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Freedom's Child
Niemand weiß, dass sie noch lebt. Nicht mal ihre Kinder. Doch die sind nun in höchster Gefahr.
Sie raucht, sie flucht, sie trinkt. Und lässt sich von niemandem was sagen. Jeder in der Stadt schätzt – oder fürchtet – Freedom Oliver. Keiner kennt ihren wahren Namen, ihr altes Leben: ausgelöscht. Das Leben, in dem sie ihren Mann erschoss, den Schwager ans Messer lieferte und ihre Kinder verlor. Das Leben, das sie für das Zeugenschutzprogramm hinter sich ließ. Nur spät in der Nacht verfolgt Freedom per Facebook, wie Mason und Rebekah erwachsen werden.
Und dann kommt der Tag. Der Tag, an dem ihre Feinde Rache schwören. An dem Rebekah verschwindet. Und Freedom weiß: Sie kann sich nicht länger verstecken, sie muss handeln ...
Sie raucht, sie flucht, sie trinkt. Und lässt sich von niemandem was sagen. Jeder in der Stadt schätzt – oder fürchtet – Freedom Oliver. Keiner kennt ihren wahren Namen, ihr altes Leben: ausgelöscht. Das Leben, in dem sie ihren Mann erschoss, den Schwager ans Messer lieferte und ihre Kinder verlor. Das Leben, das sie für das Zeugenschutzprogramm hinter sich ließ. Nur spät in der Nacht verfolgt Freedom per Facebook, wie Mason und Rebekah erwachsen werden.
Und dann kommt der Tag. Der Tag, an dem ihre Feinde Rache schwören. An dem Rebekah verschwindet. Und Freedom weiß: Sie kann sich nicht länger verstecken, sie muss handeln ...
362 pages, Paperback
First published June 2, 2015
92 people are currently reading
4318 people want to read
About the author
Jax Miller
5 books274 followersJax Miller is an American author. She wrote her first novel, Freedom’s Child, in her twenties while hitchhiking across America, winning the 2016 Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle and earning several CWA Dagger nominations. She has received acclaim from the New York Times, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, and many more. She now works in the true-crime genre, having penned her much-anticipated book and acting as creator, host, and executive producer on the true-crime documentary series Hell in the Heartland on CNN’s HLN network. Jax is a lover of film and music, and has a passion for writing screenplays and rock ‘n’ roll
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 348 reviews
June 9, 2024
Freedom Oliver is a barmaid, and is on the witness protection scheme, which she has been on for the past eighteen years, having been freed from prison after the real murderer of her husband Mark has been found.
This is his brother Matthew Delaney, who when we first encounter him, at the very beginning of the novel has just been released from prison on appeal, and is out for revenge on Freedom. Delaney and his family set out to track Freedom down. So far, so predictable. Freedom gave up her children for adoption, when they were very young, and has been covertly tracking them for the past few years. When she finds out that her daughter has disappeared, Freedom goes on the run to look for her, and ends up in Kentucky in an armed confrontation with a sheriff.
None of this is a plot spoiler, as we learn all of this within the first twenty-five pages of the book. In the course of the novel, we encounter religious cults, the good and bad sides to families, whilst we plunge deeper and deeper into the underbelly of American society, in the process moving from Oregon, to Kentucky via New York, in a whirlwind of activity. As the novel progresses, we gradually find out the events leading up to and the murder of Mark, alongside Freedom’s real-time search for her missing daughter, who is now grown up.
I found all of the characters to be well developed and very memorable, particularly the central character of Freedom. Freedom’s narrative voice is very strong and powerful, and this is shown very effectively in the chapters she narrates. Freedoms’ devotion to her absent children are her motivation to keep going, especially in the years in exile in Oregon, alongside keeping herself safe from Mark’s evil family.
I enjoyed this novel, finding it to be an exceptionally powerful, enthralling and moving novel. It was hard to believe that this is Jax Miller’s first novel.
This is his brother Matthew Delaney, who when we first encounter him, at the very beginning of the novel has just been released from prison on appeal, and is out for revenge on Freedom. Delaney and his family set out to track Freedom down. So far, so predictable. Freedom gave up her children for adoption, when they were very young, and has been covertly tracking them for the past few years. When she finds out that her daughter has disappeared, Freedom goes on the run to look for her, and ends up in Kentucky in an armed confrontation with a sheriff.
None of this is a plot spoiler, as we learn all of this within the first twenty-five pages of the book. In the course of the novel, we encounter religious cults, the good and bad sides to families, whilst we plunge deeper and deeper into the underbelly of American society, in the process moving from Oregon, to Kentucky via New York, in a whirlwind of activity. As the novel progresses, we gradually find out the events leading up to and the murder of Mark, alongside Freedom’s real-time search for her missing daughter, who is now grown up.
I found all of the characters to be well developed and very memorable, particularly the central character of Freedom. Freedom’s narrative voice is very strong and powerful, and this is shown very effectively in the chapters she narrates. Freedoms’ devotion to her absent children are her motivation to keep going, especially in the years in exile in Oregon, alongside keeping herself safe from Mark’s evil family.
I enjoyed this novel, finding it to be an exceptionally powerful, enthralling and moving novel. It was hard to believe that this is Jax Miller’s first novel.
August 21, 2015
This sounds like such a good book when you read the blurb. Freedom Oliver is hiding out in the Witness Protection society. Twenty years previously she was arrested for killing her cop husband. She signed away her children for adoption and went into hiding. She works at the local biker bar, drinks a ton of alcohol and barely exists.
She then finds out that her daughter who was being raised by a religious couple has gone missing. Comes to find out that the couple who adopted her children are religious fanatics who know the end of the world is coming.
The thing is. Freedom's brother in law who was obsessed with her, is now out of prison and knows where Freedom is. With his mom who furnishes her sweet boys with drugs from her motorized scooter and knows her boys do no wrong and his brothers, who fit this image start to come after Freedom.
I mean these characters are frigging awesome! Momma in her scooter sniffing drugs and eating orange cupcakes. How can this book not be the best?
But it's not. Almost every stinking chapter begins with the phrase "My name is Freedom".....................I GOT THAT AFTER THE FIRST TEN TIMES!
Then when the story gets rolling I just never really got a sense of anyone in the book. I kept wanting to put the book down and not finish it. Now of course it has super awesome reviews so it may just be me. But not my cuppa tea, and from the blurb I thought it had my name all over it.
She then finds out that her daughter who was being raised by a religious couple has gone missing. Comes to find out that the couple who adopted her children are religious fanatics who know the end of the world is coming.
The thing is. Freedom's brother in law who was obsessed with her, is now out of prison and knows where Freedom is. With his mom who furnishes her sweet boys with drugs from her motorized scooter and knows her boys do no wrong and his brothers, who fit this image start to come after Freedom.
I mean these characters are frigging awesome! Momma in her scooter sniffing drugs and eating orange cupcakes. How can this book not be the best?
But it's not. Almost every stinking chapter begins with the phrase "My name is Freedom".....................I GOT THAT AFTER THE FIRST TEN TIMES!
Then when the story gets rolling I just never really got a sense of anyone in the book. I kept wanting to put the book down and not finish it. Now of course it has super awesome reviews so it may just be me. But not my cuppa tea, and from the blurb I thought it had my name all over it.
May 29, 2016
This book made me cry! Also some mild spoilers, but a lot are in the blurb.
--->EXCERPT<---
Have you ever heard your soul snap in two? Have you ever cried for so long that you find yourself on the verge of fainting? Have you ever clawed at the frozen earth so hard that your fingernails break off? Have you ever screamed so loud that there was no noise at all, your windpipes simply failing you under the pressure? The reaction of a woman kneeling on the several graves of her one daughter.
