A new novel from Brian Freeman is always a reason to celebrate. This time, he steps away from the Jason Bourne series that he has taken over to present us with a stand-alone thriller featuring completely original characters. PHOTOGRAPH is full of plot twists and surprises, in addition to a good deal of dangerous situations.

Our protagonist, Shannon Wells, has a unique voice and is quite memorable. She is working as a private investigator and keeps her office at the bar/restaurant of a Florida East Coast beach hotel, Sunrise Shores, which is owned by her father. The novel starts off with a bang and introduces characters and plot elements in rapid succession. Some are both clever and complex, like the individual speaking to Shannon in the opening paragraphs who has heterochromia, which is one blue eye and one green eye. This irregular condition most certainly will reappear at some point in the book.

"The final act of PHOTOGRAPH is a raucous and incredibly suspenseful one as Shannon never quite realizes the true danger she is in. This is a satisfying read by a master of the modern thriller with something for everyone to enjoy."

Shannon has taken to life as a PI as a way to experience catharsis. She was the victim of rape and the physical scarring of her face. The perpetrator was released by the court only to attack another woman and murder her. Shannon is visited by Kate Selby, whose mother was one of her clients. Kate reports that Faith has been killed and needs to know why she had hired Shannon a year ago. Under such tragic circumstances, Shannon reluctantly shares that Faith had asked her to find out who she really was.

Kate wants Shannon to reopen the investigation, not only to determine Faith's true identity, but to track down the person Faith was running from who might have had reason to seek her out and harm her. She gives Shannon a coffee table book, Millennium Memories, that includes a picture her mother took of some nondescript motel with a young girl standing by a vending machine. Kate and Shannon become convinced that this was not a random photo and is somehow linked to the unfortunate fate that befell Faith.

Unfortunately, the book's author perished in a housefire along with all of their work. Having just the photograph to go by, Shannon can identify a car with what looks like a Michigan license plate and other features that will help place it in a certain time and location. Along with this mystery is another one that has always haunted Shannon in such a way that made her believe she may have been reincarnated. The murder of a young woman named Jenny Curtis, which happened before she was born, has stayed with her. Readers will have their spider sense tingling about this one and how it might play into the current investigation.

Shannon finds an investigator from Michigan who has been working on the Jenny Curtis case, and it is indeed tied to that of the mysterious Faith Selby, whose identity Shannon eventually learns. I must tread lightly as the clues that pop out of this story like kernels of corn on a hot stove are worth savoring and respecting by keeping unspoiled. The final act of PHOTOGRAPH is a raucous and incredibly suspenseful one as Shannon never quite realizes the true danger she is in. This is a satisfying read by a master of the modern thriller with something for everyone to enjoy.