In 2018, when I started reading Brian Freeman’s Alter Ego, (#9 In the Jonathan Stride series), I kept thinking “wait, I KNOW this Jonathan Stride, a cop from Duluth, I recognize his house…” But then I thought maybe I was getting him mixed up with a character in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport/Virgil Flowers series – or maybe it was in one of Owen Laukkanen’s Kirk Stevens/Carla Windermere series – holy crap, how many mystery/thrillers are set in Minnesota, right? Apparently, quite a few! It turned out to be a 5-star read for me. Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley, I received a copy of The Zero Night, #11 In the Stride series, in exchange for this honest review. Since 2020’s Funeral For A Friend (#10 in the series) was only 4-stars, I jumped in, hoping for another ***** read.
Freeman is an absolute master at creating setting (I admit I keep feeling cold reading about Duluth in the winter). As this story opens, Stride is recovering from a gunshot wound After nearly dying of a gunshot wound, Jonathan Stride gets a call from his partner, Maggie Bei, calling with information about a suspicious abduction involving a local lawyer. Maggie tells Stride it’s time for him to come back to work.
Attorney Gavin Webster says he paid $100,000 in ransom to the men who kidnapped his wife. Now they’re gone and so is the cash, and his wife is still missing. Despite Gavin’s claims to be desperate to find her, Stride finds that there is plenty of motive for Gavin to have arranged the kidnapping himself.
Meanwhile, Stride’s wife, Serena, is having personal struggles and she loses control at a crime scene, drawing her gun on a fellow cop. As a result, she is booted off the kidnapping case and assigned to desk duty. She starts looking at a cold case that becomes an obsession.The strain on both Jonathan and Serena makes for a big challenge to their relationship, and it’s all combined to make a great read. Four stars…and while this one wasn’t a solid 5-stars for me, that is possibly more due to my summer malaise rather than a lack on Freeman’s part. I’m still a fan, and recommend him frequently.