I scare away the ghosts of the Thoroughbreds. I scare away anything that dares to haunt this field. And in a way that I cannot explain, I've never felt more alive. In my own daughter's death, I never felt so much more alive than this. Because on the other side of such a tragedy, of such turmoil, of such a long journey, something awaits me.
This book is rough not only with feelings but with the content. Drugs, rapists, horrible people from hell, cults... there is so much. And a woman that was known at one time as Nessa Delaney that before she was a Delaney she was a sweet and smart girl that would have went far. But she got in with the Delaney family and her time for all the goodness ended. Her name now is Freedom Oliver because she is in the witness protection program. She killed her husband, she's a drunk, she had to give up her kids, she wants to kill herself a lot of the time, she works in a tough bar and she just doesn't care any more.
Matthew Delaney has been let out of prison after many years and he is coming for Freedom. The Delaney family has several horrible brothers and a horrific mother. There is only one good boy in the bunch and that is Peter. He is disabled in a wheelchair and they do horrible things to him as well. His mother also steals his disability check so he has nothing. But he is smart and he's going to help Freedom.
Freedom finds out that her daughter is missing. She knows about her kids and who adopted them but they know nothing about her really. When she finds out about her daughter she leaves everything and heads out for the Delaney's because she just knows they are in on it.
Along the way she meets a Native American and his Elder father. She learns a beautiful and sad story from them. I really loved this little stop with them because of the things that were talked about and what Freedom does to help them. It is funny how they meet though. :-)
--->EXCERPTS<---
"I don't understand. . ."
"Rattlesnake bite. Caught you twice, once in the leg, once in the arm."
"So I wasn't shot?"
He raises his eyebrows. "Were you expecting to be shot?"
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to be attacked by a rattlesnake and dragged across the desert by an old Indian man."
••••••••••
I wash and get dressed in the bathroom. The rain is dying, the pain is easing. I wrap my money back in rubber bands and splash my face with cold water to get rid of the fuzzy edges of this high before I'm on my way. On the windowsill are magazines: a Native American newspaper, a Reader's Digest, a TV guide. Sticking out of the newspaper, probably hiding, next to a Shoshone crossword puzzle, is the corner of an envelope addressed to Deseronto. My nosy @ss opens it and reads it. Inside is a letter from the county: a final notice from Margefield Properties that because of the 2011 border shift, his property is no longer part of a federal Indian reservation. He owes back taxes of nearly twenty thousand dollars to the state or he will be forced to vacate the premises. I get the feeling his son doesn't know.
I look into the mirror and make my decision.
Just like the government! Well you can imagine what Freedom does and it makes me cry.
Freedom does get to finally see her son again, he's all grown up and Mason, Freedom and Peter do all they can to try to bring down the Delaney's. I have to say, I never saw any of it coming. I really thought I had it pegged and the author takes it to a whole other level. I will say the evil Delaney's won't be evil any more, but there is a lot more evilness going around and it has to come to an end as well. Some really sick, sick people in this book and in real life unfortunately. They all exist out there somewhere!
I really enjoyed the book even though it was sad and some things were hard to handle. There is a happy ending though.
*I would like to thank Blogging For Books for a print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
--->EXCERPT<---
Have you ever heard your soul snap in two? Have you ever cried for so long that you find yourself on the verge of fainting? Have you ever clawed at the frozen earth so hard that your fingernails break off? Have you ever screamed so loud that there was no noise at all, your windpipes simply failing you under the pressure? The reaction of a woman kneeling on the several graves of her one daughter.
I scare away the ghosts of the Thoroughbreds. I scare away anything that dares to haunt this field. And in a way that I cannot explain, I've never felt more alive. In my own daughter's death, I never felt so much more alive than this. Because on the other side of such a tragedy, of such turmoil, of such a long journey, something awaits me.
This book is rough not only with feelings but with the content. Drugs, rapists, horrible people from hell, cults... there is so much. And a woman that was known at one time as Nessa Delaney that before she was a Delaney she was a sweet and smart girl that would have went far. But she got in with the Delaney family and her time for all the goodness ended. Her name now is Freedom Oliver because she is in the witness protection program. She killed her husband, she's a drunk, she had to give up her kids, she wants to kill herself a lot of the time, she works in a tough bar and she just doesn't care any more.
Matthew Delaney has been let out of prison after many years and he is coming for Freedom. The Delaney family has several horrible brothers and a horrific mother. There is only one good boy in the bunch and that is Peter. He is disabled in a wheelchair and they do horrible things to him as well. His mother also steals his disability check so he has nothing. But he is smart and he's going to help Freedom.
Freedom finds out that her daughter is missing. She knows about her kids and who adopted them but they know nothing about her really. When she finds out about her daughter she leaves everything and heads out for the Delaney's because she just knows they are in on it.
Along the way she meets a Native American and his Elder father. She learns a beautiful and sad story from them. I really loved this little stop with them because of the things that were talked about and what Freedom does to help them. It is funny how they meet though. :-)
--->EXCERPTS<---
"I don't understand. . ."
"Rattlesnake bite. Caught you twice, once in the leg, once in the arm."
"So I wasn't shot?"
He raises his eyebrows. "Were you expecting to be shot?"
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to be attacked by a rattlesnake and dragged across the desert by an old Indian man."
••••••••••
I wash and get dressed in the bathroom. The rain is dying, the pain is easing. I wrap my money back in rubber bands and splash my face with cold water to get rid of the fuzzy edges of this high before I'm on my way. On the windowsill are magazines: a Native American newspaper, a Reader's Digest, a TV guide. Sticking out of the newspaper, probably hiding, next to a Shoshone crossword puzzle, is the corner of an envelope addressed to Deseronto. My nosy @ss opens it and reads it. Inside is a letter from the county: a final notice from Margefield Properties that because of the 2011 border shift, his property is no longer part of a federal Indian reservation. He owes back taxes of nearly twenty thousand dollars to the state or he will be forced to vacate the premises. I get the feeling his son doesn't know.
I look into the mirror and make my decision.
Just like the government! Well you can imagine what Freedom does and it makes me cry.
Freedom does get to finally see her son again, he's all grown up and Mason, Freedom and Peter do all they can to try to bring down the Delaney's. I have to say, I never saw any of it coming. I really thought I had it pegged and the author takes it to a whole other level. I will say the evil Delaney's won't be evil any more, but there is a lot more evilness going around and it has to come to an end as well. Some really sick, sick people in this book and in real life unfortunately. They all exist out there somewhere!
I really enjoyed the book even though it was sad and some things were hard to handle. There is a happy ending though.
*I would like to thank Blogging For Books for a print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
February 13, 2016
Freedom Oliver hates herself. She's crass, crude, coarse. Every night, she's a falling-down drunk. She's hoarding pills in a jar which is almost full, but the alcohol will probably kill her first. She swears the bluest streak.
Vanessa was a good girl who fell in love with the bad boy. She has married into the dysfunctional-to-the-max Delaney family. Her life is not in a downward spiral; its in free fall.
Once you know what Vanessa has gone through, you will understand Freedom.
Twenty years later, Matthew Delaney is released from prison and all hell breaks loose. From Mastic Beach on Long Island to Oregon to Kentucky, lives are in danger.
A quote from Freedom: "What have I done? How the hell did I end up here? What did I do so wrong in life that God deemed me so fucking unworthy of anything good?"
I loved this book! The characters and the story are great! The writing is strong. There's more to the story than meets the eye, and at the end of the book, I was very satisfied. Highly recommended!
Vanessa was a good girl who fell in love with the bad boy. She has married into the dysfunctional-to-the-max Delaney family. Her life is not in a downward spiral; its in free fall.
Once you know what Vanessa has gone through, you will understand Freedom.
