Customer Reviews

Visible Darkness

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No sophomore slump for Jonathon King. His debut ("Blue Edge of Midnight") was nominated for an Edgar and "A Visible Darkness" is equally as strong.

The characters are realistic...you have seen or met all of them...the villains you have avoided and averted eye contact.

Protagonist Max Freeman has taken disability from the Philadelphia PD and moved to the Florida Everglades. A Fort Lauderdale lawyer he grew up with is his civilized world contact and anchor. He is serious, smart, studious and careful.

Max has not lost his investigative instincts and is compelled to avenge wrongs in an almost vigilante way. The crimes are particularly despicable...more a how and why dunit, as we know the perp from the start. Working with his lawyer and the FLPD, the investigation takes Max into Fort Lauderdale's drug market. There he forms a most unusual alliance.

The plotting is swift. The romantic subplot and flashbacks to his Philly days add depth and fill in a few blanks.

Mr. King writes like a veteran. This is a most provocative series.

Highest possible recommendation.

Very rarely do I give a book 5 star rating...but this one came really close!!! This is the first book that I have read from this author and I plan to read more as newer installments in this series come along...the characters in this book came to life. I felt as though I were watching a movie instead of reading a book!! Excellent, Excellent author with a mind that never stops....

I've read the first two books of this series and will, without a doubt, purchase the newest. I don't know what else I can say that hasn't already been said better by other reviewers. Jonathan King is to Florida what I feel Michael Connolly and Robert Crais are to L.A. He writes the same beautiful music, just in a different setting.

While not nearly as engaging as the first book by King, Visible Darkness is mostly about the characters. There are numerous flashbacks that finally give us more information about our main character Max Freeman and his friend, Billy Manchester. The plot line is thin, predictable and forced. However, if you enjoyed Blue Edge of Midnight, then you will want to read this very short story just to catch up on the characters and the happenings in Broward County.

Again, the writing is very good and King's ability to make you a part of the surroundings is there, but this time around, that is a very small part of this story. There is an attempt to broaden the histories of the characters and to give them more depth and this is the biggest success in the book.

I look forward to reading the next installment to see if the plot becomes more intricate.

A Visible Darkness is the second novel from Mr King and it utilises characters from his debut work.In particular the protagonist is the same -an ex cop with the Philadelphia force now living in the Florida Everglades ,one Mark Freeman .He was invalided out of the police and is now living modestly but happily in seclusion in a remote shack .His closest friend is another Philly exile living in the Sunshine State ,the black lawyer Benny.They have been friends since boyhood ,as were their mothers -a fact unkown to Mark's abusive and racist cop father.

Benny sees a pattern in a series of deaths -all elderly black widow ladies who had recently cashed in large insurance policies -and asks Max to investigate .He is assisted by an official insurance investigator,tjhe racist McCann .It is indeed a series of murders and the identity of the killer is disclosed in the opening chapter.He is a brutish,simple minded heroin addict named Eddie ,acting in concert with a crooked prison psychiatrist ,Marshall and one other, this latter figure being the suprise ingredient in the mystery recipe.
Freeman's investigation takes him into the State prison system and the drug strewn Florida mean streets.He gets help from an unexpected source -local posse members unhappy at the notion of their respected elder citizenry being killed by low life.During his delving into the case he comes ,in the time honoured way of private eyes in fiction ,into conflict with the official law enforcement agencies and manages to re-ignite a former relationship with a local police officer ,Sherry.

The unravelling of the plot is interrmingled with flashbacks to Mark's boyhood in Philadelphia-oime life with a violent and racist Dad ,a domineering bigot who makes his family life a misery and who is not greatly liked by his colleagues on the force .These do flesh out the character but also slow down the narrative drive of the book

The characterisation is richer and more detailed than in most books of the kind and the writing is above average .I give it a relatively modest rating for the slightly thin plot but the book is still well worth reading if the genre is to your taste

Jonathon King's novice effort, A Visible Darkness, is another sharp, effective and, unfortunately, short police thriller that should thrill any fans of the genre. King brings back his retired cop, Max Freeman, for another dose of darkness and mayhem. And, although this one is very entertaining, it left me wanting more in the end. Like in the case of King's previous novel, the book is so short and straight to the point that you never really get the chance to fully enjoy it all because you keep on craving for more.

