Rating: 
Summary: King takes you to a different place.
Review: An excellent story. Having recently moved to Florida, it is still a place that is difficult to comprehend. It is a contrast where urban living backs right up to the Everglades--a vast wilderness where a very different culture still exists. This is one story that will take you on a journey to a Florida no tourist ever sees. I finished the book feeling like I had spent the night out there. Whew!
Rating: 
Summary: Deep in the Glades With the Gators
Review: Author King's Edgar-nominated debut novel has a lot going for it. His descriptive scenes of the Everglades, the darkness, dampness, infernal haze of insects and the never-ending heat pervade every page of the book. King's knowledge of Everglades and a good feel for the swamp rats as well as the glitzy city dwellers give him a toehold in the crowded field of mystery writers who pen guy-gets-away-from-it-all-in-Florida tales. Max Freeman, a Philadelphia cop, killed an unarmed boy during a robbery attempt. He was a lackluster cop before, and the killing undoes him psychologically. He quits the force, lets his marriage go without a murmur and in quiet desperation decides to start over in Florida. Fortunately, for him financially, he was badly injured in the robbery and received a big settlement brilliantly invested by his lawyer friend Billy. Max chooses a stilt house so far in the swamp; you have to reach it by canoe. It has none of the amenities (heat, electricity, a/c, running water). When we enter the scene, Max has been in his shack for over a year. While canoeing home one evening, he spots a wrapped package that turns out to be a dead child. He is suspected because of his background and finds this is the 4th child-murder that the body has been dumped in the Everglades. A serial killer is at work, and Max must clear his name. In the process, he has a "meet" with some native swamp rats that is the true highlight of the book. The trouble with Max is he is so humorless, dismal and depressed; we have a hard time empathizing with him. He takes terrible physical punishment throughout, yet I was unmoved. The plot is a bit contrived and the ending is a little flat. Still, Mr. King's powerful imagery makes "The Blue Edge of Midnight" highly readable. I think with a more experience, he will round out his protagonist's character. I am looking forward to the next book.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
Rating: 
Summary: Murder in the Florida Everglades
Review: Ex-Philadelphia cop, Max Freeman, has become somewhat of a recluse in his stilted shack "in a swamped lowland forest" of the South Florida Everglades. On his daily therapeutic ritual of canoeing, he finds the body of a young child and whispers, "Not again." Over a year ago back in Philly, he shot and killed a 12-year-old boy who was helping to rob a convenience store. Now Max is reliving the nightmare that's been haunting him ever since. Being the first to find the child's body makes Max a natural suspect. The Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement is working with the FBI to catch the serial killer who's now claimed his 4th victim from homes along the edge of the Everglades. The investigation toggles between two very different worlds, the overcrowded, fast-paced South Florida lifestyle you read about vs. the wild and dangerous Everglades where the killer is thought to reside. "How did the killer move from out there in the wild to a place like this? How did he operate so smoothly in both? This guy knew both worlds. And he had mastered the wall between them." What few clues the police have seem to point right at Max. The only way to clear himself is to do some investigating on his own to find the real killer. With the help of his lawyer friend, Billy Manchester, Max is in the saddle again. A journalist for 20 years, Jonathan King has written for the Philadelphia Daily News and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. In this debut novel, King details the undeveloped, raw side of South Florida, the Everglades. Without the glitz and glamour, we're left with interesting characters of an old-world Florida entwined in a good crime story. Not much suspense, but just a good, smooth story. Look for Jonathan King's 2nd novel, A Visible Darkness, again featuring Max Freeman.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine First Effort...With One Complaint.....
Review: First, let me say this is a great first effort. Wonderful plot line, well-developed characters, and it all takes place in an unexpected and new environment: the FL Everglades. Definitely worthwhile reading! Now my complaint: Early on in the story, our author brings forth his metaphor for deep thought, GRINDING. It has to do with problems being like sharp-edged stones in the mind that need to be smoothed down. A great metaphor...a few times. After the 5 or 600th reference, GRINDING begins to GRIND on the reader. So keep the great plot lines and characters coming. Just not so much grinding please.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine First Effort...With One Complaint.....
Review: First, let me say this is a great first effort. Wonderful plot line, well-developed characters, and it all takes place in an unexpected and new environment: the FL Everglades. Definitely worthwhile reading! Now my complaint: Early on in the story, our author brings forth his metaphor for deep thought, GRINDING. It has to do with problems being like sharp-edged stones in the mind that need to be smoothed down. A great metaphor...a few times. After the 5 or 600th reference, GRINDING begins to GRIND on the reader. So keep the great plot lines and characters coming. Just not so much grinding please.
Rating:
Summary: first novel, really?
Review: Having recently re-discovered the mystery genre, I was guided by my subscription to Alfred Hitchcock magazine to the list of Edgar Award winners. I started off with the best novel, Winter and Night by S.J. Rozan. Making my way down the list (posted on the mystery writers of America website) brought me to this book. This won the award for the best first novel by an American author. It is hard to believe this is his first because Jonathon King displays an expertise of familiarity with setting description and character development. He includes allusions to prior events that made me want more from the author's thought process. Definitely recommended and can compete for best mystery novel overall, not just best first.
Rating:
Summary: first novel, really?
Review: Having recently re-discovered the mystery genre, I was guided by my subscription to Alfred Hitchcock magazine to the list of Edgar Award winners. I started off with the best novel, Winter and Night by S.J. Rozan. Making my way down the list (posted on the mystery writers of America website) brought me to this book. This won the award for the best first novel by an American author. It is hard to believe this is his first because Jonathon King displays an expertise of familiarity with setting description and character development. He includes allusions to prior events that made me want more from the author's thought process. Definitely recommended and can compete for best mystery novel overall, not just best first.
Rating:
Summary: The Blue Edge of Midnight
Review: I am retired, live on the West Coast of Florida, kayak almost every day and read adventure/mystery stories constantly. Thus, I bring experience, passion and opinion to this review. I found King's description of South Florida's natural setting to be flawless and engrossing. His description of canoeing technique and scenery was so compelling that I read the book a second time just to dwell on its descriptive passages; I was so caught up in the plot during the initial read that I did not give them the attention they warrant. In addition I found the plot to be extremely entertaining and suspenseful. I feel that it is on a par with the work of Randy Wayne White another favorite author of mine.
Rating:
Summary: The Start of a Great Series
Review: I found it hard to believe that this was King's first mystery novel. He has created a couple of great characters in Max Freeman and his friend, Billy. Then he tops it off with a neatly plotted mystery, written with great assurance. Max is a former Philadelphia cop who, after shooting a juvenile criminal, retires to the Flordia Everglades where he lives the life of a semi-hermit. Trouble soon finds him however, and he's forced to track down a killer when he becomes implicated in the kidnapping and serial murder of young local children. It's a tough crime to read about that's for sure, but it's handled deftly by the author. The characters and the action ring true, and the Everglades is a unique setting that lends a lot to the story. I can't wait for the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: The Start of a Great Series
Review: I found it hard to believe that this was King's first mystery novel. He has created a couple of great characters in Max Freeman and his friend, Billy. Then he tops it off with a neatly plotted mystery, written with great assurance. Max is a former Philadelphia cop who, after shooting a juvenile criminal, retires to the Flordia Everglades where he lives the life of a semi-hermit. Trouble soon finds him however, and he's forced to track down a killer when he becomes implicated in the kidnapping and serial murder of young local children. It's a tough crime to read about that's for sure, but it's handled deftly by the author. The characters and the action ring true, and the Everglades is a unique setting that lends a lot to the story. I can't wait for the next installment.
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