Jonathon King

If you want an abundance of attention really quickly, abduct a Federal Judge … better yet, abduct one who is eight months pregnant. Diane Manchester, US District Judge in south Florida, called for a recess for lunch shortly after the defendant made a veiled threat against her and her unborn child. She’d been presiding over Juan Manuel Escalante’s extradition case. He was a Colombian drug lord. As she steps off the curb heading for a café, a van screeches to a halt in front of her. show more Before she has a chance to react, a figure steps from the sliding door and roughly pulls her inside.

Billy Manchester, Diane’s husband, and a business lawyer wastes no time in contacting Max Freeman. Max is a friend of both Billy and Diane and he’s also a PI (formerly a Philadelphia cop). Max doesn’t argue with or get in the way of the police or the FBI. Yet, he has his own connections and his own agenda to follow. Diane certainly has confidence in Max’s abilities. She knew instinctively Billy would contact him. While she is being held captive, she mentally chastises her abductors — “You’ve screwed up … stepping into Max Freeman’s world. He will track you and find you and if history repeats itself, he will hurt you.” The biggest question becomes what do they want? They make no ransom demands.

I really liked the character of Max Freeman. He doesn’t consider himself perfect. In fact, I felt like he beat himself up over past mistakes. He’s got ‘street smarts’, he’s trustworthy and unpretentious. The plot is engrossing and the action satisfying with just a bit of a lag midway. The story is told from three points of view. Max’s portion is told in first person; and chapters are given over to Diane and also to one of her abductors. This is the seventh book in the Max Freeman series. It is the first one I’ve read – I have to ask myself ‘where have I been?’ Max is a wonderful character and I intend to go back and pick up books 1 through 6 as soon as I can fit them in. Even though it is a series, this story was complete in itself. Rating 4 out of 5. show less

Max Freeman is desperately trying to get his previous life as a police officer in Philadelphia behind him. Hiding out in one of the last solitary places on Earth, the Florida Everglades, Max has finally found some peace. Still haunted by his shooting on a nasty night as well as the aftermath, Max has learned to cope by canoeing through the dark hours from midnight to dawn when he can't sleep.

The dreams don't come as often anymore but as the book opens, his inability to sleep has driven him show more once more into the night. His quest for peace this night ends when he finds a child's body in the roots of a tree just down river from his home.
Not only does this dead child bring his past to life once again internally for Max, it also brings him to the attention of a task force. A task force chasing a child killer who has killed before and of which Max knew nothing about thanks to his self imposed exile. Already considered a suspect because of what happened in Philadelphia along with his finding the body, Max soon finds that the killer is planting additional clues, all pointed towards Max. The killer seems to have target Max as the fall guy and begins to manipulate him toward a violet confrontation.

This is a well plotted debut novel with intriguing characters and a believable story. Max is easy to sympathize with after his bad experiences return to haunt him. He's honest, intelligent and determined in his search for the people who are guilty for the crimes against the children.

As a first novel it has promise of even better future novels. It earned it's 3 stars. show less

Loved this! A wonderful setting in South Florida that goes beyond the borders of metropolitan Miami and explores the "Old Florida" cultures-- moonshiners and watermen, fishers and gator hunters, outlaws and folks who just want to disappear who occupy the swamps and waterlands. Max Freeman is a newcomer to this crowd, a former Philadelphia cop who retires after he kills a 12 year old boy while responding to an alarm call in a convenience store, an encounter that almost cost him his own life show more when he took a bullet to the neck. When he discovers the body of a child in the river not far from his adopted home, he is drawn into a fraught investigation of a series of child abduction/murders. Realizing that he has become the suspect, he launches his own investigation to make sure the cops get it right. Max's voice is compelling and believable. King worked as a crime reporter in both Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale, so he brings both locations to vivid life. Looking forward to reading other books by this author! show less

I spent a week in Ocean City New Jersey every summer as a child and still vacation there most summers. In June 2018, I picked up one of the free ad papers and found in it a review of "The Sindia Promise", a new novel by local author Jonathon King, an Edgar-award winning mystery writer. I remember seeing the last part of the Sindia wreckage in the water off 17th street in the 1960s and learning about the 1901 shipwreck at the Ocean City Historical Society museum. I stopped at the local show more bookstore and got their last copy, there had been a run on it for local book clubs!

There were no fatalities in the actual shipwreck, but King starts his mystery with the accidental death of the Sindia's third mate in the storm that runs the ship aground, and the discovery by his best friend that the mate had a fortune in pearls in his seabag. The Sindia's last port of call had been in Japan, but where had the pearls come from? Theo Cuthbert sees his friend buried in a local cemetery and hides the pearls away, not selling any.

After the first few chapters though, the mystery takes a back seat to Theo building a life in Ocean City as a boat builder, as the town grows rapidly in the early 20th century. Only years later does Theo sell a pearl, to buy an engagement ring. He eventually learns more about the pearls from an unexpected source.

I enjoyed the story because I recognized so many places and events from the history of the town, but was expecting more mystery elements. Call this an historical novel with a little mystery rather than an historical mystery. show less