The Cold Nowhere

The Cold Nowhere
Brian Freeman
Quercus
New York, New York
ISBN: 978-1-62365-131-2
Hardcover
April 2014
$ 24.95
432 pages

Have you ever been drawn to a particular person?   Have you wondered why someone gets and holds your attention but you don't completely understand why? That is the problem Detective Jonathan Stride has with Catalina Mateo, a sixteen-year-old runaway who happens to be pregnant.  However, there is a history between these two.
About ten years ago, Detective Stride met Catalina's mother, Michaela.   The two had a special relationship.  Both were married but not to each other.
The nightmare for Cat began the night when her mother was brutally stabbed to death by her father who then shot himself.   She was only six-years-old and fortunately was not in the house when the murder happened but hid under the porch, hearing the entire nightmare. How does anyone stop this from haunting them?
Orphaned, Cat lived with her aunt who worked as a prostitute to pay for her personal drug usage and then went into the foster care system.  This was not much bettered and Cat became a runaway.  She wants a better life so she is selective about men, but also turns to prostitution in order to live.   What chance does Cat have of ever having a normal life?
Catalina appears at Detective Stride's home one night, soaking wet and terrified, believing that someone is chasing her, wanting to kill her.   Stride wants to believe her but his partner, Maggie, is very suspicious.
The Cold Nowhere is a riveting tale where you feel that you are discovering the details along side of Detective Stride.  However, you don't know about his past relationship with Michaela or Cat that is unveiled by Maggie and his former wife. It seems that the more that is found out, the more dangerous the situations become with people dying around them.
The story is well-organized and intense with well-developed characters. This psychological thriller keeps the reader engaged past the last page.
Author Brian Freeman has written many novels featuring Detective Jonathan Stride and Serena Dials winning a Macavity Award for his Best First Novel, Immoral and nominated for the Edgar Award.
The Cold Nowhere is a masterful tale written by a phenomenal storyteller.