Immoral

By: Brian Freeman

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

In a riveting debut thriller that has drawn comparisons to masters of the genre like Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly, Brian Freeman weaves obsession, sex, and revenge into a story that grips the reader with vivid characters and shocking plot twists from the first minute to the last.

Lieutenant Jonathan Stride is suffering from an ugly case of deja vu. For the second time in a year, a beautiful teenage girl has disappeared off the streets of Duluth, Minnesota, gone without a trace, like a bitter gust off Lake Superior. The two victims couldn't be more different. First it was Kerry McGrath, bubbly, sweet 16. And now Rachel Deese, strange, sexually charged, a wild child. The media hounds Stride to catch a serial killer, and as the search carries him from the icy stillness of the northern woods to the erotic heat of Las Vegas, he must decide which facts are real and which are illusions. And Stride finds his own life changed forever by the secrets he uncovers. Secrets that stretch across time in a web of lies, death, and illicit desire. Secrets that are chillingly immoral.

©2005 Brian Freeman (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Who is Brian Freeman? This guy can tell a story. Immoral is a page-turner of the highest caliber. It has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end." (Michael Connelly)

Intrigue in Minnesota.

This is the first book in the Minnesota Detective Jonathan Stride series. Rachael, a teenage age girl, has gone missing, and all the circumstantial evidence seems to point to murder. Though another teen girl went missing a year earlier, Stride and his partner, Maggie Bei, don't see any connection between the two girls disappearances. Unfortunately, Rachael seems to be a sexual tease, with no compassion for anyone. There is no body, but Stride and Maggie have found enough evidence of a murder to go to trial. Once in court, things begin to fall apart. More information about Rachael's background adds suggestions of greater intrigue to come.

I really enjoyed the developing turns and twists with this book, though the unnecessary overly explicit sex scenes were overdone for me, and really detracted from the building suspense. I'll definitely be giving this series another try, hoping it will be kept within the mystery genre, without spilling over into too much into erotica.

Quite good

I can see why the reviewers were impressed with this debut novel. The characters are quite good. The depiction of the small town seems very real. And the plot is full of intricate twists and surprises that somehow make sense. The ending, I thought, was the best part. I am usually able to figure out the mystery ahead of time. In this case, I "saw it" almost at the same time as our protagonist, detective Stride. I disagree with the reviewer who said we did not have the evidence -- we did! Mr. Freeman was simply great at disguising it so you didn't even look in those particular corners.

Excellently done.

Sometimes Less is More

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, I enjoyed the story. It was a good mystery that was well paced, driving the story to its conclusion.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I thought the ending could have been a lot better. There's no need to make all of the major events be tied directly to the main character.

Which character – as performed by Joe Barrett – was your favorite?

He did the male characters well. His female voices were very weirdly done.

Any additional comments?

There were a lot of graphic sex scenes that were unnecessary to move the story along and honestly, they were clumsy. He would bounce between proper names for body parts followed by some pretty base slang. It was the kind of sex a 16 year old boy might write and there were far too many of them. More than anything else, this reduced my enjoyment of the story because implied sex would have served the story just as well and we wouldn't have been forced to listen to the narrator struggle through poorly written sex scenes.

Superb

Immoral is a superb mystery that readers will certainly enjoy. Its elements of a fast pace, myriad twists and unforeseen turns, great character development, and suspense make it hard to stop listening. This book had me gripped to the point that I lost sleep because I had to get to the end. This is a story you will want to tell your friends about. Brian Freeman is an excellent author and I look forward to his next book.

OUTSTANDING

Immoral is an outstanding mystery filled with rich character development and relationship dynamics. The plot never lets the reader down & one's interest is held through the last page. Brian Freeman is an excellent author & I eagerly await his next novel.

Immoral Is An Apt Title

This is an okay book, but it gets lost in the side plots a couple of times and even decides to introduce a new set of characters and locations more than halfway through the book, which I seldom find to be a good sign. You can find prime examples of at least six of the seven deadly sins here, missing only gluttony. We have people committing murder, kidnapping, rape, adultery in several forms including with their "minister", their stepdaughter, and their coworkers. There is a woman that pulls the getting pregnant trick twice to force men to marry and take care of her. Lust, envy, wrath, and pride run rampant. Lots of misdirection and lapses in logic to annoy those that like their books to make some sort of imperical sense mean slight deductions to the overall score.

