From Publishers Weekly
King's first book about former Philadelphia cop Max Freeman turned loose in the Florida Everglades (The Blue Edge of Midnight) boasted several strengths-a protagonist who shimmered with life in spite of a cliched backstory (he was wounded in a shootout at a robbery scene, where one of his shots killed a 12-year-old boy), a riveting supporting cast of local weirdos and a fully credible subplot about an urban man learning to love the hardships of the natural world. A few traces of those strengths survive in King's second book about Freeman, but not enough to give the series the feeling of inevitable success it originally enjoyed. For one thing, Freeman has little opportunity to commune with nature this time around. He spends much of his days and nights driving his pickup truck down the seedier streets of West Palm Beach in search of whoever is knocking off a bunch of very old African-American ladies who sold off their insurance policies early. The Florida hermits and con men of the first book have been supplanted by a rather ordinary crew of street thugs and drug dealers. But if the lackluster setting and cast disappoint King's fans, it's only because the standard set by his first book was so high-there's still plenty here to reward the reader: the rapid-fire, gritty dialogue and the charms of our hard-living, earthy hero. Freeman's lawyer chum, Billy Manchester, a genius who stutters in public, reprises his fascinating role, and a new love interest, a sad-eyed lady cop, adds a pleasing twist. Though not as inspired as its precursor, this still is satisfying fare.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Nick Sullivan is not an engaging enough narrator to pull listeners into this ho-hum mystery. Max Freeman is a burned-out former Philadelphia cop who has come to live in the Everglades to seek solace and a new beginning. Instead, in King's convoluted plot, Freeman is pulled into an investigation into the suspicious deaths of elderly Florida women. Freeman is more a collection of memories than a full-bodied character, so even the most talented narrator might find it hard to bring him to life. Sullivan has some success with one or two ancillary figures but never seems able to get any footing with the star of the story. That's a deficiency impossible to overcome. M.O. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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