Twenty years later, Matthew Delaney is released from prison and all hell breaks loose. From Mastic Beach on Long Island to Oregon to Kentucky, lives are in danger.
A quote from Freedom: "What have I done? How the hell did I end up here? What did I do so wrong in life that God deemed me so fucking unworthy of anything good?"
I loved this book! The characters and the story are great! The writing is strong. There's more to the story than meets the eye, and at the end of the book, I was very satisfied. Highly recommended!
July 6, 2015
Freedom’s Child is a brilliantly authentic and addictive read – one I devoured in two sittings and really did not want to raise my head from – it is dark, delicious and has the most amazing main protagonist, someone you will get right behind.
Freedom is in witness protection, she muddles through the days and nights, missing her children and taking no nonsense. When her daughter goes missing she sets off to find her, stalked by her husband’s family there is danger every step of the way.
Jax Miller writes with a kind of wild abandon that suits her characters and settings perfectly – there is a really sharp and imaginative edge to how she puts things across, enveloping the reader in the tale completely, making Freedom’s Child a really really great reading experience, one that will stay with you long after finishing.
And oh boy The Delaney’s – a family of trouble, but the most entertaining trouble ever – I adored them (well, you know as much as you can adore such villainous villains) but they were perfectly drawn – primitively savage with an underlying intelligence that made them so beautifully dangerous.
Freedom herself is flawed, unlikeable, distinctly random and sometimes really nasty – but that won’t stop you loving her. I’m giving huge brownie points to the author for not feeling the need to tone her down, or give her a genial vulnerability just because she is a woman. She is a raw, from the hip, realistic female lead, as such this novel has raised the level when it comes to writing strong female characters.
I won’t give anything away as to how it all pans out, but overall this is a tense, absorbing read with a restless energy about it that appealed to me completely – I hope to meet Freedom again one day, but whatever happens I’m fairly sure I’m sticking with this author for life.
Loved it. Highly Recommended.
Freedom is in witness protection, she muddles through the days and nights, missing her children and taking no nonsense. When her daughter goes missing she sets off to find her, stalked by her husband’s family there is danger every step of the way.
Jax Miller writes with a kind of wild abandon that suits her characters and settings perfectly – there is a really sharp and imaginative edge to how she puts things across, enveloping the reader in the tale completely, making Freedom’s Child a really really great reading experience, one that will stay with you long after finishing.
And oh boy The Delaney’s – a family of trouble, but the most entertaining trouble ever – I adored them (well, you know as much as you can adore such villainous villains) but they were perfectly drawn – primitively savage with an underlying intelligence that made them so beautifully dangerous.
Freedom herself is flawed, unlikeable, distinctly random and sometimes really nasty – but that won’t stop you loving her. I’m giving huge brownie points to the author for not feeling the need to tone her down, or give her a genial vulnerability just because she is a woman. She is a raw, from the hip, realistic female lead, as such this novel has raised the level when it comes to writing strong female characters.
I won’t give anything away as to how it all pans out, but overall this is a tense, absorbing read with a restless energy about it that appealed to me completely – I hope to meet Freedom again one day, but whatever happens I’m fairly sure I’m sticking with this author for life.
Loved it. Highly Recommended.
September 5, 2015
3.5 Freedom is the name she is known by now, she has been in Witness Protection for twenty years and that is how long ago she gave up her children. Gave them up so they could have a normal life, or so she thought.
This is a tough, gritty, no holds barred novel and Freedom herself is rough, she drinks hard, loves hard and she is a terribly flawed but very human character. Her name was once Nessa Delaney and she thinks she is hidden, safe as she can be fighting only her own demons but her Mother in law, all 600 lbs of her has her own plans. To punish Nessa and get her grandchildren back into the family.
A fast paced read, a read that maybe reminds us that our past is not always past, may just be hiding around the corner. Written in a very different, almost staccato style, a book that takes a stubborn Freedom who once again finds herself fighting for freedom for her children.
I did think the author threw a little too much into this one, from revenge to retribution to religious extremism, from a brother trying to find his sister it does keep the reader reading but for me it was a bit much. Still a good entertaining read and will definitely keep a look out for this authors next.
This is a tough, gritty, no holds barred novel and Freedom herself is rough, she drinks hard, loves hard and she is a terribly flawed but very human character. Her name was once Nessa Delaney and she thinks she is hidden, safe as she can be fighting only her own demons but her Mother in law, all 600 lbs of her has her own plans. To punish Nessa and get her grandchildren back into the family.
A fast paced read, a read that maybe reminds us that our past is not always past, may just be hiding around the corner. Written in a very different, almost staccato style, a book that takes a stubborn Freedom who once again finds herself fighting for freedom for her children.
I did think the author threw a little too much into this one, from revenge to retribution to religious extremism, from a brother trying to find his sister it does keep the reader reading but for me it was a bit much. Still a good entertaining read and will definitely keep a look out for this authors next.
June 23, 2015
Surely this book was a satire.
I have NEVER read such a far-fetched, ridiculous, unrealistic, absurd, to the point of laughable, supposed mystery thriller ~ EVER.
There were so many inaccuracies that I can't believe it even crossed an editor's desk, and didn't automatically find itself in a shredder.
The ONLY reason I finished this book was to see how idiotic it really could get. I think every main character in the book was psychotic, with delusions of grandeur! This book is a total joke.
I will probably get slammed for this, but it was worse than Girl on a Train. If you are a serious reader, I would, seriously, skip this book.
My name is Freedom, I'm a drunk, either hungover or on a binge, but I have super human strength, the flexibility of a gymnast, and unlimited stamina. I can do anything. I can even steal a Harley, bike unlimited hours, get bitten by a poisonous snake, and make it from the Pacific coast of Oregon to Louisville, Kentucky in 24 hours. Even better yet, my friend hops on an Amtrak, again from Oregon, and he makes it to Louisville in 18 hours. (Obviously the author can't look at a map and do the math.)
Again, this book is a total joke. Don't waste your time.
I have NEVER read such a far-fetched, ridiculous, unrealistic, absurd, to the point of laughable, supposed mystery thriller ~ EVER.
There were so many inaccuracies that I can't believe it even crossed an editor's desk, and didn't automatically find itself in a shredder.
The ONLY reason I finished this book was to see how idiotic it really could get. I think every main character in the book was psychotic, with delusions of grandeur! This book is a total joke.
I will probably get slammed for this, but it was worse than Girl on a Train. If you are a serious reader, I would, seriously, skip this book.
My name is Freedom, I'm a drunk, either hungover or on a binge, but I have super human strength, the flexibility of a gymnast, and unlimited stamina. I can do anything. I can even steal a Harley, bike unlimited hours, get bitten by a poisonous snake, and make it from the Pacific coast of Oregon to Louisville, Kentucky in 24 hours. Even better yet, my friend hops on an Amtrak, again from Oregon, and he makes it to Louisville in 18 hours. (Obviously the author can't look at a map and do the math.)
Again, this book is a total joke. Don't waste your time.
July 26, 2015
Freedom’s Child – An Addictive Debut
Jax Miller has written a highly addictive debut thriller in Freedom’s Child that will literally blow you away and keep you reading from the first page to the last. The only regret will be that you will have to wait until Jax Miller’s next book, because she certainly knows what makes readers excited keep turning the page and wanting more. This really is a powerful, grabs you by the throat addictive that is seriously one of the most compelling thrillers of the year.
Freedom Oliver has spent the last 18 years of her life in Witness Protection living in a small town in Oregon, working in a biker bar this place really is the boil on the arse end of the world. The place is as dead end as it really gets, as she fights her feelings of killing herself and being as drunk as a skunk. Her children she is forced to watch them grow up from a far as they were adopted when she was sent to jail for murdering her ex-NYPD husband Mark.
