As usual, another intense thriller from Freeman. This is the fifth book in the Jonathan Stride series and they just keep getting better. In this one, a baby vanishes from her bedroom in the house of a well-to-do doctor and his wife. Was the baby kidnapped or did something more nefarious happen? The father of the baby seems to be a very unloving parent and did he actually wish the baby was never born? If so, could he have had something to do with the disappearance? At the same time the baby vanished, a young policewoman named Kasey is lost in the fog of Northern Minnesota and happens upon a horrific crime where a woman is being chased by a man in a black ski mask. The man has already abducted three other women and is a sadistic serial killer. Kasey tries to rescue the woman but is too late to save her. The killer escapes but he is drawn to Kasey for some reason and lures her into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Stride and his girlfriend, Serena, are on the case of the missing baby while Stride's longtime partner, Maggie, is on the case of the serial killer. But are the two cases related?
Another very strong entry in this series from Freeman. Some very intense scenes in this one including a confrontation with the serial killer in an abandoned building. And in this one, the personal relationships between Stride, Serena, and Maggie draw to a head. Will Stride and Serena be able to salvage their relationship? I guess the next novels in the series will tell. Not sure when I will get to them but hopefully sometime in the near future.
Kind of books I like--the story just flows so smoothly with all the characters that it just creeps up on you 'who did it'--I didn't have a clue until almost the end--those are the best kind of stories!