This is an okay story and the good reader make this worth purchasing. Do NOT listen to it on the car radio with young listeners or unrelated members of the opposite sex in the car. There are some rather graphic scenes of a sexual nature that would embarrass those with a semi developed sense of morality.

Pleasant listen

A fair detective story with a passably ingenious plot line. You can fast forward through the emotional and sex scenes - they are predictable and dull. The characterization of the hero, "Stride", is extremely well done; the defense attorney's characterization is, however, a poor caricature. Overall this title is a pleasant listen - a good "beach" book. I rate it a 3.7 overall.

Glad I got it........

I read some of the earlier reviews and shyed away from this one until I ran out of Brian freeman books - So I went backwards to this one and was very glad I did. It was a little graphic & disturbing at times - But I am an adult, so I enjoyed it for what it was. If I wanted G rated - I'd grab one of my kid's books. I love barrett as a narrator and Freeman is always so close to perfect with his books. There is always one or two parts that I shake my head at - But overall - He's pretty darn good. I actually think this book might be one of his best.

J

Outstanding Debut Novel

I purchased this book on sale and I am so glad i found this new author. It is always a hoot to find a first time effort to be this good and one looks forward to further efforts from Mr. Freeman's pen.

The story has been detailed by others and all I will say about it is that I defy you to figure it out before the author finally reveals all of the twists and turns that he has woven into the fabric of his text. Jonathan Stride is likely to be around for a while and I suspect that Serena Dial will be also. Freeman does not create subtle characters. They live hard, love hard and many of them die hard.

It was also hard to put this book down because it moves along at a steady pace and there are no easy resting points. A most promising debut!

Joe Barrett was excellent with the delivery of the story

"Born Bad"

I'm really glad Brian Freeman's first read made a good impression on me, as now I'm sure I'll read them all. He's a good writer, never repetitive and writes good dialogue. He draws his characters well; some you'll like and others you won't. Perhaps in this book most of them I didn't. There was a good deal of suspense right from the very first page of the prologue where I was hooked immediately. The story then developed in an interesting way and then the twists and turns started in the second half and I was left upside down not knowing what would come next. I cannot help thinking, though, it would have even been better with a really good narrator. Having said than, Joe Barrett is OK, but, in my opinion only rates 3 stars. Apart from that, this is a very well woven book full of surprises right to the end; A thoroughly enjoying listening read and highly recommended.

A Promising Debut

An enjoyable debut novel with enough twists to keep the pace going nicely. Can't say too much without giving away the plot, but I'm not sure it's completely credible at the end. However, it zips along and, as it says in the blurb, if you like Michael Conelly, you'll probably not be disappointed if you download this one.

A simply wonderful listen

This was a real 'find' in Audible and if Brian Freeman can keep up this standard of thriller, Michael Connelly certainly has a rival as my favourite. I should also like to say I enjoyed the reader whom I had not heard before; some can really spoil a very good story but this reader was spot on.

Thank goodness this was a freebi

Absolute rubbish. I made it to chapter 2 and that was it! Awful narration, storyline and I don’t know what else to say..

Another one ruined by the narration

Really strange narrator who makes all characters sound dumb and all women and children all sound like Marge Simpson or too breathy. Cringy stuff

sex scene on the porch

This book started well but in chapter ten there is the most clumsily written sex scene I have ever read! at one point , I actually said "Yuk" What was this writer thinking? Surely he could see it just wasn't erotic?

Enjoyable crime novel!

This book was my first Brain Freeman listen and I will be looking for more. The plot was interesting and some of the turns were quite unexpected. It moved along at a pace which kept me listening and engaged with the characters. The narration was unobtrusive and suitable for this book. Highly recommend to anyone who likes a good crime novel.

Unabridged!

It didn't feel unabridged, or am I unaware of what it means? Some of the 'gaps' made me feel like I had slept and missed lots of good bits.
Probably me but I think I needed the clues/investigation/procedural explanations especially when it was chapter 5 in the chapter lineup but suddenly chapter 20 in the narrative. Sorry but I was definitely put off by this

Gripping

Full of twists & turns, keeps you guessing. I thought the narration was very good. I recommend

wow

what a story full of twists and turns keeps you guessing till end fully recommend

Excellent

Narration is great
Enjoyable story line
Can't wait to listen to the Ned book
Thanks