The Blue Edge of Midnight (Max Freeman Novels)
Penzler Pick,March  2002:This is the first entry in what I hope will be a series by  journalist Jonathon King, who has written for thePhiladelphia Daily Newsand theSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel. The story features Max Freeman, who  was a cop in Philadelphia until he shot and killed a 12-year-old boy who was  helping to rob a convenience store. Max was shot in the neck himself and now he  keeps away from most people, living in a cabin in the backwaters of South  Florida.While canoeing on the river near his home, Max spies a bundle floating near the  shore which turns out to be a dead child wrapped in a sheet. Max's first  reaction is that the nightmare he thought he left behind has caught up with him.  Pulling the bundle into his canoe, Max paddles downstream to the ranger station  where he is met by the head ranger together with three detectives--almost as if  they were waiting for him.Billy Manchester, a lawyer and friend to Max, tells him that the body of the  girl he found is the third in a series of abductions that is terrifying South  Florida communities. Because of his training as a cop, Max wants to help out  with the investigation, but his offer of help is rebuffed by local law  enforcement. He discovers that the killer is leaving global positioning system  addresses with the bodies, which is why there was a team of detectives at the  ranger station--they were on their way up-river to where they knew a body would  be when Max brought it in.Max himself is now a suspect and, when he returns to his cabin to discover that  a GPS unit has been planted, he knows he is going to get involved anyway. If he  doesn't find the murderer, the police are going to charge him. His search takes  him deep into the Everglades, off the beaten track into communities closed to  outsiders and hostile to questions.King gives a vivid portrayal of a Florida still not exploited by developers and  also treats us to a wonderful cast of characters--Max and Billy especially, but  also to some folks who have hardly been touched by the modern world.--Otto  Penzler--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.