Freedom is living on the west coast as her husband Mark’s family the Delaney’s have sworn to find her and kill her especially as her brother-in-law is serving a prison sentence for the murder. It is when she has a visit from her two US Marshal ‘guardians’ who advise her that Mathew Delaney has been released from Prison and she needs to be aware but not to worry they do not know where she is.
At work she often logs in to Facebook to observe from afar her son and daughter who were adopted by Virgil Paul and his wife Carol, who is leader of the Third Day Adventist Church down in Kentucky. He son, Mason is a hot shot defence attorney making waves at his law firm and disowned by his adoptive father for leaving the church.
It is when her daughter goes missing, the daughter that she only knew for little over two minutes, who she gave birth to in prison, is snatched away, and goes missing does her world collapse. He first thought is that the Delaney’s have her and she needs to rescue her from them and sacrifice her life to spare her daughter.
So begins the roller coaster ride of Freedom’s escape from the Witness Protection Programme to find her daughter and sacrifice herself to save her. During this we get a picture of the life and thoughts of the Paul family as well as the ever present Delaney family both families are rather suspect, and send a chill down the spine.
It is a Freedom fights to save her daughter that she discovers the truth as well as discovering the truth about her true friends and family. Freedom is well aware that she is racing towards her own downfall but all that is preferable to what the Delaney’s could do.
We know from the outset that Freedom is a flawed character of questionable values, who is completely unlovable and nasty at times, but she will still strike a chord with the reader as she grows on you. She is a person who tends to do the wrong things for the right reasons, feared and despised equally by law enforcement and families alike.
Jax Miller has written a terrific thriller that will shock you that it is her debut as her characters are well written and thought out; she has learnt her craft and has excelled with the characterisation. Freedom is the sort of person that naturally you should dislike and distrust but throughout the book you are rooting for her. Jax Miller has not toned down or even softened Freedom’s character which I am sure many others would have done so she is heart –rendering as well as powerful.
Freedom’s Child is a book that once you start you will not put down, it is addictive as crack, and shows even the nastiest of people can do good things, occasionally.
Jax Miller has written a highly addictive debut thriller in Freedom’s Child that will literally blow you away and keep you reading from the first page to the last. The only regret will be that you will have to wait until Jax Miller’s next book, because she certainly knows what makes readers excited keep turning the page and wanting more. This really is a powerful, grabs you by the throat addictive that is seriously one of the most compelling thrillers of the year.
Freedom Oliver has spent the last 18 years of her life in Witness Protection living in a small town in Oregon, working in a biker bar this place really is the boil on the arse end of the world. The place is as dead end as it really gets, as she fights her feelings of killing herself and being as drunk as a skunk. Her children she is forced to watch them grow up from a far as they were adopted when she was sent to jail for murdering her ex-NYPD husband Mark.
Freedom is living on the west coast as her husband Mark’s family the Delaney’s have sworn to find her and kill her especially as her brother-in-law is serving a prison sentence for the murder. It is when she has a visit from her two US Marshal ‘guardians’ who advise her that Mathew Delaney has been released from Prison and she needs to be aware but not to worry they do not know where she is.
At work she often logs in to Facebook to observe from afar her son and daughter who were adopted by Virgil Paul and his wife Carol, who is leader of the Third Day Adventist Church down in Kentucky. He son, Mason is a hot shot defence attorney making waves at his law firm and disowned by his adoptive father for leaving the church.
It is when her daughter goes missing, the daughter that she only knew for little over two minutes, who she gave birth to in prison, is snatched away, and goes missing does her world collapse. He first thought is that the Delaney’s have her and she needs to rescue her from them and sacrifice her life to spare her daughter.
So begins the roller coaster ride of Freedom’s escape from the Witness Protection Programme to find her daughter and sacrifice herself to save her. During this we get a picture of the life and thoughts of the Paul family as well as the ever present Delaney family both families are rather suspect, and send a chill down the spine.
It is a Freedom fights to save her daughter that she discovers the truth as well as discovering the truth about her true friends and family. Freedom is well aware that she is racing towards her own downfall but all that is preferable to what the Delaney’s could do.
We know from the outset that Freedom is a flawed character of questionable values, who is completely unlovable and nasty at times, but she will still strike a chord with the reader as she grows on you. She is a person who tends to do the wrong things for the right reasons, feared and despised equally by law enforcement and families alike.
Jax Miller has written a terrific thriller that will shock you that it is her debut as her characters are well written and thought out; she has learnt her craft and has excelled with the characterisation. Freedom is the sort of person that naturally you should dislike and distrust but throughout the book you are rooting for her. Jax Miller has not toned down or even softened Freedom’s character which I am sure many others would have done so she is heart –rendering as well as powerful.
Freedom’s Child is a book that once you start you will not put down, it is addictive as crack, and shows even the nastiest of people can do good things, occasionally.
July 26, 2015
Freedom Oliver is a drunk. She is trouble. She is desperate. She is in Witness Protection. She needs to find her daughter. The daughter that she only held for a few minutes, over twenty years ago. Something sinister has happened and nothing can hold Freedom back any longer. Just who will she have to take down on her journey?
This debut from US born author, Jax Miller, is unusual. It uses the format of a crime thriller (good guys, bad guys, murder, mayhem and clever detective work), yet there is no real detective. There is badness in the goodies and some of the bad guys lean toward the good side. The past is brought into the present and ongoing nightmares become reality.
Freedom has pushed everyone away from her since she lost the most important things in her life; her children. Accused of murdering her husband, years before, she signed her son and daughter over for adoption, believing she was providing them with the best possible future. An acquittal, re-location and name change means that she has no contact with her children, but she keeps an eye on them via social media. When Rebekah, her daughter, stops posting online, Freedom is not the only one who notices. So does Mason, Freedom's son. He fears for his sisters safety and returns to their childhood home, in a religious compound. A place he had hoped never to see again. However, he is not welcome and he needs to turn detective himself, in order to help his sister. Mason is not aware that Freedom is also en-route to search for Rebekah and is being trailed by her dead husband's family, who are keen on revenge. There are also more eyes focused on Freedom than she realises. But are they watching with good intent, or bad?
The novel opens with a confident approach. A strong female protagonist, ballsy, tough, determined and yet flawed. Booze is Freedom's drug of choice and sex is just a quick fix. She has no ties, no family, no links to her past and a seriously bad temper. Working in a trucker bar, fighting her way through life on a daily basis, occasionally having convenient sex, she trusts only two people. Her female boss and a hooker called Passion. Although she has a bit of a crush on a local police officer, she is not prepared to let him get close to her. There is such an anger in Freedom's character. A bitter and twisted past, a traumatic event and the loss of her kids has made her teeter on the edge of sanity for more than two decades. The disappearance of her daughter is going to tip her one way or the other. The cross country journey that she takes is one of pain, sorrow and a host of crazy events. Everyone she touches, everyplace she goes, each time she enters a room; it all ends up in bloody chaos. There are thrills after thrills, bodies piling up, firearms, motorcycles, drugs, sex and a whole lot of bad language. The atmosphere is dark. Very dark. There are religious cults, drug-fuelled family feuds and sexual mistreatment. But there are chinks of humanity in Freedom's soul and she shows how a mother is not always in control of her feelings. Jax Miller writes like a man, and I mean that as a compliment. There is a removal from femininity, an attempt to make a female just as bad-ass as her mostly male counterparts, and she manages to make a tattooed redhead, with a nasty mouth and a murky past, seem sexy and assured. This novel is a blend of early James Patterson or Jonathan Kellerman and has chinks that are reminiscent of Thomas Harris's The Silence of The Lambs. Horror, mistrust, deception and a cracker of a female protagonist. A top-notch, right rollicking read...
