Mr. Clarinet

One of Britains favorite writers finally comes to America, in this novel that is gritty and unremittingly dark, replete with supervillains . . . [that] pays homage to pulp fiction and film noir.--("The Guardian") 448 pp.

Max Mingus wanted to turn down the case--fifteen million bucks on the table or not. The boy was dead, Max was sure of it. Three years had passed since Haitian billionaire Allain Carver's five-year-old son was abducted. Why bother now? The huge bounty and the resources of the most powerful white family in Haiti hadn't turned up a lead.

Sure, Max had been the best detective in Miami once. But that was eight years back. Before he served time for killing a pair of junkie child-murderers. Before his wife, Sandra, died. Plus, he'd heard what had happened to the other PI's sent to Haiti before him--all dead, or their lives permanently screwed up, without ever getting close to finding Charlie Carver.

But with nothing left to lose--and for all that money--Max does go down there. The talk of voodoo and black magic is nothing compared to the haunting quiet of his own empty house. What Max doesn't count on is the depth of corruption, manipulation, and greed Haiti breeds in its inhabitants, a murky evil worse than death, which can easily swallow a man whole--especially a troubled man like Max Mingus.

When the trail to Charlie Carver points to a local myth--"Mr. Clarinet," a spirit figure who for decades is said to have been tempting children away from their families--could the truth be even more shocking than the legend? Max's job suddenly isn't all about finding the boy, his killers, or the money--it's about just staying alive....