The Switchblade Svengali

When the bell tolls midnight, it'll be 1968.

Royce Pembrook is living well in a new city, with new patrons, a new name, and a new trade. But he's the same scam artist he's been for thirty years. Since youth, Royce has made his money and found trouble in fraudulent s ances that prey on the grieving widows of high society. Now he's expanded his con, posing as a hypnotist, a Svengali, swindling everyone in Phoenix from scions of old wealth to a UFO cult led by a heroin-addicted visionary.

Life is good. Royce has the luxury he craves. And that's when trouble out of the past creeps into his world. Even in the domain of fake spirits, the relentless specter of murder is real, and Royce's former life is one thing that won't stay in the grave.

When the bell tolls midnight for Royce Pembrook, will it be time to abscond? Or will he fight to keep all that he's gained, no matter the violent cost to those around him?

"When the cornered lamb realizes he's always been a wolf ..." -M.E. Proctor, author of Love You Till Tuesday

"This is a man out of time and control. Royce's facade is degrading and the violent man within is wrestling back control. A fascinating character study." -Adam Hulse, author of Below Economic Thresholds

"Coy Hall's The Switchblade Svengali captivates with a tale of long-con mediumship, bludgeonings and a UFO cult A precise meld of elegance and blood curdle." -Ilyn Welch, author of Bad Makes Bad

"Royce Pembrook is up to his old spook show tricks, this time at the height of the 1960s counterculture movement. But the ghosts he conjures aren't the only things haunting these pages-his past has caught up to him too, threatening to derail everything he's built since the harrowing events of A S ance for Wicked King Death. Vengeful women, gullible marks, and UFO cultists make this book impossible to put down. Coy Hall's Switchblade Svengali is so good, I wouldn't be surprised if the dead crossed from the other side just to read it." -C.W. Blackwell, author of Hard Mountain Clay

"Very happy to report that this is a sequel that's even better than the first book." -Regan MacArthur, author of One Lash to Kill