Highly Recommended.
This debut from US born author, Jax Miller, is unusual. It uses the format of a crime thriller (good guys, bad guys, murder, mayhem and clever detective work), yet there is no real detective. There is badness in the goodies and some of the bad guys lean toward the good side. The past is brought into the present and ongoing nightmares become reality.
Freedom has pushed everyone away from her since she lost the most important things in her life; her children. Accused of murdering her husband, years before, she signed her son and daughter over for adoption, believing she was providing them with the best possible future. An acquittal, re-location and name change means that she has no contact with her children, but she keeps an eye on them via social media. When Rebekah, her daughter, stops posting online, Freedom is not the only one who notices. So does Mason, Freedom's son. He fears for his sisters safety and returns to their childhood home, in a religious compound. A place he had hoped never to see again. However, he is not welcome and he needs to turn detective himself, in order to help his sister. Mason is not aware that Freedom is also en-route to search for Rebekah and is being trailed by her dead husband's family, who are keen on revenge. There are also more eyes focused on Freedom than she realises. But are they watching with good intent, or bad?
The novel opens with a confident approach. A strong female protagonist, ballsy, tough, determined and yet flawed. Booze is Freedom's drug of choice and sex is just a quick fix. She has no ties, no family, no links to her past and a seriously bad temper. Working in a trucker bar, fighting her way through life on a daily basis, occasionally having convenient sex, she trusts only two people. Her female boss and a hooker called Passion. Although she has a bit of a crush on a local police officer, she is not prepared to let him get close to her. There is such an anger in Freedom's character. A bitter and twisted past, a traumatic event and the loss of her kids has made her teeter on the edge of sanity for more than two decades. The disappearance of her daughter is going to tip her one way or the other. The cross country journey that she takes is one of pain, sorrow and a host of crazy events. Everyone she touches, everyplace she goes, each time she enters a room; it all ends up in bloody chaos. There are thrills after thrills, bodies piling up, firearms, motorcycles, drugs, sex and a whole lot of bad language. The atmosphere is dark. Very dark. There are religious cults, drug-fuelled family feuds and sexual mistreatment. But there are chinks of humanity in Freedom's soul and she shows how a mother is not always in control of her feelings. Jax Miller writes like a man, and I mean that as a compliment. There is a removal from femininity, an attempt to make a female just as bad-ass as her mostly male counterparts, and she manages to make a tattooed redhead, with a nasty mouth and a murky past, seem sexy and assured. This novel is a blend of early James Patterson or Jonathan Kellerman and has chinks that are reminiscent of Thomas Harris's The Silence of The Lambs. Horror, mistrust, deception and a cracker of a female protagonist. A top-notch, right rollicking read...
Highly Recommended.
June 28, 2015
Despite the rave reviews by my GR friends, I have to respectfully disagree. Written mostly in the first person by long winded monologues and letters, Freedom Oliver, aka Nessa Delany, is hiding out in Oregon in the witness protection program from her psychotic in-laws in New York bent on revenge. Freedom Oliver lives in a permanent alcoholic rage about a whole list of wrongs that have crippled her life for the last 20 years. When she learns the biological daughter she's never met has been kidnapped, she steals a motorcycle and heads for Kentucky to the rescue. The problems I have with the book is it's predictability and the overly introspective Freedom Oliver. The characters are all straight from central casting and Freedom, a tough, attractive and sometimes funny protagonist battling a psychotic rapist brother in law, meth addicted bikers, evil cult people, redneck Kentucky police, a sadistic 600 lb. mother-in- law and a philandering NYPD husband was way over the limit of my suspension of disbelief.
February 5, 2015
Freedom is all at once fierce, fragile, and funny. I was absolutely riveted by this book from the first lines, and the attachment to its characters lasted long after I finished the closing chapter. Miller's ability to turn a phrase and twist a plot, caught me off guard-- in the best possible way-- repeatedly. This is how fiction is supposed to be done.
January 24, 2016
I was so sure I wouldn't like this book, 'cause - TMI - hey, I don't want to read about a man wiping his bottom *shudders* and the characters cursed a lot, it was so annoying at first. It took me like 8 chapters to completely get into this and then, Holy sparkling potatoes! I couldn't keep this damned thing down. The ending was so unexpected, and bittersweet. I really liked it.
July 30, 2015
Gotta hand it to Jax Miller. She should win a prize (not the Man Booker) for packing more cliched characters and situations into one novel than Bill Bell accomplished with The Young and the Restless. She evidently admires Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lehane and Gillian Flynn, but has neglected to pull on their talent for creating implausible situations but with a flair for pulling in the reader thirsting for more.
Let's start with the family of asses, headed by a matriarch slob who's addicted to drugs, food and cruelty. Of course they're on welfare. They have a dog. Guess what kind. Not a poodle. (Think of the Hillary Swank's mom in Million Dollar Baby padded with 300 more pounds). You got your Neo Nazi bikers who are really Feds. (Hope I didn't spoil it for you). Geez, did you know small town cops don't trust Feds and they're corrupt? There's your prostitute with a heart of gold. (Yeah I know "heart of gold" is a cliche). There's a sports figure accused of rape. He gets off. The lawyer gets accolades. Walk into Walmart and there's another woman on welfare. She's buying junk food and cigarettes with food stamps. Throw in an old Native American. He cures a snakebite. He doesn't have a dog. He has a coyote. No regrets. (Sorry, Joni). At the center of it all is a gun running, suicidal religious cult. The patriarch has fathered 60 children. Help! It's Waco, Jonestown and Big Love blended together. What was Ms. Miller thinking? Pick one cliche story line, not 50. At least there wasn't an evil twin.
Why did I read the whole thing? Why give it 2 stars instead of 1, or none? I don't know. Why did I watch Young and the Restless for 40 years? I had to see how the story ends.
Let's start with the family of asses, headed by a matriarch slob who's addicted to drugs, food and cruelty. Of course they're on welfare. They have a dog. Guess what kind. Not a poodle. (Think of the Hillary Swank's mom in Million Dollar Baby padded with 300 more pounds). You got your Neo Nazi bikers who are really Feds. (Hope I didn't spoil it for you). Geez, did you know small town cops don't trust Feds and they're corrupt? There's your prostitute with a heart of gold. (Yeah I know "heart of gold" is a cliche). There's a sports figure accused of rape. He gets off. The lawyer gets accolades. Walk into Walmart and there's another woman on welfare. She's buying junk food and cigarettes with food stamps. Throw in an old Native American. He cures a snakebite. He doesn't have a dog. He has a coyote. No regrets. (Sorry, Joni). At the center of it all is a gun running, suicidal religious cult. The patriarch has fathered 60 children. Help! It's Waco, Jonestown and Big Love blended together. What was Ms. Miller thinking? Pick one cliche story line, not 50. At least there wasn't an evil twin.
Why did I read the whole thing? Why give it 2 stars instead of 1, or none? I don't know. Why did I watch Young and the Restless for 40 years? I had to see how the story ends.
January 19, 2015
I admit I was skeptical when I first chose this book. I had just gotten done with a best seller that did not impress me and did not think Freedom's Child would be my cup of tea. Boy was I in for a surprise. 'Freedom' is the kind of character who comes off so raw and reckless when you are first introduced to her but as the book progresses her heart and dedication soon made her someone I came to admire and love. It was fast paced from beginning to end and a constant roller coaster of emotions. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to open their 'inner Freedom'. I can't wait to read what's next from Jax Miller.
September 7, 2015
For more reviews, check out What Danielle Did Next
FREEDOM’S CHILD has a cinematic quality to its writing that allows the storytelling to take place in almost like flashes before your eyes, enabling the reader to visually play out the story with its descriptive and captivating prose.
