9780060897314)
Publication Date: December 2008
List Price: $25.99
— ◊ —
Review: Nick
Stone's second Max Mingus thriller, The
King of Swords, is a prequel that takes place over a two year
period from late 1980 through late 1982 while Mingus was still a
detective in the elite Miami Task Force division of the police
department.
Max and his partner Joe Liston are initially assigned to investigate
the suspicious death of a man found in a local primate zoo. But they
are shocked to discover the man's family has also been brutally
murdered, and the suspect in the killings was the dead man himself. A
torn up tarot card in the man's stomach suggests the deaths may be
related to the increasingly powerful Haitian drug traffickers, but Max
and Joe are pressured to pin the murders on someone else. Deciding that
the best approach to solving the crime is to work independent of their
superiors, the two detectives embark on a dangerous trail following the
elusive Solomon Boukman, a man so powerful and feared that few dare to
cross him.
What constitutes ethical (or even legal) behavior in the Miami Police
Department as depicted in The King
of Swords is at the core of the story. Though Max and Joe are
relatively free of corruption, at least in comparison to some of their
co-workers, neither can claim the high moral ground here. And that's
one of the strengths of the book: how these two, basically good cops,
negotiate the treacherous politics of their department, knowing that
some of what they are doing is as wrong as the actions of the criminals
they are chasing, yet trying to achieve the greater good. It's not that
the end always justifies the means, but that the means aren't always as
clearly defined as one might want. The plot effectively weaves the
mysterious world of voodoo into their investigation and the character
of Solomon Boukman (if he even exists) is particularly well
established. Though there is a considerable amount of violence (both on
the part of the police and the criminal sector), much of it takes place
off stage, leaving many of the gruesome details to the reader's
imagination.
A superbly crafted thriller to be sure, and a well-written one at that,
the last chapters of The King of
Swords are nonetheless somewhat disquieting as the book really
doesn't have clean ending. Without revealing too much here, the
ambiguous conclusion may leave some readers wondering what happens
next. Since this is a prequel, it's known Max leaves the police
department to become a private investigator. Still, the unknown is
unsettling. But maybe that's what the author intended.
Special thanks to Susan Schwartzman Public Relations for providing a copy of The King of Swords for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The King of Swords? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Mr. Clarinet
Harper (Hardcover), July 2007
ISBN-10: 0-06-089729-5 (0060897295)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-089729-1 (9780060897291)
The King of Swords
Harper (Hardcover), December 2008
ISBN-10: 0-06-089731-7 (0060897317)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-089731-4 (9780060897314)
Omnimystery keywords for The King of Swords ...
Location(s) referenced: Miami, Florida.
