The storyline in this mystery is okay, though please bring a healthy suspension of disbelief to make it to the end, but that’s okay because the plot moves along quickly. Frankly, the main characters aren’t all that memorable and the author invests an awful lot of narration explaining things that need no explanation—like what a calculator app is on a smart phone. And why in the world is the hero, Jon Lancaster, reading a weather app on a suspect’s phone? Don’t ask, just move along. ( )

Wow! The first book in A fantastic new series from author James Swain. Dark subject but it is helped by a 21st century version of Travis McGee, like investigator.
The mystery comes together smoothly and the characters are well developed.
This is a great summer beach read, and the fact that it takes place in Ft Lauderdale doesn’t hurt. ( )

I live on a street in Florida that experiences king tides—high tides that flood the street. It’s an interesting phenomenon, and the king tides figure into finding the perpetrators in The King Tides by James Swain. The story takes place in the Fort Lauderdale area when Jon Lancaster is hired as a private investigator by Dr. Pearl to figure out why Nicki Pearl, his 15-year-old daughter, has become the target of interest and attack by middle-aged men. Lancaster has many connections on the streets and with the police, leading to some good plot points. Beth Daniels was an interesting character, and this book is the first in a series featuring Lancaster and Daniels.

The story held my interest, but I don’t expect to read other books by James Swain. I liked how he solved the case using modern technology—apps, Google searches, maps with geographic overlays, and more. However, I think he condescended to his audience by explaining every detail of every step he took when using his phone or computer.
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Stop me if you've heard this one: An ex-military guy "who plays by his own rules" and works on the fringes of the private sector agrees to "put the fear of god" into a group of thugs who are menacing a rich man's teenage daughter. If you've been reading mystery/thriller novels for more than about 20 minutes, of *course* you've heard this one. Our Hero is Travis McGee . . . and Joe Pike . . . and Jack Reacher . . . and you can add your own examples until you run our or get bored.

There's nothing -- NOTHING -- wrong with an author boldly going where other authors have gone before. It's not like John D. MacDonald, Robert Crais, or Lee Child invented that particular character archetype, for heaven's sake. Nor is there anything wrong with enjoying the nth rendition of a familiar story. As I've written in a review of one of the later novels in Robert B. Parker's series about Spenser (a close relative of the three heroes above, though more "of" the society whose innocents he protects), we read long-running series because we want the familiar characters to do their familiar things.

But. I've been reading this stuff long enough that it takes either a high level of craft or a distinctive *something* that sets the character apart to hold my interest (for me, Crais and Parker do it with craft and a feel for locations; MacDonald with his penchant for "how you do X" scenes; Child by making his efficiently violent hero an ex-military *cop* who never stops thinking like a detective). After a chapter of plodding dialogue and over-familiar plot beats with nothing to distinguish it, I put this one in the "give to the library sale" box. Life is too short. ( )

I'm happy to have read this for free (Amazon Prime First Reads) because I love James Swain's books. I have read all but one. This one was pretty weak. It stars Jon Lancaster, an ex-Navy Seal, who becomes a private investigator after saving his unit by killing a child bomber. He is hired by a couple recently returned from overseas, whose innocent (?) daughter is being stalked by many different men. The question is why. Getting this answer takes awhile and Jon makes some mistakes along the way, eventually attracting the intense interest of an FBI agent (Daniels), who runs a task force targeting child sexual predators. Jon is unusual, as most of Swain's characters are: he is quite overweight, unorthodox, but principled. Daniels has been through her own harrowing ordeal. The problems with this book are manifold though: how are the men finding Nikki Pearl, how did an overweight guy qualify as a Seal, and more. ( )