The story of one woman and the effect she has on both herself and those around her with her headstrong, no punches pulled, approach to life, FREEDOM’S CHILD will keep you on the edge of your seat.
This book has a very unique, fresh, raw style of writing that pushes the boundaries as it touches on several brutal and taboo subjects with a harsh look at reality that promises the reader a visceral experience.
Freedom has been in witness protection for almost twenty years. Forced to give up her children and go into hiding after being sent to prison for her husband’s murder. Subsequently released and in danger of retaliation from her husband’s family, Freedom styles herself as a strong, brash woman who drowns her sorrows in the bourbon she’s supposed to be serving as bartender in the dead-end town she is forced to spend the rest of her days. When she receives word that her ex brothers-in-law have found her location and even more concerning, have uncovered her son and daughter’s whereabouts, Freedom must come out of hiding and risk everything for the children she never wanted to leave behind.
Blisteringly, fast-paced, the book serves up a heroine who is flawed, embraces the view that life isn’t black or white but very much possesses several shades of grey. A motley cast of characters support her, each with their own unique story and viewpoint that lends a little more knowledge to this misunderstood woman called Freedom. Encompassing violence, religious cults, drugs, motherhood and friendship with and emotional tenderness always at its sharp edges, FREEDOM’S CHILD is a highly charged, unrelenting thriller that is hard to put down.
FREEDOM’S CHILD has a cinematic quality to its writing that allows the storytelling to take place in almost like flashes before your eyes, enabling the reader to visually play out the story with its descriptive and captivating prose.
The story of one woman and the effect she has on both herself and those around her with her headstrong, no punches pulled, approach to life, FREEDOM’S CHILD will keep you on the edge of your seat.
This book has a very unique, fresh, raw style of writing that pushes the boundaries as it touches on several brutal and taboo subjects with a harsh look at reality that promises the reader a visceral experience.
Freedom has been in witness protection for almost twenty years. Forced to give up her children and go into hiding after being sent to prison for her husband’s murder. Subsequently released and in danger of retaliation from her husband’s family, Freedom styles herself as a strong, brash woman who drowns her sorrows in the bourbon she’s supposed to be serving as bartender in the dead-end town she is forced to spend the rest of her days. When she receives word that her ex brothers-in-law have found her location and even more concerning, have uncovered her son and daughter’s whereabouts, Freedom must come out of hiding and risk everything for the children she never wanted to leave behind.
Blisteringly, fast-paced, the book serves up a heroine who is flawed, embraces the view that life isn’t black or white but very much possesses several shades of grey. A motley cast of characters support her, each with their own unique story and viewpoint that lends a little more knowledge to this misunderstood woman called Freedom. Encompassing violence, religious cults, drugs, motherhood and friendship with and emotional tenderness always at its sharp edges, FREEDOM’S CHILD is a highly charged, unrelenting thriller that is hard to put down.
July 28, 2015
Great to read something so refreshingly different! Freedom's Child is all about a strong and flawed female character named Freedom Oliver. She's beautiful, but a little wild, crazy and fragile with a turbulent past that Jax Miller reveals to us at her own pace. It's gritty, violent and gives us plenty of reasons for concern as the plot plays out. The style of writing just has an unusual edge to it, but for me it just added to the enjoyment of this book. This is highly recommended and a crazily good read.
Freedom has spent 18 years in a witness protection program after trouble with the police and her brutal in-laws the Delaneys. The Delaney's are a fascinating bunch of villain's who have vowed to make their sister-in-law pay for her past acts. She has two children which she had to give up for adoption to keep them out of the hands of this scary family. Then her daughter, who she hasn't seen since birth, goes missing and Freedom sets off in a desperate and dangerous hunt to find her. Fighting her own demons while trying to avoid the Delaney's we could never guess just how mad and pulsating it all gets in the race to find Freedom's child Rebekah...
We can't help but feel for Freedom and find ourselves willing her on despite all her flaws and instability. She can drink herself to oblivion, hurt people who care and be worryingly suicidal. There are some touching moments when we see her softer side while she can be pretty mean and uncompromising at other times. But overall she is a great character and one who's frighteningly memorable. A really exciting debut from Jax Miller and it's always a thrill to discover a new author to watch out for in the future. (Received ARC)
June 20, 2015
My name is Freedom...
This is a dark tale of murder, rape, incest, religious fanatics, skinheads, and redneck outlaw relatives. The female protagonist is an alcoholic, in the Witness Protection Plan, and isn't very likeable.
But the story is oddly compelling and I sat down and read it pretty much straight through. The protagonist, who has renamed herself Freedom Oliver, put her son and daughter up for adoption after being put in the Protection Program, and now finds out that her daughter is missing. She heads from Oregon to Kentucky to try to find her - on a stolen motorcycle.
The book was a fast read but I found it put together rather oddly. It jumped from one character to another, one storyline to the next and it was rather distracting.
Some characters were more sympathetic than others. I especially liked Peter, Freedom's brother-in-law who has cerebral palsy.
Character development on Freedom was done well. Some of the other characters weren't delved into too deeply.
This was a raw, raunchy look at one woman's pain and the different ordeals she must face, trying to be reunited with her children and trying for redemption.
NOTE: I received this book from Crown Publishing through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
This is a dark tale of murder, rape, incest, religious fanatics, skinheads, and redneck outlaw relatives. The female protagonist is an alcoholic, in the Witness Protection Plan, and isn't very likeable.
But the story is oddly compelling and I sat down and read it pretty much straight through. The protagonist, who has renamed herself Freedom Oliver, put her son and daughter up for adoption after being put in the Protection Program, and now finds out that her daughter is missing. She heads from Oregon to Kentucky to try to find her - on a stolen motorcycle.
The book was a fast read but I found it put together rather oddly. It jumped from one character to another, one storyline to the next and it was rather distracting.
Some characters were more sympathetic than others. I especially liked Peter, Freedom's brother-in-law who has cerebral palsy.
Character development on Freedom was done well. Some of the other characters weren't delved into too deeply.
This was a raw, raunchy look at one woman's pain and the different ordeals she must face, trying to be reunited with her children and trying for redemption.
NOTE: I received this book from Crown Publishing through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
February 8, 2016
The opening lines of this novel read : "My name is Freedom Oliver and I killed my daughter."
Is that enough of a hook for you? It was for me.
It's always a risk reading a new author. Mostly (glad to report) one that pays off. And this book had been interesting from the time we bought it. We spent a frustrating time in one of the largest bookstores near us, scanning shelves for a book my husband knew nothing about, except that he would recognise the cover again. He couldn't remember the author or the title, just that he had liked the look of the cover. We are both so glad he went back to the place he had originally seen it, across town, and found it.
Read my full review on my blog.
Is that enough of a hook for you? It was for me.
It's always a risk reading a new author. Mostly (glad to report) one that pays off. And this book had been interesting from the time we bought it. We spent a frustrating time in one of the largest bookstores near us, scanning shelves for a book my husband knew nothing about, except that he would recognise the cover again. He couldn't remember the author or the title, just that he had liked the look of the cover. We are both so glad he went back to the place he had originally seen it, across town, and found it.
Read my full review on my blog.
July 21, 2019
Jax Miller don't write from the heart but rather from the guts. Freedom's Child is a story she had to put on paper. Jax never imagined that her writing was going anywhere, never imagined it taking her places she had never seen. Jax never intended to have an audience while writing this novel. She only hopes that you enjoy it or least, that you appreciate its honesty.
July 1, 2021
No just no. Sure fiction is fiction and there can be some unrealistic things in the story and it's still a bloody good book. Even better. But I could get into the story or buy into it. Sounds meaner then I want to. I'm in a bad mood to be honest. It's isn't the worst I've ever read but it wasn't for me. However it have some good reviews so I'll still recommend giving it a try if it sounds interesting to you.
