Marathon by Brian Freeman is the eighth book in the “Jonathan Stride” mystery series. Publisher: Quercus, May 2017
On a rainy June morning, tens of thousands of people crowd into Duluth for the city’s biggest annual event: the Duluth Marathon. Exhausted runners push to reach the finish line and spectators line the streets to cheer them on. Then, in a terrifying echo of the Boston bombing, there is an explosion along the race course, leaving many people dead and injured.
Within minutes, Jonathan Stride, Serena Dial, and Maggie Bei are at work with the FBI to find the terrorists behind the tragedy. As social media feeds a flood of rumors and misinformation, one spectator remembers being jostled by a young man with a backpack not far from the bomb site. He spots a Muslim man in a tourist’s photo of the event and is convinced that this was the man who bumped into him in the crowd–but now the man’s backpack is missing.
When he tweets the photo to the public, the young man, Khan Rashid, becomes the most wanted man in the city. And the manhunt is on.
But are the answers behind the Duluth bombing more complex than anyone realizes? And can Stride, Serena, and Maggie find the truth before more innocent people are killed?
Brian has done it again. He’s delivered a fast-paced and riveting drama that I could not put down until the last sentence was read. From the beginning the author set the tone and kept the pace in sync with great narrative that was visually descriptive and engaging dialogue that exploded on the page with the action between the varied cast in this dynamic story. One only have to look at current events to tell that this story needed to be told. The author did a great job in the staging of this story and I loved seeing how this case was solved from the various perspective and the pivotal roles that Jonathan, Serena, Maggie and the other supporting cast played in the telling of this story. The further I read, the more the tension pulsated within my heart as the frenzy action of the character came to a pause when it became clear that what was seen was not seen and that “aha” moment took this this story to a higher pitch and I became engrossed in how this was all going to end. This was an excellent read and the best book in this grippingly thrilling series. I can’t wait to see what new adventures awaits Jonathan and his friends.
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