Jonathan Stride is a detective for the Duluth police department. Stride
is married to Serena, who is also a cop, and they have a foster daughter
named Cat. Stride has solved many cases, including one of worst,
involving women who were kidnapped and kept in cages. While he did
save one, Lori, but three other women died, and the killer left a chilling
message to Stride: "better luck next time."
Time passes, and a movie is being made of Stride's life. Stride
reluctantly goes along with the movie and is fearful of reliving the
events of discovering Lori's captivity. Filming begins in Duluth, but soon
dead bodies start showing up around town. Are these murders
connected to each other, or two Stride's movie?
One of the victims turns out to be a private investigator named Peach
Piper, who was in town spying on the big Hollywood actor playing
Stride in the movie, but no one knows why. After much investigating, it
seems that everything is leading back to the actors... The movie seems
to be causing a lot of problems for everyone.
This is the first novel I have read by Brian Freeman, and now I must go
out and find the other books in the Jonathan Stride series. I loved ALTER EGO. Freeman had me guessing as to who was
the real killer. Have to say I was shocked. I thought I had this book
figured out, but I was completely wrong on who I thought it was!
I really liked all of the characters in this book. One of my favorites was
Maggie, a tough little cop who really didn't know what she wanted. This
is another reason why I have to find more of Freeman's books. So if you
really love murder mysteries, get ALTER EGO and see how long it takes you to figure out
who done it...
When a freak auto accident kills a driver on the remote
roads outside Duluth, Jonathan Stride is disturbed to
discover that the victim appears to be a "ghost," with a
false identity and no evidence to suggest who he really
was. Alarmingly, a gun is found in the car--and the gun
has recently been fired.
The next day, Stride learns that a Duluth college student
has also vanished, and he worries that the two incidents
are related. But what would have put an ordinary young
woman in the crosshairs of a man who has all the
hallmarks of an assassin for hire?
Stride's investigation of the girl's disappearance leads
him into the midst of a film crew in Duluth, where a
movie is being made based on a case in Stride's own past.
The actor playing Stride is Hollywood royalty, an award-
winning icon who has charmed his way to the top of the
box office.
But Stride soon hears whispers that his cinematic alter
ego has a dark side . . . and in trying to expose the
truth, he makes a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing
to protect his reputation.