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, a case other officers are reluctant to investigate. 17,500 first printing. *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 Jonathon King is the author of The Blue Edge of Midnight , a Los Angeles Times bestseller. A journalist for over twenty years, he has covered crime and criminal courts and is now a national award-winning news feature writer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel .