A Killing Night
Jonathon King

304 Pages

From Publishers Weekly

In his fourth outing (after 2004's Shadow Men), King's pensive hero, Florida PI Max Freeman, spends more time tooling around Fort Lauderdale and his native Philadelphia than in his beloved Everglades. Max is protecting a dozen immigrant cruise ship employees, who were injured in a boiler explosion, while his pal, attorney Billy Manchester, tries to exact additional compensation for them from the ship's owners. Then Fort Lauderdale police detective Sherry Richards, a former lover and colleague, asks Max's help in tracking down Philadelphia ex-cop Colin O'Shea, whom Sherry suspects killed three pretty female bartenders. Max takes on the job, though he doubts O'Shea, with whom he once worked, is the guilty party. King skillfully alternates between the search for the murderer on the one hand and Max's attempts to guard the ship employees on the other. Max returns to Philadelphia, where he learns more about O'Shea and allays some of his personal demons. Though King's basic plots aren't particularly original, his smooth pacing, which creates tension, vivid place descriptions (for instance, a haunting search through a swamp) and insight into human behavior make this series a welcome addition to the Florida PI subgenre.
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From AudioFile

Florida PI and former Philadelphia cop Max Freeman is depicted with intensity and strength by David Colacci. Subtle when necessary, Colacci easily portrays the policemen and women, bartenders, and lawyers involved in King's haunting plot. Freeman's search for the killer of several young women in South Florida turns into a mission to clear Colin O'Shea, one of his former cop buddies, who is the number one suspect. Colacci paces the investigative details flawlessly, underscores the cunning of the killer, and highlights the atmospheric appeal of Fort Lauderdale. The charisma of Freeman's character, the multilayering of King's plot, and the versatile reading style of Colacci make for a winning combination. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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