Book 3 in the Jonathon Stride series, our detective hero finds himself back in his home town of Duluth when his former partner, Maggie, is framed for the murder of her husband. As in the other books, the plot twists and turns, and the obvious suspect doesn't neatly wrap all lose ends. Freeman keeps the action going, the book is an easy-to-read page turner, with a satisfying ending. Bring on the next one! ( )

If "Immoral" was Brian Freeman as a rookie writer, "Stalked" is Freeman in full maturity. It’s not exactly correct to say this book is “better” than the first one, because that automatically carries the connotation that "Immoral" had major deficiencies. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that all the strengths and skills Freeman demonstrated in the first book have been honed and polished. Clarified and made shinier, like a diamond.

I enjoyed "Immoral" so much that when I found the third and fourth books in the library, I simply couldn’t wait for the second one ("Stripped") before reading the others. So I plunged into "Stalked" right away.

It takes place after Duluth detective Jonathan Stride has come back from the time spent in Las Vegas working with his new significant other, LVPD detective Serena Dial. She has moved back to Minnesota with him, intrigued and a little exhilarated by both the drastic change in climate and the difference in pace and crime levels. Now, rather than trying to join Stride’s own police force, she has set up shop as a private investigator.

Early in the book, Stride muses that most crime in Las Vegas revolves around sex in some way. Yet the cases both he and Serena encounter in the course of the book revolve around sex as well, sometimes involving a colder, more implacable preoccupation than anything you’d find in the desert.

Virtually every major character in the book is forced, in these cases, to confront his or her own preconceptions, both about sex and about their general relationships to others. Old traumas and fears seem to rise up at every stage of the investigations. Stride’s partner, Maggie, really comes into her own in this story as she must deal with the circumstances of her husband’s death. And the romantic partnership of Stride and Serena is put to a severe test as demons from her past come back to haunt her.

In "Immoral," the suspense was of a more cerebral kind rather than action-oriented, as we held our breaths to see what turn the investigation would take next. But in "Stalked," it’s much more action-based, as threat looms around every corner and we keep waiting to find out when it’s going to pounce again. This, I think, is where Brian Freeman’s skills have really been polished: as well as posing an intriguing investigative puzzle, he drags us to the edge of our seats and rarely gives us a chance to lean back again until we’ve reached the last life-and-death finale.

I have very few reservations about this book. As an editor, I did occasionally twitch when the passive voice appeared too often. (”The fields were covered in snow and the lawn chairs were buried,” rather than something a tad more dynamic like, “Snow blanketed the fields and buried the lawn chairs.”) But would anyone but me notice that sort of thing, and did it actually detract from anything important? Definitely not.

I felt more ambivalent as I watched Freeman trying to write the experiences of two women who had been sexually traumatized. Each of them agreed that their male companion “couldn’t really understand,” and I wondered if Freeman himself could really understand either. I’m still not sure that he got it entirely, but I think he did an admirable job, and understood better than most.

If you enjoy the suspense/mystery genre, I really think you’ll enjoy this book. In fact, if you liked "Immoral," I’d venture to say that you’ll love "Stalked." ( )

a solid character, a bit of a dull story, more of these to come ( )

Series: Jonathan Stride #3
Published: 2007
Main Characters: Lieutenant Jonathan Stride, Maggie Bei & Serena Dial.
Locations: Duluth, Minnesota, United States
First Line: The prisoner squinted at the threatening ebony sky through the steel mesh that made up the cage in the rear of the patrol car.

The third of Brian Freeman’s books to feature detective Jonathan Stride has just enough back story to fill you in on the relationships that have built up in the previous two books in the series. This is a thriller built on secrets, revenge and sex which makes for a fast paced story that builds to a dramatic climax. The three main protagonists, Jonathan, Maggie and Serena all become involved in cases that force them to look at their pasts as their futures are threatened. Jonathan is involved in a missing persons case, P.I. Serena takes on a blackmailer whilst Maggie’s life is turned upside down when her husband is found dead in their home and she is the prime suspect. This was an enjoyable story, but for me didn’t stand out enough to make me want to read the other books in the series. ( )

The Chicago Tribune called STALKED "a perfect blend of psychological suspense and crime fiction." Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or check out my web (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or find me on Facebook.