Meet Rusty “The Raven” Diamond, disgraced illusionist. The unforgettable protagonist of an epic 21st century noir from Austin Williams.

Once the toast of Vegas, Rusty was Houdini with a death wish, selling out the house every night and almost burning it down half as often. But it was Rusty himself who burned out in a single life-altering moment of karmic kickback. Two years later, he’s jolted from self-imposed exile by the brutal, unsolved murder of someone who showed him kindness at his lowest ebb. At first cautious but with growing fury, Rusty applies his unique skill set to assume the dual roles of private investigator and punisher.  

Thus begins an electrifying crime thriller that reaches from the desolate townships of the Mid-Atlantic Coast to the haunted back corners of New Orleans’ French Quarter and finally into the glittering heart of Las Vegas itself.

Surrounded by a growing army of adversaries—deranged drug cookers, black market kidnappers, high desert gangsters and rapacious death cults—Rusty will need every weapon in his arsenal of illusion to survive when there’s no net below the tightrope and every curtain call could be the last.