I always like to give readers a little back-story with each new novel -- and GOODBYE TO THE DEAD is particularly important to me. I've been in the busI always like to give readers a little back-story with each new novel -- and GOODBYE TO THE DEAD is particularly important to me. I've been in the business for ten years now, and I envisioned GOODBYE TO THE DEAD as a ten-year anniversary novel for me (and for Jonathan Stride).
When we first met Stride all the way back in my first book IMMORAL, he was dealing with the loss of his wife, Cindy, to cancer. That loss has cast a long shadow over the entire series. Stride and his new partner, Serena, have lived with a ghost between them, and Serena in particular is haunted by the belief that Stride is still in love with his late wife and can't really let go. But the truth is more complicated than that.
I wanted to give readers a chance to "meet" Cindy for the first time in this new book. So GOODBYE TO THE DEAD has a unique structure among my novels. The first half of the book takes places in the past, when Cindy is alive, and Stride and Cindy are at odds over a murder investigation involving one of Cindy's closest friends. The second half takes places in the present, and the mystery ripples through all the years in between. It's a great way to get to know these characters.
Readers know that I like to write emotional thrillers, and GOODBYE TO THE DEAD is driven by the drama of Stride, Cindy, and Serena, as much as it is by all the twists and turns of the plot. It was an interesting creative challenge for me to bring Cindy to life in this book, because she's been something of a myth for me, just as she has been for readers. I wanted readers to understand who she really was -- the good and the bad -- and to understand what Stride and Cindy's relationship was really like.
I'm always thrilled when reviewers embrace a book, and that's been particularly true of GOODBYE TO THE DEAD. But what means the most to me are the words of readers who write to me. I know that the more books I write -- and this is my twelfth novel! -- the more readers will have their personal favorites, because certain stories and characters resonate with their personal experiences. But as a writer, I want a reader to pick up each new book and say, "This is the best one yet." I can't tell you how many e-mails I've received this month from readers saying exactly that: GOODBYE TO THE DEAD is their favorite among all my books.
So for those of you who haven't experienced it yet -- happy reading! And I hope you will all enjoy it and tell your reader friends about my books.
I promised readers a big surprise this summer, and here it is: I have an all-new novel available now!
WEST 57 is a very different kind of book from my I promised readers a big surprise this summer, and here it is: I have an all-new novel available now!
WEST 57 is a very different kind of book from my thrillers...it's funny, sexy, romantic, and (I think) irresistible. I want it to make you laugh and cry about love, friendships, and the big choices in life. I hope you'll give it a try (and tell your Goodreads friends about it, too).
How did WEST 57 come about?
A few years ago, I released a book called THE AGENCY under the pseudonym "Ally O'Brien." It was a project I worked on with my London agent, Ali Gunn. PEOPLE Magazine called the book "entertaining...witty...a delight." Romantic Times called it "one fantastic novel." The Chicago Tribune called it "perfectly irresistible."
Since then, readers have been asking me when I would release a new book in the same style. And I know it's taken me a long time to deliver. Unfortunately, my dear agent Ali passed away almost two years ago. After her passing, I had to decide whether I really WANTED to do another book along these lines. But I love the style and the genre -- and I had a story and characters that I thought readers would choose to bring into their lives.
WEST 57 is very different from THE AGENCY, because it's all mine. It's sweeter, more emotional and tender. It's one of my own personal favorites among my books. As odd as it sounds, this book is probably closer to "who I am" than my thrillers!
So please take a leap...and read WEST 57. When you do, connect with me here, and let me know how you like it. Happy reading! ...more
Here's some background you may enjoy on my latest thriller SEASON OF FEAR. For more information (including an SEASON OF FEAR: The Return of Cab Bolton
Here's some background you may enjoy on my latest thriller SEASON OF FEAR. For more information (including an excerpt), you can visit my web page: http://www.bfreemanbooks.com/season-o...
Readers first met Cab Bolton in my sixth novel THE BONE HOUSE — which was also my first novel not to feature Duluth police lieutenant Jonathan Stride. I originally envisioned THE BONE HOUSE as a stand-alone, but readers soon demanded to see more of this quirky Florida detective.
Well, after the pure stand-alone SPILLED BLOOD (which won the 2013 Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel) and the new Jonathan Stride novel THE COLD NOWHERE, Cab Bolton is finally back in an all-new thriller SEASON OF FEAR.
So how does Cab Bolton differ from the intense, introspective Jonathan Stride?
