Each day leading up to the April 16 announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards, and in collaboration with community editors from the award-winning Saint Paul Almanac, we highlight one of the thirty-two finalists. Today we feature 2016 Genre Fiction finalist:
Season of Fear by Brian Freeman
Publisher: Quercus
Category Sponsor: Macalester College
Summary:
While the shelves at our local libraries and bookstores are packed with the works of Brian Freeman, this is just his second Cab Bolton novel, once again out to solve (hopefully) a mystery marked with the fashion of passion and a crime of crushed charismatic charm.
Attractive and popular politician Diane Fairmont is running for the Florida governorship, but a chill is cast over the campaign when she receives an anonymous note announcing the return of the assassin who killed her husband ten years earlier. Because of complicated ties between Fairmont and his mother, Detective Bolton is assigned to the case. As Bolton struggles to penetrate the veil of secrecy surrounding the Fairmont campaign, he begins to realize that the death threat is not the only danger faced by the campaign staff. A desperate race against the clock ensues as Bolton tries to unlock the secrets of a poisonous conspiracy before nature provides the perfect cover for a long-dormant killer to strike again.
Author Bio:
Brian Freeman
is an internationally known author of psychological thrillers. His debut thriller, Immoral, won the Macavity Award and was a nominee for the Edgar®, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards for best first novel. His seventh novel Spilled Blood won the award for Best Hardcover Novel in the annual Thriller Awards presented by the International Thriller Writers organization, and his fifth novel The Burying Place was a finalist for the same award. His sixth novel The Bone House was a finalist for Best Audiobook of the Year in Thriller/Suspense. His books have been sold in 46 countries and 20 languages and have appeared as Main Selections in the Literary Guild and the Book of the Month Club. Freeman was born in Chicago in 1963 and lived in the Bay Area of California for several years before going to college in Minnesota and settling there with his wife, Marcia. Prior to breaking through in the writing world, he was a respected communication strategist and business writer in the Twin Cities and served as director of marketing and public relations for an international law firm.
Freeman offers suggestions for book club discussions on his website (Spoiler Alert)
Brian Freeman is on Facebook and Twitter
An Excerpt from Season of Fear:
“Cab Bolton watched from the second-floor balcony as Diane Fairmont put on her political face for the television interviewer. She looked at ease in the spotlight. Natural. Warm. Comfortable in her own skin. She sat in the ornate hari near the fringe of the pond in her Tampa mansion’s hilly gardens. Huge lily pads floated on the green water. A white swan lazily floated behind her and stirred ripples on the surface. Makeup people hovered around Diane like flies, making sure her skin didn’t sweat, making sure she had the right flush for the camera…
“…Cab was surprised at how easily Diane had adopted a public image, because the woman he knew from his past had been a lonely introvert, hiding her emotional wounds. He wondered if her new persona was an act, but he was willing to believe that people didn’t always stay the same as they aged.”
Reviews:
“International Thriller Writers award-winner and bestselling author Brian Freeman has established himself as a master of psychological thrillers. In his latest, Season of Fear, Freeman returns to the sun-drenched beaches of Naples, Florida, and the idiosyncratic world of Detective Cab Bolton.–”freshfiction.com
“I’m thrilled to have Cab back between the covers of a book, but he’s not the only one driving this story. Many of the plot’s revelations are in the hands of another character, Peach Piper, a twenty-something opposition researcher. Peach is not comfortable in her own skin. ‘Desperately shy,’ she ‘like[s] watching people, studying them … listening to them.’ She lurks in the shadows recording conversations to help the Common Way party and Diane’s political campaign. Peach is as intriguing as the girl with the dragon tattoo, but with less rage, fewer piercings and no lovers (she’s celibate).”—Carole E. Barrowman, Star Tribune
“Season of Fear has it all…It also contains what is the best epilogue I’ve read in years. Or maybe ever. It gave me enough gooseflesh on my back to last until Thanksgiving. Throw in a compelling and truly puzzling mystery…and you have an ambitious, complex and eminently readable novel that will keep you reading all night long.”—Bookreporter
Check this out: “Brian Freeman’s Detective Still Chasing Murderers in Duluth” from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press’ Mary Ann Grossmann
“Timely themes, great pacing and snappy dialogue—not to mention an impending hurricane—make this a satisfying thriller.”—Minnesota Book Awards Preliminary Round Judge
“Freeman expertly juggles multiple plot-lines that weave and intersect as he follows the mystery of a ten-year-old political assassination and the recent death of a campaign worker. He makes the Florida setting come alive, and his characters are funny, flawed and fully-realized.”—Minnesota Book Awards Preliminary Round Judge
Watch:
SELCO librarian Amy Nelson reviews Season of Fear.
The evening features a Preface Reception with complimentary passed wine and cash bar, author meet-and-greet, book sales and signing; the Awards Ceremony with live music, celebrity presenters, artisan cheese plates and breads, complimentary wine and lemonade, with emcee Stephanie Curtis of MPR; and the Epilogue After-Party with complimentary champagne, sumptuous desserts, and additional live music. Tickets now on sale, or click here for more information.
Today’s winner: Pam Greiner. (We’ll be in touch via email, and arrange getting the book to you!)
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