10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really, Give this one 4.5 Stars!, May 7, 2005
This review is from: A Killing Night (Max Freeman Novels) (Hardcover)
Some novels bowl you over from the moment you start reading them. The impact generated by others is more the result of a slow but steady accretion of little things done extremely well. Jonathon King's latest book, A KILLING NIGHT, belongs in the latter category. No one thing in its pages will "knock your socks off." After you've finished it, however, you'll find yourself impressed by the subtly powerful work of an author who keeps getting better with each successive outing. And when that author won an Edgar for his first novel, that's saying something!
Max Freeman, ex-Philadelphia street cop turned Florida-based PI, has left his remote cabin in the Everglades and is trying his hand at a partial return to "civilization." Living now in a beachfront condo owned by his friend and employer, attorney Billy Manchester, Max is adjusting to his new environment and doing good work. Then one day his cell phone rings. On the line is his former girlfriend, Detective Sherry Richards. But this is more than a mere social call. Richards wants Max's help with a case she is investigating. Five young women, all of whom worked as bartenders in various establishments in the Miami area, have gone missing. No problem for a guy with Max's skills and training, right? Wrong! It seems that Sherry's main suspect is himself an ex-Philadelphia patrol officer named Colin O'Shea who, one night years ago, saved Freeman's life in a dark alley back on their old beat.
Now Max is torn between his loyalty and obligation to a former "brother-in-blue" with a rather sordid history and his affection and respect for his erstwhile lover. Matters become even more complicated when Freeman begins to have serious doubts about O'Shea's guilt as well as about Richard's virtual obsession with the case. Meanwhile, the real criminal (maybe!) sets his sights on his next victim.
A KILLING NIGHT is a textured story told with a grace and nuance that belies the gruesome nature of the crimes with which it is concerned and the rather desperate circumstances of the main characters involved. While, as fans of the Max Freeman novels might suspect, the book is set on the sun-draped beaches and steamy swamps of South Florida, it also features Max on a trek back to the gray skies and slush covered streets of South `Philly where he's forced to do even more painful soul-searching. Maybe you can't go home again but, wherever you do go, home has a way of catching up with you.
At base, A KILLING NIGHT is a story about punishment and redemption. Along the way, it also raises some important questions about violence against women and the factors that cause and perpetuate it. Yet, without preaching, King also lets it be known where, ultimately, he believes the responsibility for one's actions lies ... with each individual. What you end up with here is a well-written and absorbing novel which accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish without the "cheap thrills" and "special effects" that have become (regrettably) a staple in the genre. (An expanded review of this novel appears in the APRIL/MAY '05 issue of MYSTERY NEWS)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not up to King's best, April 19, 2005
This review is from: A Killing Night (Max Freeman Novels) (Hardcover)
A Killing Night is the fourth Max Freeman novel by Jonathon King. Max leaves the Everglades to assist his lawyer friend, Billy Manchester, when crew members of a cruise ship have been threatened. However, his primary interest is in the disappearance of female bartenders because a fellow ex-cop from Philadephia is the main suspect. A Killing Night is not as strong a story as the Edgar-winning first novel, The Blue Edge of Midnight, or Shadow Men, the third one. Perhaps it is because King's descriptions of the Everglades in the earlier books suck the reader into the story so that you can feel the heat and humidity. King doesn't do as well with the city environments as he does with the wilderness. I'll still read King, and A Killing Night was good, just not up to his best work.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
READER DELIVERS A SUSPENSEFUL PERFORMANCE, April 5, 2005
Voice performer David Colacci gives a suitably suspenseful reading of this forth Max Freeman adventure by Edgar Award-winning author Jonathan King. Colacci is at his best during a portion dedicated to searching through a murky, eerie swamp.
As the story opens Max is as conflicted as ever but has moved out of his Everglades shack into a house on the beach. He's involved in trying to protect a cadre of injured cruise ship employees when he receives a plea from his former lover, Detective Sherry Richards, to help solve the murders of several young women in South Florida.
If Sherry has her way it seems the long fingers of the law will be pointed at Colin O'Shea, an ex Philadelphia police officer and good friend to Max. More conflict for our hero. Max returns to Philadelphia to delve into O'Shea's present and past.
For Max, "The City of Brotherly Love" is a misnomer. Good listening for Max Freeman fans.
- Gail Cooke
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