Cab isn’t your typical cop. For one thing, he doesn’t look much like a cop. Imagine a young Peter O’Toole (or maybe Neil Patrick Harris?)…absolutely amazing blue eyes, spiky blonde hair, skin so perfect you want to know what moisturizer he uses. He’s crazy-tall and wouldn’t be caught dead in anything but an expensive suit. He’s got money, thanks to his Hollywood mother, so he’s a cop not because he HAS to be but because he WANTS to be. He enjoys the game. The challenge. He’s clever, and he’s good at it.
However, Cab may as well wear a sign that says: Does not play well with others. He hates authority. He doesn’t like rules. He’s still figuring out what he wants to do with his life. And for most of his 35 years, he’s been playing a game of hopscotch, jumping from place to place. Other cops call him Catch-a-Cab Bolton, because he always has one foot out of town.
He loves women (okay, he has that in common with Stride), but he doesn’t trust them. He’s been betrayed by women before, and he grew up with a mother who didn’t know the meaning of commitment herself. So his relationship with his girlfriend Lala is on-again, off-again. There are fireworks in bed and fireworks when they argue. Don’t make bets on a long-term affair for them.
His other relationship — with his actress mother Tarla — is just as problematic. He lived on the other side of the world from her for years, but now she’s back in his life and trying to control it. Tarla made Cab who he is, and he’s not entirely sure he likes that. She also keeps secrets from him — like not telling him who his father was or why he has the odd name Cab. So when people ask, he just makes up stories.
One thing about Cab…he’s genuinely charming. Handsome. Funny. Sharp. He banters with friends and enemies alike. He’s secure about who he is and who he’s not. He takes life seriously and himself not at all. Which makes him impossible not to like.
SEASON OF FEAR also takes me to a new setting in hot, humid central Florida. Most of my earlier books (except the Vegas-based STRIPPED) have taken place in the American Midwest, with its dirt roads, bitter winters, and dark forests. I love the drama of those settings, and I like to give readers a “you are there” feel, where they are dropped into the middle of every scene and can taste, touch, feel, and smell it happening all around them.
However, Florida weather is typically so darn nice that writers just seem to have fun with it. Many of the great Florida writers are satirists (think Hiaasen) who deliciously profile the offbeat, Jimmy Buffett-meets-Lindsay Lohan attitude of Miami and the Keys. Me, I wanted to see if I could export my love of dark settings to a place called the Sunshine State. Needless to say, some really bad weather is headed for the coast.
Cab is a Florida detective, but will he stay that way? Don’t count on it. You can’t separate Jonathan Stride from his hometown of Duluth, but Cab doesn’t have the same roots. He doesn’t have a hometown at all, and chances are, he’ll show up in other settings going forward.
Some readers are already asking: Will Jonathan Stride ever meet Cab Bolton? Will they — like Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller — turn out to have some secret family connection that bridges my two series?
No, I don’t think so.
Cab and Stride are opposites of each other in many ways. Stride is the emotional hero — driven by his relationships, passionate (sometimes too passionate) about the victims he’s trying to help. Cab isn’t comfortable with emotions. He doesn’t like to go there, because usually, he doesn’t like what he sees. And if Stride always seems tangled in a web of women, Cab is a loner at heart. I think Cab and Stride would be oil and water if I put them together in a book.
Then again, I’ve learned to never say never. ...more
I'll talk more about THE COLD NOWHERE soon in my blog...but right now, I can't think of a better write-up about the book than this one at BookreporterI'll talk more about THE COLD NOWHERE soon in my blog...but right now, I can't think of a better write-up about the book than this one at Bookreporter.com:
My new novella TURN TO STONE is half the length of an entire novel. It's the perfect opportunity to meet Jonathan Stride again as he tackles one of hiMy new novella TURN TO STONE is half the length of an entire novel. It's the perfect opportunity to meet Jonathan Stride again as he tackles one of his most shocking cases ever.
Stride stops in a snowy cemetery in the small town of Shawano, Wisconsin, to visit his mother's grave, but he finds himself a witness to a shocking act of violence. Stride is a stranger in town, and the local police don't want him there...but his search for the truth makes him fear that a gruesome crime is about to happen.
I've been to Shawano many times on the way to Door County (where my sixth book THE BONE HOUSE is set), and I did an event at the local library last spring. At the time, one of my Wisconsin readers suggested I visit an old ruined Novitiate building outside the town.
I did -- and I loved the ruined setting of the building on the shores of the Wolf River. It looked like a perfect place for the kind of dark things you find in my books. When I talked with my publisher over the summer about doing a special Stride novella ahead of the release of THE COLD NOWHERE, I immediately thought about Shawano and that scary old ruined estate. So that's how TURN TO STONE started.