August 10, 2017
I had no interest in reading this book when I first saw the cover, but I read the synopsis and thought I’d take a chance (I’m glad that I did). This story follows Freedom, who is in the witness protection program and has a slew of issues. Freedom was the kind of character who I really disliked in the beginning of the story but as it progressed and I began to understand her, she grew on me.
The story has many facets and subplots that all merge together. It explores a religious cult which was extremely interesting and chilling. As a reader I went through a range of emotions, from anger to frustration, to fear, and sadness.
The story touches on religion, which often frustrates me in secular fiction, but the author handled it very well and I was pleased with the way things were presented.
Overall, this was a fast paced, action packed story that was enjoyable to read.
I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange of an honest review.
The story has many facets and subplots that all merge together. It explores a religious cult which was extremely interesting and chilling. As a reader I went through a range of emotions, from anger to frustration, to fear, and sadness.
The story touches on religion, which often frustrates me in secular fiction, but the author handled it very well and I was pleased with the way things were presented.
Overall, this was a fast paced, action packed story that was enjoyable to read.
I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange of an honest review.
July 26, 2015
So I lost two days of my life to this book. I don’t know about anything else that happened that weekend. I was completely caught up in the fierceness and softness of Freedom’s character and the incredibly fast pace of a plot that could not be abandoned, even for food. We want to read a book that we haven’t read before and the freshness and raw feel of ‘Freedom’s Child’ does not disappoint. The sheer drama of the separate stories and characters is riveting and how they all knit together in the end is pure satisfaction. I felt I was on that bike with Freedom all the way through her journey, taking in the literary explosion of senses that was on offer. A luxurious six star studded gem!
May 3, 2015
About 1/3 of the way through this book I realized what was different about the writing style. This book reads like a graphic novel with no artwork. Very reminiscent of the film "Sin City". Extremely good storytelling, it just took a minute to get used to the cadence. Really poor cover art again on this one. Interesting characters and a fast moving plot.
ARC from NetGalley.
ARC from NetGalley.
July 31, 2018
Moc příjemné překvapení! Čekala jsem docela propadák, ale dostala jsem vtipný, svižný a originální thriller. Doporučuju!
June 1, 2015
Freedom Oliver is not what she seems. A frequently drunk, foul-mouthed woman who works at a bar with a less than savoury reputation in a small town in Oregon, Freedom has spent the past eighteen years in Witness Protection after being accused of her husband’s murder. A mother of two, she gave both of her children up for adoption when she was jailed. But now Freedom’s daughter has gone missing and she suspects her husband’s sadistic family might be to blame. Freedom slips her handlers and heads off to Kentucky in search of the daughter she gave up and the in-laws she tried to escape. But something darker is lurking in her children’s hometown of Goshen and Freedom is about to find out what it is.
I don’t normally read much US crime/thriller fiction, maybe one or two books a year at most but I’m really glad I put in a request for this one. I read Freedom’s Child over a couple of days but only because I have to work to fund my book habit otherwise I’m pretty sure I’d have devoured it in an afternoon.
I liked that it was gritty and harsh. The language and the emotion felt real and raw and I liked that even though she is so flawed, I was immediately drawn to Freedom and was rooting for her throughout the novel. Perhaps the thing I loved most was that the story wasn’t what I expected at all. From the blurb, I had already formed ideas about Freedom’s husband, his family and her character that turned out to be totally wrong. I was wrongfooted from the start and that kept me on my toes for the rest of the book.
I’m hoping that this isn’t the last we see of Freedom Oliver, but whether she decides to continue this story or not, I’ll definitely keep an eye out for Jax Miller’s next book.
On a side note, I really need to stop falling for fictional cops who like fictional bad girls (DI Mark Josebury, I’m looking at you) but Officer Mattley is clearly a dish and was by far and away my favourite character after Freedom herself. #teammattley all the way, baby.)
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Lovereading.co.uk in exchange for an honest review for their Reader Review Panel. This review may be published alongside other reader reviews on their website. The review was originally published in full at https://whitterswitters.wordpress.com...
I don’t normally read much US crime/thriller fiction, maybe one or two books a year at most but I’m really glad I put in a request for this one. I read Freedom’s Child over a couple of days but only because I have to work to fund my book habit otherwise I’m pretty sure I’d have devoured it in an afternoon.
I liked that it was gritty and harsh. The language and the emotion felt real and raw and I liked that even though she is so flawed, I was immediately drawn to Freedom and was rooting for her throughout the novel. Perhaps the thing I loved most was that the story wasn’t what I expected at all. From the blurb, I had already formed ideas about Freedom’s husband, his family and her character that turned out to be totally wrong. I was wrongfooted from the start and that kept me on my toes for the rest of the book.
I’m hoping that this isn’t the last we see of Freedom Oliver, but whether she decides to continue this story or not, I’ll definitely keep an eye out for Jax Miller’s next book.
On a side note, I really need to stop falling for fictional cops who like fictional bad girls (DI Mark Josebury, I’m looking at you) but Officer Mattley is clearly a dish and was by far and away my favourite character after Freedom herself. #teammattley all the way, baby.)
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Lovereading.co.uk in exchange for an honest review for their Reader Review Panel. This review may be published alongside other reader reviews on their website. The review was originally published in full at https://whitterswitters.wordpress.com...
July 21, 2015
Most chapters in "Freedom's Child: A Novel" begin with this opener: "My name is Freedom," and then reveal bits and pieces of her story. We learn quickly that Freedom Oliver is not her real name; that she is in the Witness Protection program; and that she is hiding from some dangerous people.
Currently living in Painter, Oregon, and spending most nights in a bar, regularly getting drunk and arrested, one might think that her goal in life is self-destruction. But no, she has a larger purpose, and it governs most of her days. She wants to find the children she lost many years before. The children whom she knows were renamed by their adoptive parents as Mason and Rebekah Paul.
In Goshen, Kentucky, where the Pauls live, we see a glimpse of the life of their evangelical world and realize that they have dark secrets and a deadly plan.
In upstate New York, the Delaneys are set on revenge. Matthew Delaney just got out of prison, where he served time for killing his brother Mark, a cop, and the husband of Nessa Delaney, now hiding out as Freedom Oliver. The matriarch, Lynn, and the three brothers, Matthew, Luke, and John, are scary people that one would not want to encounter. The descriptions are vivid, and I can easily visualize what lies ahead for Freedom when/if they find her. Also headed toward Freedom is the kind brother, Peter, wheelchair-bound with Cerebral Palsy.
Multiple narrators show us the collision course that will bring the dangerous Delaneys into Freedom's new life, just as she is headed to Kentucky to search for her daughter Rebekah, now reported as missing. A cop from Painter, James Mattley, is also looking for Freedom and her daughter, too; he has a soft spot for her and is hoping to find her before the others do.
Will Freedom find her daughter in time? Can she outrun the Delaneys? When she finally reaches Goshen, what will she discover about the small child Magdalene? The story is fast-paced with intriguing characters, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen to them all. Themes of violence, dark legacies, and redemption kept me reading, even as parts of the story and the writing style bogged down for me at times. Recommended for those who enjoy stories that could be ripped from the headlines. 4.0 stars.
Currently living in Painter, Oregon, and spending most nights in a bar, regularly getting drunk and arrested, one might think that her goal in life is self-destruction. But no, she has a larger purpose, and it governs most of her days. She wants to find the children she lost many years before. The children whom she knows were renamed by their adoptive parents as Mason and Rebekah Paul.
In Goshen, Kentucky, where the Pauls live, we see a glimpse of the life of their evangelical world and realize that they have dark secrets and a deadly plan.
