Overview
One cold night. Two shocking mysteries.
In the quiet town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a baby vanishes from her bedroom in an opulent lakeside home. Was she abducted – or does her father have a terrible secret to hide?
That same night, a young policewoman gets lost in the fog and stumbles into the middle of a horrific crime. Now a sadistic killer wants her to play his deadly game.
Lieutenant Jonathan Stride and his team need to move fast to save a child and stop a vicious killing spree. As fear grips the frozen winter farm lands, Stride knows that every snow-covered field may be the next burying place.
Each twist in the investigation takes Stride into an elaborate web of deceit and desire. But his biggest obstacles may be the very people he’s trying to help. With everything at risk and time running out, Stride worries how far a desperate mother will go to rescue her baby – and how far a desperate cop will go to save herself.
Synopsis
One cold night. Two shocking mysteries.
In the quiet town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a baby vanishes from her bedroom in an opulent lakeside home. Was she abducted – or does her father have a terrible secret to hide?
That same night, a young policewoman gets lost in the fog and stumbles into the middle of a horrific crime. Now a sadistic killer wants her to play his deadly game.
Lieutenant Jonathan Stride and his team need to move fast to save a child and stop a vicious killing spree. As fear grips the frozen winter farm lands, Stride knows that every snow-covered field may be the next burying place.
Each twist in the investigation takes Stride into an elaborate web of deceit and desire. But his biggest obstacles may be the very people he’s trying to help. With everything at risk and time running out, Stride worries how far a desperate mother will go to rescue her baby – and how far a desperate cop will go to save herself.
Publishers Weekly
Though Jonathan Stride is still recovering from injuries he suffered in a high fall at the start of Freeman’s intriguing if overly plotted fourth thriller featuring the Duluth, Minn., police detective (after In the Dark), he’s soon looking into the kidnapping of the 11-month-old daughter of a Grand Rapids, Minn., surgeon, Dr. Marcus Glenn, who happens to be a local cop’s brother-in-law. Jonathan thinks the kidnapping is an inside job, especially after unsavory secrets about the arrogant surgeon come to light. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s partner, Det. Maggie Bei, aided by rookie Kasey Kennedy, scrambles to catch a serial killer who’s murdered several women in Duluth. When Kasey is witness to the fiend abducting a victim, the killer becomes fixated on Kasey. An appropriately creepy atmosphere and well-rounded, flawed characters compensate only in part for the forced connection between the two cases, either of which could have easily carried the novel. (Apr.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Though Jonathan Stride is still recovering from injuries he suffered in a high fall at the start of Freeman’s intriguing if overly plotted fourth thriller featuring the Duluth, Minn., police detective (after In the Dark), he’s soon looking into the kidnapping of the 11-month-old daughter of a Grand Rapids, Minn., surgeon, Dr. Marcus Glenn, who happens to be a local cop’s brother-in-law. Jonathan thinks the kidnapping is an inside job, especially after unsavory secrets about the arrogant surgeon come to light. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s partner, Det. Maggie Bei, aided by rookie Kasey Kennedy, scrambles to catch a serial killer who’s murdered several women in Duluth. When Kasey is witness to the fiend abducting a victim, the killer becomes fixated on Kasey. An appropriately creepy atmosphere and well-rounded, flawed characters compensate only in part for the forced connection between the two cases, either of which could have easily carried the novel. (Apr.)Kirkus Reviews
Duluth's Detective Jonathan Stride struggles with his own demons while pursuing a diabolical kidnapper. Callie was the child who was supposed to save beautiful Valerie Glenn's teetering marriage to her cold, brilliant orthopedist husband Marcus. Now Callie is missing, snatched from her crib in her luxurious lakefront home while her father slept alone in the next room. The case quickly turns personal: Itasca County deputy sheriff Denise Sheridan is Valerie's sister; Stride's longtime police partner Maggie Bei is looking for a more intimate connection; and his life partner, Serena Dial, is an ex-Vegas cop also assigned to the kidnapping case. Denise is distracted both by her clamoring family (four children, one with Down syndrome, and an unemployed spouse) and by a case of serial killings, the last of which is interrupted by young Duluth cop Kasey Kennedy, lost in the countryside fog on her way home. When the killer's fury is turned on Kasey, Denise must help the rookie survive a maniacal stalker while Serena tries in vain to help the veteran Stride overcome his panic. As suspicions surround Marcus and his discarded mistress Regan Conrad, his relationship with babysitter Migdalena Vega, who lives in a trailer by a spooky cemetery, may provide a key to the case. With a whopping surprise solution, Freeman's latest (In the Dark, 2009, etc.) packs quite a punch from cradle to grave.From the Publisher
Praise for The Burying Place:
“Crisp dialogue, steady suspense, and a cast of original characters drive this fifth entry in Macavity Award–winner Freeman’s excellent series.”--Booklist
“Brian Freeman is, quite simply, a first-rate storyteller.” –Nelson DeMille
"Just when you think an author couldn’t possibly take it up another notch, you read a new outing like this. Freeman goes the distance, and then some, in his latest.... [He] is one of those rare authors that continues to surprise and beguile instead of rehashing what has come before. Highly recommended." --NewMysteryReader.com
Praise for In the Dark:
"Edgar-finalist Freeman's fourth thriller to feature Duluth, Minn., police lieutenant Jonathan Stride (after Stalked) may be his most ambitious—and accomplished—work to date.... Powered by darkly poetic atmospherics and deep character development (especially Stride, whose understated intensity, dignity and resilience are emblematic of the Twin Ports area itself), this harrowing and heartrending novel will leave readers guessing until the very last pages." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A suspenseful tale of terror and secrets kept too long." --Library Journal
"An evocative mystery, one shaded with melancholy and dusted with heartache, and one that reminds readers that life may be brutal and cold, but, in Minnesota at least, we shore ourselves against these truths and we endure." --Minneapolis Star Tribune
Praise for Stalked:
“Freeman's latest should be on the to-read list of anyone who enjoys novels by authors like Harlan Coben, David Baldacci and Jeff Abbott—a perfect blend of psychological suspense and crime fiction.”
–Chicago Tribune
“Chiling, atmospheric…A strong narrative crammed with twists and studded with sex and violence; a mysterious, even mystical, sense of place; and a well-crafted set of characters and relationships make this one of Freeman’s stronger crime thrillers.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Freeman just keeps outdoing himself with each book....a striking display of skilled storytelling that will have readers surprised more than once well before the shocking ending.”
–Library Journal