Rating: 
Summary: Not up to the hype
Review: I looked forward to this read, as it was Amazon recommended based on my reading habits. King tries, but the plotting is complicated, there are too many charracters, few of the characters are realistic. In short, this book was a dissappointment. I didn't think much of Max Freeman.
Rating: 
Summary: Evocative title, but....
Review: I wanted to like this book, I really did, but it just didn't involve me. Too much brooding by the main character, Max Freeman, & too many assumptions by Max that he is the intended target of a set-up. I liked his friend, Billy Manchester, but wondered why Billy was so solicitious. Just too many gaps in the character development for them to be believable.
Rating:
Summary: Does not measure up - I was disappointed!
Review: IMHO, this book falls flat. I just couldn't get into it. I found it borderline boring, but was determined to keep reading after all the hype & the Amazon.com rating thinking that with each turn of the page there would be something to capture me. It didn't happen. I did not find it suspenseful or particularly mysterious & it was no page-turner for me!
Rating:
Summary: Does not measure up - I was disappointed!
Review: IMHO, this book falls flat. I just couldn't get into it. I found it borderline boring, but was determined to keep reading after all the hype & the Amazon.com rating thinking that with each turn of the page there would be something to capture me. It didn't happen. I did not find it suspenseful or particularly mysterious & it was no page-turner for me!
Rating: 
Summary: Redemption in the Everglades
Review: It seems profane to use the word 'lovely' when discussing a book about a serial murderer of children, but Jonathan King brings to this subject precisely the right elegiac tone, a mood of wounded sorrow, that permits in the end a lasting sense of genuine humanity and, ultimately, grace. That he does so while still fashioning a compelling tale of a desperate hunt for a sadistic menace testifies to his expert handle on his craft. The story follows a damaged man needing both to scour his own conscience and prove himself innocent of the worst of crimes. It manages to effortlessly move back and forth between past and present, following not just the actions played out in its eerie and sumptuous Everglades locale, but also the far darker corridors of the human heart. All the while, King leads the reader along with such deft assurance and calm confidence that the effect becomes hypnotic and irresistible. His characters have weight and wit, his details are telling and right, his pacing perfect both in moving the action along and in never forgetting its steamy south Florida setting. Not just a great debut, a great book. Read this.
Rating:
Summary: The little book that could
Review: Jonathon King's debut novel The Blue Edge of Midnight is a nicely written story that feels just a little too familiar for the reader who's intimate with detective or cop-and-killer novels. Not that there's anything fundamentally wrong with the story itself. As a matter of fact, the whole thing moves quite smoothly, and the plot has some very good twists at times. But in the end, you just can't help but feel that you've seen it all before. You can't help but feel that King could have pushed his story just one step higher to see it reach the potential that was - and is - there. I have to admit that I very much liked the novel's main character, Max Freeman, a retired cop who left everything behind after a near-fatal accident that left him mentally exhausted. Now, he's retired to a small shack in the woods where he tries to live the peaceful, reclusive life. Max is a simple man, the kind of character you instantly like. He's the every day guy trapped in extraordianry circumstances (the all-American every day hero). While on one of his morning boat rides, he finds the body of a dead child wrapped tightly in a blanket. And from there on, Max tumbles down into a nightmarish world where he will soon become the prime suspespect in an on-going murder investigation. This isn't a book that is all about the murders. No, there isn't much that is gruesome of repulsive in this one. Instead, the book concentrates on its main character and the way this whole mess affects him. Because, as he joins in the investigation and befriends a group of men that might very well know a lot about the investigation, Max is also plagued by the many nightmares of his past life as a cop. The most beautiful and touching moments come in the long flash back sequences that feel both nostalgic and like a complete nightmare for Max and the reader both. The book is written in first person prose that is very sparse and effectively simple. King knows that he is writing a thriller and doesn't try to go for pretenses. And he also knows how to describe action; this book had some of the most vivid descriptions I've read in a long time, making the reading of The Blue Edge Of Midnight all that more pleasurable. But in the end, I can't honestly say that I feel like I've read something great. Which kinda makes me sad. Maybe the book needed to offer more challenges in the murder investigation. Or maybe the whole thing needed just a few more twists to make this one stand above the rest. Or maybe the ending could have been just a little better. But as it stands, The Blue Edge Of Midnight is a nice beach book that you'll enjoy while it lasts.
Rating:
Summary: Finding the Edge
Review: 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 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 first novel by this author and was simply an incredible read. Using very descriptive language in the style of James Lee Burke to create intense imagery, along with strong characters, and steady pacing, this author works all the angles for the enjoyment of his readers. Missing the flaws that often weaken a first novel, this book at 259 pages becomes a fast intense read and well worth the effort. There are not too many books that get me to stay up late to finish and this was the first one in a very long time. The author has created a sequel featuring Max Freeman entitled " A Visible Darkness." If as good as the original, this author has created a new series well worth reading. I will be reading and reviewing this book soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Lush and intriguing debut.
Review: Max Freeman was a lackluster cop in Philadelphia when he shot and killed a 12-year old boy who was committing an armed robbery. Unable to get over causing the death of one so young, Freeman retired from the force and moved south to Florida, taking up residence in an abandoned shack on the edge of the Everglades. Max is trying to lose the demons that plague him and regain some semblance of a healthy psyche, but that hope is shattered when he discovers the body of a young girl wrapped in cloth and dumped in his river. Debut author Jonathon King is a veteran journalist, having written for newspapers in both Philadelphia and Florida, so he definitely knows the territory. As is common in the books of fellow Florida writer and newspaperman Carl Hiaasen, the lush, varied environment of the state is a prominent fixture in "The Blue Edge of Midnight," as is the danger that lies in the destruction of that environment. "The Blue Edge of Midnight" is the best debut mystery of 2002 so far...
Rating:
Summary: Evocative but disappointing
Review: Max Freeman's life as a Philadelphia cop was over: he shot a kid in the line of duty and his wife stopped loving him. So he moved to a recluse's shack deep in the Florida Everglades, with no running water or electricity, accessible only by canoe. But when he discovers the fourth child victim of a serial murderer in the river he is plunged unhappily back into the world of police investigation, this time as a suspect as well as a former cop. King evokes well the deep mystery of the Everglades. The book has a somber tone to match the dark setting. However, the characters are flat. I didn't understand Max's unending despondency and frankly, couldn't make myself care much about him. His friend Billy was just a bit too smart for reality and the love interest seemed forced. I think future Max Freeman books can build on this base to develop interesting characters and story lines. This book falls a little short.
Rating:
Summary: Death in the Glades
Review: Max Freeman, damaged cop, flees Philadelphia for the tranquility and solitude of the Everglades. His pursuit of privacy is short-lived as his discovery of a child's body draws him in as an investigator, crime victim, and sometime subject into the pursuit of a cunning serial killer working on the marge of civilization and Everglades. In a much darker sense this impressive first novel is reminiscent of Carl Hiaasen's early classic Tourist Season, and like it pits development against nature with the bad guys on the side of nature. Even as the frantic chase to catch the shadowy foe quickens, Freeman's own grim past returns to haunt him and confuse the investigators. It is not hard to see why Jonathan Kind won an Edgar for this novel. If the others in the series are as good, he should have a pair of Raven bookends in no time.
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