Customer Reviews

Acts of Nature (Signet Novel)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Acts of Nature" is another fine, atmospheric novel from Jonathon King featuring PI Max Freeman. This time out Freeman isn't working a case; he's just trying to take a vacation with his girlfriend. But a peaceful trip into the Everglades turns nightmarish when the couple find themselves trapped in the middle of a hurricane. At the same time, King weaves in two other plot lines, one involving a pair of oil company bad guys, the other a trio of criminals looting their way through the hurricane's wake. The way King brings the three divergent plot lines together into one suspenseful whole is as clever as it is thrilling.

Jonathon King continues his fine work with his Max Freeman character in "Acts of Nature". Max Freeman, ex-cop and current PI, has developed into an exciting, must read addition to the South Florida subgenre. King is a master at using the written word to paint visual images of the everglades and the people who live in them but in "Acts of Nature" his extraordinary description of a massive hurricane and its aftermath is so breathtakingly vivid that you begin to hear the wind and feel the water.

Max has convinced his girlfriend, Sherry Richards, to accompany him deep into the Everglades to a remote fishing cabin for a little well deserved R & R time together. Unbeknownst to them, a perfect storm (pun intended) is brewing that will alter their lives. A huge hurricane has shifted direction and is bearing down on their location as are two deadly security guards working for a large oil company hiding a secret in the swamps. Throw in three low life looters who take the opportunity to scavenge after the hurricane and you have the ingredients for the perfect storm.

There is not a lot of mystery to be solved aside from who is behind the electronic fortress hidden in the middle of the swamp and for what it is intended. The story is more a thriller rooted in suspense as the hurricane strikes creating physical devastation both to property and to people necessitating the urgent need for Max to find a way to get Sherry to badly needed medical care. But now as the other elements of the perfect storm begin converging on the spot where Max and Sherry are sheltered, the suspense and the body count begin to rise ever higher.

"Acts of Nature" delves deeper into Max's character and demonstrates the growth from his first appearance in "The Blue Edge of Midnight". He is far from the psychically wounded city boy trying to make it in the Florida wilderness that he was in that novel and the growth has energized each of the four books since his debut. If you are a devotee of hard boiled action heroes, tautly written plots that generate suspense and believability, you owe it to yourself to give Jonathon King a try.

I have enjoyed the Max Freeman series by Jonathon King. In this installment Freeman and his girlfriend, detective Sherry Richards take some time away after another case brings them together. They are hiding out at Freeman's cabin when they decide to go further into the Everglades at a friend's fishing cabin. While there they find themselves in the middle of a hurricane. The storm all but destroys the cabin and seriously injures Sherry.

The attempt by Max to get Sherry out of the Glades and to safety finds them on a collision course with some local Gladesmen who are trying to profit by looting after the storm and a pair of oil worker fixers who are trying to determine if a clandestine research shack has been damaged in the storm.

King's prose is very good, but I found this storyline one dimensional - an oddity from this author. If you are reading the series, do not miss this installment. In my opinion, though, not the best of the lot

I've read all the books in this series and was very disappointed in this one! It seems as though the author rushed the book to get in on the hurricaine stories that have flooded the news in recent years. There was not a lot of character development and not much in the way of a real story line.

Not too serious this book is a good romp with some great descriptions of the Everglades and some good characters with well written believable dialogue. Although where all the bugs have gone in the late October Everglades is a mystery. I wouldnt like to try lying about naked in the 'Glades near the swamp without a LOT of bugspray.

In tone and style it is rather in the vein of Randy Wayne White's Doc. Ford books which are set on Sanibel. A hero who appears to be person the author would like himself to be, tougher, smarter and with better looking women. James Lee Burke seems particularly prone to this.

However, this book is in my view superior, much better than the Doc. Fords and although one of a series of Max Freeman novels it doesnt matter if you are new to the series, the back story is quicky explained and obvious.

The story in this one is good with 3 parallel strands coming together though one odditiy is that Max's story is in the first person while others are in the third. This means you know things he doesnt but this seems to work well in this case.

A good book for a train or plane journey.

Fans of Jonathon King will enjoy this latest installment of the Max Freeman series. After teasing you with a lead-in that leaves you wondering how the cast of characters will cross paths, King builds up to a climax that I found both suspenseful and surprising. If you aren't a Jonathon King fan, you should be! I recommend you start with the first book and work your way forward -- not to suggest this book can't stand alone, but because of the great character development and taut writing you'll find throughout the series.

I'm a fan of Jonathan King.I like his style. "Act of Nature" is exciting and engrossing.Max, the main character, is a high energy type. Reference to Philadelphia is interesting.It is a look at Florida that the average person would not encounter.

Now I'm going to have to wait a long time for another Max Freeman book, darn it! I ordered this one as soon as it was available, read it in two days and have passed all the Max Feeman books on to a good friend with the hopes that he enjoys them as much as I do.

The plot is fast paced and ending is a shocker. Read it for yourself and see if you agree. Mr. King, please keep this series going.

This is Jonathon King's award winning recipe for a delightful mystery:

1 Private Investigator (Max Freeman) who spends a large part of his time living in a shack in the Everglades

1 Police Officer (Sherry) who is the girlfriend of the PI and has accepted to go on a lovescapade to the Glades

2 Men trained in serious combat and who work cleaning up the messes of a big company

3 Thieves, a man and two teenage boys, who decide to take advantage of a situation to scavenge a few houses

1 Large and mean alligator

1 Big hurricane that carries the rage of Mother Nature

1.Start by establishing the basic premise: the hurricane hits with devastating consequences.

2.Then describe the different groups of people that participate in the plot and allow us to understand what their motivations are.

3.After slowly building up the story and let the reader take it all in, mix all ingredients together in an explosive combination and at a furious pace.

4.Don't forget to check under your bed for dangerous animals, like alligators, and would not recommend this experience while camping.

Serve and enjoy!

Max Freeman persuades his significant other, Broward County Sheriff Detective Sherry Richards for some quality time alone in the Everglades. She agrees to no electrons as he explains the nearest neighbors are alligators.

However, nature and people intrude on their getaway. Three break and enter thieves Wayne, Marcus and Buck are heading there seeking a stash of guns and other treasures they can steal and sell to a fence; Martindale Security's only "client" Martin Crandall sends the two international oil operatives Harmon and Squires into the Glades on an assignment. These two groups will collide with the lovers in the middle as a hurricane hammers the guts of the Everglades placing the seven humans at the mercy of ACTS OF NATURE as they are all caught in the EYE OF VENGEANCE.

This action-packed thriller never slows down from the moment that the three groups are introduced to the reader and converge as a hurricane sweeps the Glades. The story line is fast-paced yet the not so magnificent seven are for the most part unique protagonists although only Max and Sherry are fully developed beyond one trait tricks. The beauty of Jonathan King's exhilarating thriller is the stark isolation of the Everglades accentuated when Sherry is hurt and needs professional medical attention, but first they must survive the nature and human storms while trekking for miles to reach civilization. Jonathan King provides a terrific suspense thriller starring several hardboiled and a few middle boiled antagonists.

Harriet Klausner