James Swain

Hard-edged, evocative, brilliantly paced, James Swain’s novels of crime and punishment in South Florida delve into a shadowy realm where criminals, victims, and cops share the same truths, the same lies, and sometimes even the same nightmares.
Abb Grimes is famous. Just ask the ghoulish tourists who flock to his former home to take photographs. Years ago, Grimes killed eighteen women, some never found. As the head of the Broward County...

In Shadow People, national bestselling author James Swain’s brilliant follow-up to Dark Magic, magician Peter Warlock has a dark secret. A psychic who peers into the future, he is able to use the information to alert the authorities to pending trouble. During a séance Peter is confronted by a group of evil spirits called shadow people, beings who have the power to kidnap a person’s soul. Peter is taken to another plane, where he confronts a serial...

Tough-as-nails abduction specialist Jack Carpenter is not easily spooked. But when he witnesses his daughter's college basketball teammate being violently abducted, Jack cannot suppress his horror. The kidnapper's face is one Jack recognizes from an unsolved case early in his career on the police force. With a deadly clock ticking, Jack is determined to rescue the abducted girl before it's too late. In this skillfully written, immensely satisfying...

Con artist Billy Cunningham is no stranger to the casinos of Las Vegas-- he's ripped off every single one. But his latest scam-- a year in the making-- promises his crew their biggest payday yet. Billy has thought of everything down to the last detail ... or so he thinks. He hasn't counted on the father-son team of contract killers looking to cash in on Billy's head. Or his old flame, Maggie Flynn, out for payback for her broken heart. If Billy and...

"Master grifter Billy Cunningham has built a lucrative career conning a long list of Las Vegas casinos. In fact, he's never walked into one he couldn't rip off. Now he's scheming a 'super con' with a gang of high-profile cheats--a one-time-only scam that could rake in a cool multi-million-dollar payday. All goes as planned until Chinese crime lord Broken Tooth strong-arms Billy into rigging the Super Bowl, too. Billy has no choice but to play ball....

"Whoever says crime doesn't pay isn't doing it right. There are hundreds of casinos in Las Vegas, and Billy Cunningham knows how to rip off every one. His scams are a things of beauty--so perfectly orchestrated that onlookers believe he and his crew are winning fair and square. In a town where bosses will kill to protect their profits, Billy can't afford to make mistakes, but even the best-laid plans can go wrong. Desperate to keep his team out of...

Tony Valentine is an expert at spotting cheats. He's tossed them out of gambling casinos from Atlantic City to Monaco. But though Tony has never met a scam he couldn't crack, his son and partner, Gerry, has just walked into one with a body count. What started as a conman's deathbed confession turns into a deadly Las Vegas grudge match during the world's biggest poker tournament. While Gerry tangles with the Vegas mob, Tony enlists the aid of an aging...