Marathon: A Jonathan Stride Novel

Thriller Award–winner Freeman uses the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing as a template for his gripping eighth Jonathan Stride novel (after 2016’s Goodbye to the Dead), putting his own spin on why and how such an egregious crime has been committed. A bomb explodes during a marathon in Duluth, Minn., where conservative rabble-rouser Dawn Basch, a First Amendment activist from New Jersey, has been stirring up trouble, daring Islamic extremists: “If you want to shut me up, you’ll have to kill me.” Suspicion immediately falls on the Muslim community, and Stride, a lieutenant in the Duluth police force, teams with FBI special agent Gayle Durkin to find the perpetrator. When cab driver Khan Rashid is identified as the bomber, Khan goes on the run, and Basch calls for the city’s citizens to apprehend him. More innocent people die. Besides being a chilling reminder of what can happen in our divided society, the book is a fast, compelling read. Agent: Deborah Schneider: Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (May)