Immoral: Jonathan Stride, Book 1 (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Let me get straight to the point. If you like crime fiction, especially the novels that really twist your mind in knots while you try to figure out what's going on, then you need to buy IMMORAL. If, like me, you read and enjoy the likes of Connelly, Gerritsen, Deaver, Coben, Slaughter, Connolly and Child and some pretty decent Brit writers such as McDermid, Billingham, Robinson and MacBride, then you will not be disappointed by this newcomer to the genre. He's good. He's very good, in fact.

This novel actually represents the first in a series featuring Lieutenant Jonathan Stride, later to be joined by Las Vegas Police Detective Serena Dial. Stride is based in Duluth, north Minnesota, a town on the edge of Lake Superior that I had never heard of before, and presumably not many others know it either as it doesn't even have a Starbucks (shock, horror). The story revolves around the disappearance of a rebellious, sexy and in many ways mysterious teenage girl named Rachel, whose behaviour affected several people before she disappeared and whose personality continues to influence others - including Stride - years after she was last seen. The tale also involves the love life of forty-something Stride himself, initially a widower having lost his wife to cancer a year before the story begins. His bedroom exploits are a little too graphically detailed for my own personal tastes, but it's fair to say that his romantic asides are very relevant to the plot and are not merely bolted-on to please a certain sector of the readership. Most importantly though the central story of what happened to Rachel is very well told and I was kept guessing right to the end. More than guessing, actually - at times I felt like shouting at the page demanding to know what's going on! The only disappointment was finishing it, because I simply did not want it to end. It more than held my interest at all times, there is never a dull moment and there is a complete absence of gratuitous violence. Brian Freeman has written two follow-ups to this debut novel and I'm going to buy them both. Definitely a crime fiction writer who knows his way around the courtroom and one to watch out for in the future.

This is Freeman's first novel but it reads as though he has been writing for years. It is an accomplished debut and whilst it does not entirely escape all the cliches of the genre offers a refreshingly original setting. The character of Lieutenant Jonathan Stride is well-drawn and satisfyingly three-dimensional, as is the context in which he operates. This really does keep you guessing until the end and is an exciting and worthwhile read.

What a find Mr Freeman is! This is fresh new crime writing at it's best, at long last Messrs Connelly and Rankin will be challenged for the no 1 crime writers position.