The Blue Edge of Midnight

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 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 show more 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 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 show more 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

THE BLUE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT won the Edgar Award for best first novel in 2003.

One of the interesting features of the novel, given that it is published at the beginning of the 21st century, is the use of a GPS tracking device, left as a clue to detectives near the site of each child's body. For me that was a distraction because I am not sure that it worked as the author thought it might. Nor was I sure that the murderer would be able to afford to do that. Surely GPS devices in 2003 were very expensive?

The murderer appears to be trying to pin the series of murders that he is committing of children on to Max Freeman. And therein lies one of the puzzles. Apart from accidentally killing a child himself, what has Max Freeman done to become a show more target for a serial killer? And then secondly, why is he killing children? The answers are there, and make sense in the end.

A very dark novel painting an interesting picture of life in the Everglades, newly opened up to tourists by the road built from Tampa to Miami. show less

Max Freeman, a former Philadelphia is out on a river in Florida and spots something that doesn't look right. He canoe's over and finds a body of a dead little girl. Later, he finds that this is six-year-old Melissa Marks.

Max has been haunted by a killing he made when he was on duty with the Philadelphia P.D. He shot a twelve-year-old child in self defense. However, the memory of this took the desire out of being a cop. Now, with finding the little girl's body, his memories return.

Even though he knows that police usually suspect the person who reports a crime, he reports finding the girl's body to police officials. They ask him many questions and let him go on his way. When another child is abducted, the police look at him as a possible show more suspect or accessory.

The author maintains a high level of tension as we see Max attempt to investigate the abductions. He visits remote areas in the Everglades and in so doing, places his own life in danger.

This is a well plotted novel. It has intriguing characters and an excellent plot. Max is an easy character to sympathise with. He's honest, intelligent, and determined to find the killers.

It was also interesting to meet characters like Nate Brown, a war vet who lives by nature and wants to do the right thing. I could imagine him in another time, taking wagon trains through Indian territory by a trail that would avoid their being attacked. show less

This book is the first featuring Max Freeman. Max is a former police officer from Philadelphia who moves to the Everglades of South Florida. I would probably read more Max Freeman stories. He was a good character and the story had some interesting twists.

Max Freeman, a former Philadelphia cop, gets caught up in a case in the Everglades. Some of the best descriptive writing of Florida.

Dramatic Events!

Whether they make sense or NOT! I can't figure out how someone like this author can spend a career in law enforcement and not have learned attention to detail. I got to 33% and got fed up. DNF