The Burying Place

By: Brian Freeman

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lieutenant Jonathan Stride is quietly recovering from injuries sustained on his latest case when a rich doctor's baby is kidnapped and his peace is shattered. As suspicion builds that the doctor may have staged the baby’s disappearance, the relationship between the doctor and his wife and neighbors begins to disintegrate. Stride and his lover, Serena, a former Las Vegas detective, find themselves on opposite sides of the case, with Stride pursuing evidence that incriminates the doctor and Serena trying to prove that the baby really was abducted.

Meanwhile, Stride’s partner, Maggie, and a headstrong young cop are tracking a man responsible for a violent crime wave in the rural areas of Duluth. There seems to be no connection between the cases—until a victim with ties to the doctor’s case turns up murdered in the signature style of the Duluth killer.

Brian Freeman is an international best-selling author of psychological suspense novels, including Immoral and Stripped.

©2010 Brian Freeman (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“Intriguing….An appropriately creepy atmosphere and well-rounded, flawed characters.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Crisp dialogue, steady suspense, and a cast of original characters drive this fifth entry in Macavity Award–winner Freeman’s excellent series.” ( Booklist)

good book

I have read all of Brian Freeman's book and was glad to get his newest one on Audible. The story is very good with all the twists and turns his previous books are known for.
if you want a good book get this one

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

The title itself is awkward and clumsy. Bad omen.

Brian Freeman delivers a cheesy soap opera hoping to be a thriller. Joe Barrett is often much better than this, but, as several readers say, his female characters here are awful, as if he had a cold. The doctor is such a contrived bad guy that you never ever believe that he will turn out to be the villain. The cops and nurses are thinly drawn, improbable, weird creatures who do things that puzzle a reader who cares about any kind of credulity. The doctor's wife and her sister deliver a classic soap opera between the two of them: you could just see it on afternoon TV. The whole thing is a mess. I hope, for some reason that I don't understand, that Mr. Freeman has something better than this up his authorial sleeve.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Best Listen in a Long Time

Having been frustrated with what is out there(or lack thereof) I decided to give this one a try and was extremely gratified to find a book that kept me guessing and had me listening every chance I got. Plot twists and turns a great deal and keeps you wanting to know more. Definitely would recommend this one.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

REST OF SERIES MISSING, BUT SO WHAT!

There is something mechanical and insincere about this guy's work. He goes way too far off onto meaningless tangents. The plots are cluttered and transparent. He puuts no depth of feeling into his characters as he skips from one to another as he attempts to flush out a thin plot line. Most irritating to me is his use of gratuitous sex to liven (he thinks) things up. I went on to a non-series book, Bone House, where he sinks completely to "Romance Novel" status. If you have so little confidence in your writing skill that you must depend on pedophilia to draw attention to an otherwise weak story, full of patent characters, you are done as a writer and enter the world of sensationalist.
Joe Barrett did his best with this guy's substandard work. Perhaps he should get a new publisher, along with better editorial talent, and redo the manuscripts to a higher level. AS is, mediocre at best. Sorry I went for them, hoping against hope.
When you read as much as I do, you tend to reach a point where the herd is thinned and the good wordsmiths are fewer and farther between.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Thank goodness for Brian Freeman & Joe Barrett

I have been looking for a good thriller/mystery writer for a while now to fill an ever increasing gap in my library, as I've exhausted supplies of my usual good thriller writers. I came upon some good recommendations from other readers in regard to Brian Freeman, so I gave him a go and am more than satisfied with the result. The burying place, a multi-layered thriller piece, has an array or interesting characters and the plots moved along nicely switching from one to the other until they culminate and entwine at the end. Joe Barrett did a good narration, although some of female voices were a bit gringy. Thank you Mr Freeman for supplying me with quite a few books for future satisfying reads.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not Brian Freeman's best!

Author Brian Freeman is one of my favorite authors of modern detective/crime mystery/thrillers. I especially like his Jonathan Stride series of which this in book #5. The Burying Place is a good novel; it is also a disappointing one. In this novel Freeman has too many cases and too many characters going on making it difficult to follow. There is also too much detail of Stride's romantic relationships with Serena and Maggie and the competition of the two ladies for his attention.

8 of 11 people found this review helpful

Nothing was predictable

I enjoyed the investigation, the characters and the plot. The author succeeded in getting me invested in the welfare of the characters and his development of them and was well crafted. I was never sure who or what their motives were until the last few chapters. The misdirection was masterful and the surprise twist were never revealed until the last moment and then you were wondering 'what happened'. As will all of Mr. Freeman's books this one is well worth the time. I recommend this book.
Mr. Barrett did a fine job with the narration. We listen to his voice but he was never obvious or intrusive upon the story. We could get involved in the story and forget that it was being read to us. A superb job.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Horrible

Oh my Lord...the narrator of this book cannot do realistic female voices..horrible! I struggled to get through. I think this could have been a different book if I had read it myself. Too bad because the storyline wasn't too bad.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting plot, narrator could have been better

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

I enjoyed the book, but thought the characters could have been more developed. It piqued my interest enough I looked forward to hearing the next chapter.

Would you recommend The Burying Place to your friends? Why or why not?

No, not really the genre for people I know with Audible

What three words best describe Joe Barrett’s voice?

Did well with men and basic narration. All the women were whiny, and the accents horrible. I cringed whenever he did Migdalia's voice. Would have been way better to just read the words and not try to change the voices. The Minnesota accent was terrible. Just read it!!

Could you see The Burying Place being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Contrived Suspense

Any additional comments?

I didn't realize that this is more of a Horror book than a Mystery. Horror tends to have looser rules for what constitutes suspense. For example, every time the rookie cop got in a scrape, she dropped her gun, her phone, her flashlight, her knife, and virtually everything else she touched.

Then there's the detective who dropped a drinking glass, fell on it, and got cuts all over his body. I don't think you'd get that many cuts if you fell in a cement mixer full of broken glass.

In summary, there's a lot going on in this book, but most of the tension turns on stupidity and clumsiness. It didn't work for me.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful