When his daughter asks him to be vigilant in looking for a creepy stalker at her women's basketball game, private investigator Jack Carpenter thinks his duties will probably amount to no more than some light intimidation. When, however, he sees his daughter's teammate kidnapped in front of him by monsters from his past, Jack knows he has a larger responsibility.
Attempting to work with the police, usually semi-helpful even though Jack was thrown off the force, provides more roadblocks than usual, as the police are being pressured to make this an open-and-shut case. Jack knows time is running out as he tries to track down what he thinks might be a serial kidnapper duo with a disturbing past and a specific victim profile, one that puts his own daughter at risk.
Perfect as a stand-alone story, THE NIGHT MONSTER continues to develop Jack Carpenter's character. This book is interesting, with plenty of unexpected twists to keep a reader guessing.
The shadowy side of the Sunshine State, where blood runs
cold even in the tropical heat, is the tantalizing,
terrifying territory few know better than James Swain. His
razor-sharp tales of criminals, cops, and South Floridaβ
style suspense bite like a hungry gator and never let
go.The past has come back to haunt P.I. Jack
Carpenter, former head of the Broward County Missing
Persons Unit. As a young cop he failed to stop the
kidnapping of a college coed by a shockingly large
assailantβand neither of them was ever seen again. The
abduction has remained Carpenterβs most chilling cold
case, and even now the mystery of the missing girl lurks
in his darkest dreams. But after eighteen years, itβs
about to become terrifying reality once more. When
his daughter, Jessie, asks him to bird-dog a camera-toting
creep whoβs been shadowing her college basketball team,
Carpenterβs hot pursuit of the video voyeur leads him
smack into another run-in with his old hulking nemesis,
who abducts one of Jessieβs teammates. While the Broward
County cops are determined to pin the rap on a convenient
suspect, Carpenter isnβt about to let grim history repeat
itselfβespecially when he discovers a pattern of unsolved
kidnappings involving the same massive perp.With
the eager assistance of the kidnap victimβs high-powered
tycoon father, the uneasy cooperation of his old unitβs
new commander, and precious little time before the trail
goes cold, Jack and his trusty dog, Buster, hit the ground
running. And theyβll need all the help they can getβ
including backup from an FBI man with a personal stake in
the huntβas they follow a twisted trail from the ruins of
a shuttered mental asylum with an infamous past to the
streets of a sinister small town with a ghastly
secret.With smooth-talking, uncompromising hero
Jack Carpenter as guide, The Night Monster is an
exhilarating journey into the heart of the American
underworld. Bestselling author James Swainβs fiendish
plotting and energetic pacing will keep you electrified
straight through till morning.
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