A Visible Darkness

From Publishers Weekly King's first book about former Philadelphia cop Max Freeman turned loose in the Florida Everglades (The Blue Edge of Midnight) boasted several strengths-a protagonist who shimmered with life in spite of a cliched backstory (he was wounded in a shootout at a robbery scene, where one of his shots killed a 12-year-old boy), a riveting supporting cast of local weirdos and a fully credible subplot about an urban man learning to love the hardships of the natural world. A few traces of those strengths survive in King's second book about Freeman, but not enough to give the series the feeling of inevitable success it originally enjoyed. For one thing, Freeman has little opportunity to commune with nature this time around. He spends much of his days and nights driving his pickup truck down the seedier streets of West Palm Beach in search of whoever is knocking off a bunch of very old African-American ladies who sold off their insurance policies early. The Florida hermits and con men of the first book have been supplanted by a rather ordinary crew of street thugs and drug dealers. But if the lackluster setting and cast disappoint King's fans, it's only because the standard set by his first book was so high-there's still plenty here to reward the reader: the rapid-fire, gritty dialogue and the charms of our hard-living, earthy hero. Freeman's lawyer chum, Billy Manchester, a genius who stutters in public, reprises his fascinating role, and a new love interest, a sad-eyed lady cop, adds a pleasing twist. Though not as inspired as its precursor, this still is satisfying fare. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Starred Review King, a longtime police and criminal courts reporter in South Florida, proves that the success of his first detective novel, The Blue Edge of Midnight [BKL F 1 02], was no fluke. This one stars the same ex-Philly cop with the shattered psyche dragged into doing some sleuthing; features the same evocative detective digs, a one-room stilt shack hidden in the middle of the Everglades; and is shot through with the same burgeoning suspense and rich, brooding atmosphere. There is one important difference, though. This time detective hero Max Freeman, traumatized from the memory of a shooting that left a 12-year-old dead, takes a few steps toward recovery, moving slowly toward the light and away from what he calls the ''dead zone time,'' when it seems the dark silence will never lift. It begins with a call from Freeman's oldest friend, an ex-cop who needs help investigating the murders of five elderly women in the Fort Lauderdale area. Freeman uncovers an elaborate insurance scam and a serial killer as the plot moves toward a chilling climax. King sets up a powerful parallel between the primordial feel of the Everglades and the mean streets of South Florida, with civilization seeming much more cutthroat. King seems well on his way to creating a knockout series. Connie Fletcher Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Tormented by the demons of his past, ex-cop Max Freeman rarely ventures beyond his secluded shack deep in the Florida Everglades. But he can't ignore the recent string of suspicious deaths of elderly, poor women that the police have been unable, or unwilling, to investigate. When his best friend urges him to get involved and act like the cop he's trying to forget he was, Max must confront the dangers of the city streets-and the unexpected shadows of his own past. Haunted by memories of his career as a police officer, Max Freeman isolates himself in the Everglades before learning about a series of murders involving low-income elderly women with sizable insurance policies