Acts of Nature (Hardcover)

by Jonathon King (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Florida, hurricanes and crime make a potent mix, as shown in Edgar-winner King's fifth entry in his Max Freeman PI series (The Blue Edge of Midnight, etc.). The vacation trip that Max and his cop girlfriend, Sherry Richards, take to his Everglades cabin and then to a friend's even more remote fishing camp turns into a struggle for survival when hurricane Simone shifts course unpredictably. A trio of unscrupulous thieves scavenging in the hurricane's wake and a pair of deadly security guards out to protect an illegal asset compound the danger. King vividly describes the hurricane's force and the different ways people respond to it. Sherry displays her grit and Max his ingenuity in a series of desperate gambles as the story builds to an explosive climax. This is a worthy addition to a Florida subgenre that includes Carl Hiaasen's Stormy Weather and Tim Dorsey's Hurricane Punch. (Aug.)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* The latest entry in the Max Freeman series (King won an Edgar with the debut of cop-turned-recluse Freeman in 2002's Blue Eye of Midnight) is every bit as polished and absorbing as its four predecessors, and it trumps King's own standards for description with a stunning depiction of a hurricane and its aftermath. A longtime Philadelphia crime reporter, King knows cops well, and it shows in the hero he has crafted. Ex-cop Freeman has been holed up in a former research shack deep in the Florida Everglades, accepting some detective work from an old lawyer friend but mostly hiding himself away from his horror at having killed a 12-year-old boy in a robbery attempt. Each novel inches Freeman away from his grief and into life; King is both a master plotter and an able psychologist. In his latest, Freeman and his new love, a South Florida detective, are enjoying a break at Max's retreat when a hurricane rips apart the shack, nearly killing Freeman's girlfriend. This novel is more adventure-suspense tale than mystery, as the couple struggles to survive, first against the hurricane and then against the villains who flood into the Everglades. King juxtaposes Max's first-person narration with third-person accounts of criminals in a breathtaking series of survival moves. Gripping. Fletcher, Connie

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (August 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525950087
• ISBN-13: 978-0525950080
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #662,847 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Max Freeman returns in another thrilling mystery from Jonathon King, August 15, 2007

By	David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"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.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Max Freeman Meets The "Perfect Storm" , December 27, 2007

By	TMStyles (California) - See all my reviews

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.

2.0 out of 5 stars Swamps and Hurricaines Oh My!, December 14, 2008

By	J. Roberts Bloss (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Acts of Nature (Hardcover)

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.