In upstate New York, the Delaneys are set on revenge. Matthew Delaney just got out of prison, where he served time for killing his brother Mark, a cop, and the husband of Nessa Delaney, now hiding out as Freedom Oliver. The matriarch, Lynn, and the three brothers, Matthew, Luke, and John, are scary people that one would not want to encounter. The descriptions are vivid, and I can easily visualize what lies ahead for Freedom when/if they find her. Also headed toward Freedom is the kind brother, Peter, wheelchair-bound with Cerebral Palsy.
Multiple narrators show us the collision course that will bring the dangerous Delaneys into Freedom's new life, just as she is headed to Kentucky to search for her daughter Rebekah, now reported as missing. A cop from Painter, James Mattley, is also looking for Freedom and her daughter, too; he has a soft spot for her and is hoping to find her before the others do.
Will Freedom find her daughter in time? Can she outrun the Delaneys? When she finally reaches Goshen, what will she discover about the small child Magdalene? The story is fast-paced with intriguing characters, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen to them all. Themes of violence, dark legacies, and redemption kept me reading, even as parts of the story and the writing style bogged down for me at times. Recommended for those who enjoy stories that could be ripped from the headlines. 4.0 stars.
August 3, 2015
Astoundingly, to me at least, I cannot even bring myself to pick this book back up and continue reading after the second time I cast it aside. After the first time I thought that perhaps I just needed a break. But when I had to put it down a second time and then kept finding excuse after excuse not to pick it back up, I have to come to the conclusion that FREEDOM'S CHILD is just so utterly depressing and morose that I can find absolutely no pleasure in reading it whatsoever.
The title character has zero appeal, not in any tiny way. I started off feeling a bit sorry for her but that shit wore out quickly as Freedom was continually and habitually a miserable shit. Were she in my life I would avoid her like the plague. It's like the author crafted a character entirely out of poor decisions and poor choices with no redeeming qualities at all and then thrust her in our faces page after horrifying page. I find any buzz surrounding this book to be an astounding work of marketing the likes of which may never have been reached before on any level and kudos to the publishing house behind this title, they've truly worked it. Raises all around for that staff, seriously.
I hate to give up on a book; especially one I was lucky enough to get for free from Blogging for Books; especially one with such "buzz" accompanying it; but dear, sweet mother-of-god am I ever putting this thing in my rear view mirror! Next...!
The title character has zero appeal, not in any tiny way. I started off feeling a bit sorry for her but that shit wore out quickly as Freedom was continually and habitually a miserable shit. Were she in my life I would avoid her like the plague. It's like the author crafted a character entirely out of poor decisions and poor choices with no redeeming qualities at all and then thrust her in our faces page after horrifying page. I find any buzz surrounding this book to be an astounding work of marketing the likes of which may never have been reached before on any level and kudos to the publishing house behind this title, they've truly worked it. Raises all around for that staff, seriously.
I hate to give up on a book; especially one I was lucky enough to get for free from Blogging for Books; especially one with such "buzz" accompanying it; but dear, sweet mother-of-god am I ever putting this thing in my rear view mirror! Next...!
May 25, 2015
I enjoyed Freedom’s Child, by Jax Miller. It’s refreshing to read a strong female protagonist who is flawed. So often male characters are allowed to have glaring personality defects, but not women. They’re so often portrayed as the hapless girl that the story happens to, not them taking control of the story. The smoking, boozing, cussing Freedom Oliver is horribly flawed, but we can empathize with her foibles. Many of us have even known someone who she reminds us of.
Jax Miller’s writing style has been compared to a graphic novel, and I’d say that’s not far off. The writing is easy to follow and to figure out what’s going on. The three main subplots and three more minor ones feel like they belong, and weren’t just shoehorned in to pad the book. The writing is terse, and to the brutal point. There’s not as much swearing as say Chuck Wendig in his Miriam Black series, but I see many parallels between both the protagonist and writing style. The subtle snark and real-world storytelling in Freedom’s Child is very compelling.
If you like Wendig’s Miriam Black series, you’ll like Freedom’s Child and vice-versa. Jax Miller has crafted a captivating story, easily worthy of four stars and an instant read. Make sure you read it when it comes out on June 2nd.
Jax Miller’s writing style has been compared to a graphic novel, and I’d say that’s not far off. The writing is easy to follow and to figure out what’s going on. The three main subplots and three more minor ones feel like they belong, and weren’t just shoehorned in to pad the book. The writing is terse, and to the brutal point. There’s not as much swearing as say Chuck Wendig in his Miriam Black series, but I see many parallels between both the protagonist and writing style. The subtle snark and real-world storytelling in Freedom’s Child is very compelling.
If you like Wendig’s Miriam Black series, you’ll like Freedom’s Child and vice-versa. Jax Miller has crafted a captivating story, easily worthy of four stars and an instant read. Make sure you read it when it comes out on June 2nd.
June 19, 2015
I received a copy of this book for review.
Wow! I got this book in the mail yesterday and I sat down to read a chapter or two just so I could get a quick feel for the book (since I was already reading something else). Once I started, I couldn't stop.
A few chapters in, I started getting irritated with the "My name is Freedom.." at the beginning of almost every chapter. But the more I read the more I started to get why the author did this. Freedom was the exact opposite of freedom. She was a prisoner to her own hellish memories and to the alcohol she drank everyday to try to keep those memories at bay.
I read several reviews of this book before I started it and some of them talked about a lack of connection with the characters. I didn't get that at all. Freedom risked everything to find Rebekah even though she had only been in her life for a little over two minutes.
I absolutely loved this book. It was so original and fresh when so many books are just a retelling of another story. I will be looking for more books by this author.
Wow! I got this book in the mail yesterday and I sat down to read a chapter or two just so I could get a quick feel for the book (since I was already reading something else). Once I started, I couldn't stop.
A few chapters in, I started getting irritated with the "My name is Freedom.." at the beginning of almost every chapter. But the more I read the more I started to get why the author did this. Freedom was the exact opposite of freedom. She was a prisoner to her own hellish memories and to the alcohol she drank everyday to try to keep those memories at bay.
I read several reviews of this book before I started it and some of them talked about a lack of connection with the characters. I didn't get that at all. Freedom risked everything to find Rebekah even though she had only been in her life for a little over two minutes.
I absolutely loved this book. It was so original and fresh when so many books are just a retelling of another story. I will be looking for more books by this author.
April 13, 2015
"My name is Freedom Oliver and I killed my daughter." Thus starts the beginning of the novel, 'Freedom's Child' by Jax Miller.
Freedom is in the witness protection program serving bar in a small town in Oregon. The bar is populated primarily by fat bikers who sell meth. Young girls who work there quickly lose their innocence and their teeth begin to rot from the drugs.
As the novel begins, two of the officers from the witness protection unit in Portland come to visit Freedom to let her know that Matthew has been released from prison after 18 years. Matthew is the reason that Freedom is in witness protection. Her protection will be heightened.
I was not very enamored of the writing or the characterization. I read about one hundred pages of the book and then gave up. I just couldn't stay interested. I like thrillers that read like literary fiction and this one just did not hold its own with that genre and I was disappointed.
Freedom is in the witness protection program serving bar in a small town in Oregon. The bar is populated primarily by fat bikers who sell meth. Young girls who work there quickly lose their innocence and their teeth begin to rot from the drugs.
As the novel begins, two of the officers from the witness protection unit in Portland come to visit Freedom to let her know that Matthew has been released from prison after 18 years. Matthew is the reason that Freedom is in witness protection. Her protection will be heightened.
I was not very enamored of the writing or the characterization. I read about one hundred pages of the book and then gave up. I just couldn't stay interested. I like thrillers that read like literary fiction and this one just did not hold its own with that genre and I was disappointed.
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