This time, Freeman faces a killer who pries on elderly women, killing them in a way to make their death look natural. As Freeman investigates, he uncovers a plot concerning an insurance company and an insurance investigator who might have one secret too many hidden in his closet. Add to this a very original and disturbing character, a feeble-minded street man, and you should have the formula for one heck of a book. Freeman once again teams up with his good friend and lawyer Billy, and the female cop, Richards, he began seeing after the events of King's first novel.

The plot of A Visible Darkness might be just a bit too simple for its own good. There were not enough subplots to let us really get to know the characters. This is a pretty basic plot that takes you from point A to point B without any added troubles. It's a very, very rare case of 'more is better'.

And yet, I really enjoyed A Visible Darkness. Freeman is a great character, always broody, often cynical. And Richards will hopefully pop up in King's next novel; she is a very mysterious character I can't wait to get to know better.

I get the feeling that Jonathon King is just on the verge of writing one heck of a thriller. If he can let himself explore his characters a bit more and throw more a few more problems their way, all the while capturing the very same levels of suspense and thrills this one presented, his next novel could very well end up being a great one.

After Jonathon King's stellar debut with THE BLUE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT I admit I had high expectations for this book. While it is still a well-written book with a compelling cast of characters, the plot was a little too predictable.

I can't give it an unqualified recommendation, but it still is a good solid read-if only the beach variety. This one won't strain your brain.

Jonathon King is a newspaper reporter with an award-winning background. He knows people and he knows how to put words together. I first discovered him and his Max Freeman novels a few years ago when the initial paperback in the series hit the shelves. I picked up the second one and didn't get back to it, which I regret but have since atoned for. Freeman would understand, because he's still working on atonement of sorts for a lot of how his life has gone.

That sense of searching for answers when he doesn't really know all the questions is one of the things that draws me to the character of Max Freeman, and I suspect its one of the chief reasons King explores Max's world in additional novels.

I like the two sides of Florida that King writes about, and I enjoy the way he juxtaposes them against each other. Freeman is our eyes, and we see the world the way he sees it. The gentle way he describes nature and becomes part of it is awesome, and it's sharp enough that I feel like I'm right there with him on the water and in his small house.

On the other hand, Freeman is equally at home on the city streets. I'm more familiar with the civilized areas, but King still has a knack for taking you into dark places and dark lives. At times you can see the feature writing skills instead of the novelists, but the subject matter is woven so skillfully that you can't help but be drawn in.

Max gets called into this mystery by the deaths of some local elderly black people that were all insured through the same company. They all held long-term insurance plans worth quite a bit of money, but evidently someone doesn't think they should live any longer than they have to. The plot is fairly simple, and the villains are pretty much in plain sight the whole time, but King throws a curveball into the mix with his hitman. Several chapters of the book are devoted to the hired murderer and watching him go about his business is interesting.

There's nothing really knew in the unlicensed private eye genre here, or in the Miami crime scene for that matter, but King writes like the veteran he is and keeps it all interesting and moving along. While the prose and the mystery don't exactly yank you through the pages, it's a solid read and will keep you in the chair and in Max Freeman's shoes. Now I've gotta find the other books in the series, which is as good a recommendation as you can give any author.

opinion only -no story spoilers

This second installment in the Max Freeman series, continues with the main characters and the alternate story setting, but the writing definitely improves and the story flows more smoothly than the introductory book.

The book introduces a new character in the beginning in such a way that it draws you right in off the start, and our reluctant hero ends up not so reluctant in this story. A few more plot twists, and the main characters are filled out a more, but still an easy read comparable to Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series. Like any series novels, read them in order starting with "The Blue Edge of Midnight".

There are a couple small weaknesses in this book: you know the killer, which does lessen the suspense, and the protagonist is physically described by seeing himself in a mirror. But I forgive those flaws as King has created a story which builds layer upon layer, showing the motive for the killings and who is behind them. The book is full of interesting characters, including Max and Billy, about whom we learn more in this second book, Det. Sherry Richards, drug dealers and gang members. The story of Max's father's death and the friendship between his and Billy's mother is almost a mystery within the mystery. King's description of Florida, particularly the contrast between being in the city or on the water, is particularly effective. This is starting off as a very good series and I'm pleased to see there are more books waiting for me.