TURN TO STONE works hand in hand with THE COLD NOWHERE. When you read Chapter 1 of the new novel, you'll find Stride getting back to his Duluth cottage around 2:00 am one night. I always wondered why he was getting back so late. Now, in TURN TO STONE, you'll find out exactly what terrible crime was keeping Stride away from home.
My 16,000-word Jonathan Stride short story “Spitting Devil” is now available in the U.S. Kindle store!
This story actually began in Spain. My Spanish pMy 16,000-word Jonathan Stride short story “Spitting Devil” is now available in the U.S. Kindle store!
This story actually began in Spain. My Spanish publisher Circulo de Lectores was preparing a crime anthology, and they asked me to submit a short story to the collection. The theme of the anthology was “the perfect crime,” and I decided to take an unusual twist on that idea. In this case, what’s been stolen is someone’s perfect life.
Alison Malville seemingly has it all. Happy marriage. Beautiful child. A lovely, expensive new house in Duluth. And yet Alison is being haunted by nightmares. Ants keep creeping into her dreams, invading her body, working their way inside her clothes.
“She dreamed of the ants almost every night now. When she closed her eyes, there they were, waiting to slip out through the walls. They had even begun to march from her sleep into her waking life. She couldn’t escape them. Wherever she went in the house, she heard them massing in the ceiling, watching her like spies.
Alison understood what was happening to her. It wasn’t about the ants at all. It was about her husband. He was driving her into madness.”
Alison is the heroine of “Spitting Devil” — but this is also a Jonathan Stride story. At the time I wrote it, I had been away from Stride for a year. I’d finished THE BURYING PLACE and was in the middle of my first Cab Bolton novel, THE BONE HOUSE. But this story gave me a chance to catch up on Stride’s life. So as Alison deals with the ants, Stride is dealing with a malevolent killer whom the media has nicknamed “Dead Red.”
“Spitting Devil” is a short story — it’s about 15% of the length of a full novel — but I think it brings a lot of depth to the format. One of my favorite comments came from a reader who wrote: ““Spitting Devil” is one of the best thriller short stories I have ever read. So scary and suspenseful. Couldn't believe how well you developed those characters in such a short story.”
When the story was released in the UK Kindle store, it spent several weeks at #1. And now it’s finally available in the U.S. Kindle store, too. As we get ready for two big “Stride releases” in the weeks ahead — TURN TO STONE on February 18 and THE COLD NOWHERE on April 1— “Spitting Devil” is a great way to whet your appetite for more scary twists and turns.
Want to read “Spitting Devil” in another language? It’s also available in Spanish as LA MUERTE ROJA and Italian as FORMICHE. ...more
"SPILLED BLOOD is everything a great suspense novel should be: gripping, shocking, and moving. Brian Freeman proves once again he's a master of psycho"SPILLED BLOOD is everything a great suspense novel should be: gripping, shocking, and moving. Brian Freeman proves once again he's a master of psychological suspense, as he layers one family's crisis with an entire town's drama, building to an epic crescendo of rage, revenge and redemption." – Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
My fourth novel, IN THE DARK, is due out on March 31, 2009. It may be my personal favorite among my books -- very emotionally intense along with its sMy fourth novel, IN THE DARK, is due out on March 31, 2009. It may be my personal favorite among my books -- very emotionally intense along with its shocking twists. Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or Facebook page....more
This is the Portugese edition of my first book, IMMORAL. My second book is also available in Portugese under the title CIDADE INQUIETA. Write to me atThis is the Portugese edition of my first book, IMMORAL. My second book is also available in Portugese under the title CIDADE INQUIETA. Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or Facebook page....more
This is the UK edition of my fourth novel (called IN THE DARK in the U.S.). Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbThis is the UK edition of my fourth novel (called IN THE DARK in the U.S.). Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or Facebook page....more
The Chicago Tribune called STALKED "a perfect blend of psychological suspense and crime fiction." Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my wThe Chicago Tribune called STALKED "a perfect blend of psychological suspense and crime fiction." Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or Facebook page....more
My second novel, STRIPPED, was named one of the top 10 mysteries of 2006 by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and was a Main Selection in the Literary GuMy second novel, STRIPPED, was named one of the top 10 mysteries of 2006 by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and was a Main Selection in the Literary Guild. Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or Facebook page....more
This was my debut novel in 2004. It was selected as International Book of the Month and sold in 17 languages. The book won the Macavity Award and was This was my debut novel in 2004. It was selected as International Book of the Month and sold in 17 languages. The book won the Macavity Award and was a finalist for the Edgar, Dagger, Barry, and Anthony Awards for best first novel. Write to me at brian@bfreemanbooks.com or visit my web site (www.bfreemanbooks.com) or Facebook page....more
Loading...
