Stripped

Sin duda mucho mejor que la primera entrega de esta serie, si el primer libro fue bueno, este es mucho mejor.

Desde la primera página hasta la última, Brian Freeman nos lleva en una literal montaña rusa. Una historia ambientada nada menos que en la ciudad de Las Vegas, la capital del pecado, asesinatos, mafia, matones a sueldo y por supuesto un asesino en serie.

Hablando del thriller el ritmo es espectacular, no te da un respiro, tenemos a un asesino en serie meticuloso, frío e inteligente, pero no es el único malo de esta historia y creo que eso le da un plus que nos hace retener el aliento por momentos. La investigación es intrincada, complicada y muy bien manejada.

Brian Freeman les da a sus libros un toque que no había show more visto antes y me refiero a que el peso de la vida personal de sus protagonistas y actores es tan importante y tan fuerte como la misma historia del thriller, si bien es una de las características principales en la novela negra, en este caso lo he sentido con más peso que en cualquier otra que haya leído.

La personalidad de John Stride, sus razones, sus motivos para moverse de ciudad, el profundo amor que siente por Serena y en el caso de ella, su pasado, su amor por Stride, pero también el reconocimiento de lo que es ella y sus tentaciones, tienen tanto peso dentro del libro como los propios asesinatos.

Me encanta el estilo de Freeman, me encanta su manera de contar sus historias, pero me gustan mucho más lo que cuenta, es tan común que en este género los autores norteamericanos sean tan peliculeros, es tan fácil ver que todos escriben sus libros esperando que alguien les filme una película, es tan definido ese estilo en ellos que casi podría leer un libro de este género sin saber quién lo escribe y saber que fue escrito por un norteamericano, sin embargo, Freeman no es así, no tiene ese estilo tan típico de sus coterráneos, no voy a negar que algunas escenas son muy típicas de “Duro de matar”, pero en lo general se centra en su historia, en lo que cuenta y no en la acción que conlleva dicha historia.

Un autor a seguir, tengo poco de haberlo descubierto, por supuesto que seguiré la serie, me gusta mucho y vale la pena leerlo, es entretenimiento asegurado show less

I didn't realize that there was a Stride series. I can't wait to read more.

Jonathon Stride has moved from Minnesota to Las Vegas to be with Serena Dial. He retired from the Duluth PD and joined the force in Las Vegas. This was a very good mystery with lots of twists and complicated relationships. Nothing is what it seems even Stride's new partner, Amanda. It seems everyone in Las Vegas has a complicated or "not as it seems" story.

There is a murderer on the loose that is murdering people and he seems to have no agenda but is truly psychotic. Upon investigating Stride thinks it may be related to a murder 40 years ago that was supposedly solved. Stride is shut down from trying to connect the current murders and the past murder by the show more brass.

Freeman has many colorful characters with complicated pasts. Stripped is fast paced full of twists and turns! I look forward to reading more Jonathon Stride mysteries. show less

FRESH from reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eulelides, a literary novel dealing with the closeted issue of hermaphroditism and ambiguous sexualities, it is understandable that I regarded Stripped as a palate-cleansing sorbet between main courses.

In a twist of synchronicity — although it was more akin to apple sauce with roast pork, cheddar with fruit cake, or salt and lime with tequila — it broadened and enhanced the experience rather than cleared and cancelled it.

Stripped is a brilliant thriller, a pager-turner of the highest calibre, but not a book that will recommend itself to this genre’s traditionally conservative readers.

It is a layered and multifaceted story that challenges on many levels; not a novel that will ever be a show more favourite of airline passengers.

It is the second in a series featuring police detectives Jonathan Stride and Serena Dial. The personal histories of the main characters form a large part of the story, but a virgin reader will not be at too much of a disadvantage.

The greatest English detective of all time had almost no personal history, no family except for a brother, and certainly no sex life: 120 years on, much of the action revolves around the very areas Conan Doyle chose to gloss over.

Set in Las Vegas, the most transatlantic and artificial of all cities, Brian Freeman is in tune with that alien culture, seeing glamour and tradition where more Eurocentric — or less honest — writers see mere tackiness.

He taps into the mythology of the city on many levels: the mob-sponsored bling, the sanctioned celebrity culture and the magical sophistication of the early days. He shows the growing pains of a town anxious to become legitimate, and the lack of respect for the past.

The murder of famous stripper Amira in the penthouse suite of a casino owned by a mob thug is considered solved, until 40 years later, when a wave of serial killings occurs, all of which are linked to Amira's death.

So far, so good, even for the most conservative of readers. We meet Jonathan Stride, the Minnesota cop who followed his lover, the enigmatic and attractive Dial, to Las Vegas, much to the displeasure of the head of the Las Vegas detective branch.

Consequently, Jonathan is partnered with Amanda Gilten: tall, clever, strong, beautiful and big-busted, she is the most unpopular officer in the state. Why? Because she is a he, a non-operative transsexual who, thanks to nature and hormone injections, is female in every respect, except between the legs.

Unbeknown to Stride, Dial had a female lover in her youth and is now seduced back into a lesbian relationship with one of the people under investigation.

For those who prefer murder mysteries to be purely cerebral, this is not a book I recommend. But if you are open to questions about gender, sexuality and guilt — plus a hefty dose of thrilling action — Stripped is not only an exciting read, but challenging and informative to boot. show less

Jonathan Stride, a veteran detective in the rural town of Duluth, Minnesota, is still mourning his late wife, Cindy's death when Rachel, a teenager, goes missing. Assisted by his quirky partner, Maggie, an investigation into a girl's disappearance convinces Stride she was murdered. There's a trial and another murder; then the book really gets interesting. I was glued to every page while Mr. Freeman brought plot twist after plot twist. I understand Immoral is Mr. Freeman's debut novel. I have read all of the Easton Frost books and loved them. This book is written in the same style. It's very suspenseful and is filled with many interesting characters. I'm glad I discovered this series!

Ci sono posti in cui convergono tutte le anime ferite del mondo, e da lì ripartono per un nuovo destino. Alcuni diventano killer, altri diventano cacciatori di killer.
Un thriller ben scritto, ottimamente ambientato, in cui niente è come sembra, a cominciare dai poliziotti.
Piacevole e adrenalinico.

The writing is good and shows such potential but... Too many similar powerful bad guys, and troubled beautiful women, love of money, shiny new things, superficial, phony.

There are good guys like Stride and strong women like Serena which redeems the novel to a degree. But doubt I will continue series.

In his debut outing, Brian Freeman delivered a fast paced police procedural, murder mystery, love story all in one. His characters are complex and well defined; his plots are involved and unpredictable, with seemingly small details turning into key clues; and his description of locations is terrific. In this second in the series, he delivers another fabulous read. You don't have to read the first book in the series to enjoy this one but it would help understand the character development.

We again meet detectives Jonathan Stride and Serena Dial. Stride has relocated from Minneapolis to Las Vegas and is living with Dial, who is working hard to get over her own troubled past.

The change of locale is not without its difficulties, as Stride show more experiences some fish-out-of-water dislocation. Paired with a partner who also doesn't quite belong, Stride is assigned to a murder case involving the seemingly random killing of a celebrity on the Vegas Strip. However, it is not long before Stride realises that the murder is anything but random. Dial is working on an apparent hit-and-run death of a child. Soon, it becomes clear that the two cases are related – and there is a link to a secret kept since the 1960s. The trail eventually leads to a maze of political secrets with the potential to rock the top movers and shakers in Las Vegas and beyond.

I’ll be back for more. show less