Publisher's Weekly Review
A Harlan Coban-esque murder/psychological suspense structure and some uninspired writing ("He saw urgency written in her face") add up to a mildly interesting but unsurprising thriller for first-timer Freeman. Called to investigate the disappearance of beautiful teenager Ruth Stoner, Duluth, Minn., police detective Lt. Jonathan Stride is haunted by the disappearance of another teen, Kerry McGrath, 14 months earlier. Stride's an honest, likable cop, full of angst over the cancer death of his beloved wife. He has a great working relationship with diminutive partner Maggie Bei, who's been in love with him for years. As Stride and Mags investigate, the only aspect of the case that becomes clear is that everyone involved with the crimeAthe victim, her family and her friendsAis guilty of something. Tweezing apart these strands of guilt and trying to connect them to the missing Ruth occupies Stride for more than three years. Finally, in an extended denouement, the pieces fall into place, and Stride is able to solve not only the mysteries of both Ruth and Kelly, but mend his own fractured life as well. BOMC and Literary Guild main selections; Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild alternates. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A first novel that's part police procedural, part courtroom drama--a sort of Law and Order in hardback. Two girls from the same high school go missing within 14 months of each other. Is there a serial killer at work in relatively safe Duluth? Looks that way to the local media, but not to police lieutenant Jonathan Stride. Estimable Stride won't cave to pressure. He sees significant differences in the two cases. Rachel Deese, for instance, has family problems not shared by Kerry McGrath. Stride senses that Rachel's relationship with her stepfeather, Graeme Stoner, is badly out of whack, and soon he has evidence indicating that Stoner has been forcing himself on Rachel. Did she finally threaten to expose him? Did Stoner, a leading banker, a pillar of the community, a man with a privileged position to protect, retaliate desperately? Would the cops, in the fullness of time, discover Rachel's dead body? To Stride, the answer is yes, on all counts. He builds his case; it goes to trial with Stoner indicted for murder, though without benefit of a corpse. The defense denigrates the evidence as merely circumstantial; the prosecution acknowledges what it must. And then, suddenly, shockingly, the trial is interrupted, never to resume. Three years later, Duluth cops get a phone call from authorities in Las Vegas that they always half-expected but that serves only to darken a lingering mystery. Freeman, who works for a law firm, brings his courtroom scenes to life. If he could have done the same for his warmed-over cops, he might have had something special. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
As Freeman shows, there's nothing like a little sex, obsession, and revenge to break the monotony. This debut is being likened to works of Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly. A Bookspan International Book of the Month selection. Freeman lives in Minnesota. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.