Review by Booklist Review
Duluth, Minnesota, detective Jonathan Stride is struggling with the emotional and physical aftermath of the bridge plunge that nearly cost him his life when the abduction of a wealthy surgeon's infant daughter brings him back to work. Young Callie Glenn disappeared from her home while her father, Marcus, and a babysitter were on the premises. Could either of them have been involved? Stride and his girlfriend, Serena (a former Las Vegas detective), dig deep into the case, and the longer they search, the more suspicious and cold-blooded Doctor Glenn appears. (He only agreed to have a child to placate his depressed wife and admitted on more than one occasion that he wished the little girl had never been born.) Meanwhile, a serial killer is murdering young women across the Minnesota countryside. Stride navigates his way through a tangled web of family dysfunction and distress while coping with a rocky patch in his relationship with Serena. Crisp dialogue, steady suspense, and a cast of original characters drive this fifth entry in Macavity Award-winner Freeman's excellent series.--Block, Allison Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
