Freedom's Child: A Novel

by Jax Miller Narrated by Hillary Huber, MacLeod Andrews

Overview

Freedom Oliver has plenty of secrets.* She lives in a small Oregon town and keeps mostly to herself.* Her few friends and neighbors know she works at the local biker bar; they know she gets arrested for public drunkenness almost every night; they know she's brash, funny, and fearless.*

What they don't know is that Freedom Oliver is a fake name.* They don't know that she was arrested for killing her husband, a cop, twenty years ago.* They don't know she put her two kids up for adoption.* They don't know that she's now in witness protection, regretting ever making a deal with the Feds, and missing her children with a heartache so strong it makes her ill.

Then, she learns that her daughter has gone missing, possibly kidnapped.* Determined to find out what happened, Freedom slips free of her handlers, gets on a motorcycle, and heads for Kentucky, where her daughter was raised. *As she ventures out on her own, no longer protected by the government, her troubled past comes roaring back at her: her husband's vengeful, sadistic family; her brief, terrifying stint in prison; and the family she chose to adopt her kids who are keeping dangerous secrets.

Written with a ferocious wit and a breakneck pace, Freedom's Child is a thrilling, emotional portrait of a woman who risks everything to make amends for a past that haunts her still.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 04/06/2015
Boozing, brawling, and fierce but emotionally fragile, Freedom Oliver has been pissing away her life in witness protection like someone with nothing left to lose—until fate unexpectedly offers her one last long shot at redemption in this debut thriller, which hits like a beer bottle to the head. Freedom, a heavily inked redhead known in a former life as Nessa Delaney, is shaken out of her stupor slinging drinks at a biker bar in Painter, Ore., by the release from prison of her vengeance-bent brother-in-law, Matthew. Matthew is a member of the spectacularly sociopathic Delaney clan, headed by a 600-pound coke-dealing matriarch, and he lusts for payback from the woman he blames for framing him for murder. Even worse, the Delaneys may get their hands on the two now-grown children Freedom gave up for adoption, Mason and Rebekah. When Freedom learns that Rebekah has disappeared from her adoptive home in Goshen, Ky., she's but a stolen bike and Glock away from a desperate race to save the daughter she never knew. Some of the cross-country action strains credulity, but between the gutsy heroine and gale-force narrative, you'd be churlish to quibble. Agent: Claudia Ballard, William Morris Endeavor. (June)

From the Publisher

Everybody in Painter, Ore. knows Freedom Oliver, who makes a jaw-dropping entrance in Jax Miller’s first novel FREEDOM’S CHILD…there’s a reckless power to Miller’s untamed prose…she can toss off a bruising one-liner…or offer a vivid description of Freedom’s brain when she’s off her meds... And sometimes she’s just plain amazing.” —New York Times Book Review

“Seldom has a literary creation bounced off the page with as much raw vitality as Freedom Oliver…one of the standout debuts of the year.”—The Guardian

"It's fast, it's furious, it takes no prisoners." —The Sunday Independent

“[T]his chilling novel moves along so quickly it makes you dizzy. A compelling read but don’t expect to have a good night’s sleep afterwards.” —The Sunday Times

"Beautiful, boozy, unstable and lion-brave, Freedom ought to belong in a comic book, but comes blisteringly to life on the page."
—Telegraph UK

“Miller creates an intriguingly flawed heroine in Freedom…thrilling.” —Kirkus 

“Hits like a beer bottle to the head…” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"...a propulsive, full-throttle tale of revenge and redemption."— The Irish Times

"For fans of fast-paced reads, reckless characters, and noir, this thriller will be a hit." —Library Journal

“Cadenced prose salted with descriptive magic.” —Booklist 

A powerful read from an impressive new voice…Visceral and brazen, Jax Miller’s debut is an engrossingly raw exposé of one woman’s reparation, knotted with storylines from the dirty underbelly of biker bars, Native American legends, religious cults and one shocking plot twist you’ll never see coming…You’ll read nothing like it!” —BookPage

“An unsettling, jarring thriller that'll have you tearing through chapters at page-ripping speed.” —TheShortlist

“A terrific read from a powerful new voice.” —Karin Slaughter, New York Times Bestselling author of Cop Town

“Original, compelling and seriously recommended.” —Lee Child, New York Times Bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series
 
“Freedom’s Child is wildly imaginative, wholly unique, and utterly unapologetic.” —Attica Locke, Edgar-nominated author of Black Water Rising and Pleasantville
 
“A terrific modern noir. Think of a tough-as-nails, tattooed Mildred Pierce trying to do right in today’s corrupt and twisted world. It features a wild and terrifying cast of characters, including the roughest bunch of miscreants since Ma Barker propagated.” —Ace Atkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Redeemers and Robert B. Parker’s Kickback

“Freedom’s Child is a remarkable novel that is as emotionally gripping as it is pulse-pounding. Equally heartbreaking and hard-boiled, Jax Miller has delivered a sensational debut novel.” —Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street
 
“A relentless and fiercely compelling debut. FREEDOM’S CHILD will hold you captive until the very last page.” —Richard Montanari, author of Deviant Way and The Doll Maker

“In Freedom Oliver, Jax Miller has created a daring protagonist that is nothing as she first appears and everything you want her to be: brash, passionate, strong, vibrant and memorable. She deftly navigates religious cults, witness protection, and internal demons all the way through to a surprising, thrilling end.  Freedom’s Child is a page-turning tale of redemption that explores the complicated, intertwined bonds of motherhood and justice.” —Elizabeth L. Silver, author of The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

Library Journal

03/01/2015
Freedom Oliver is not her real name. She is not really from the small Oregon town where she currently lives. Why the fake name and why is she so far from home? Well, she killed her husband, a cop, 20 years ago and is now living in witness protection. Working at a biker bar, Freedom keeps her distance from everyone and just tries to survive each day. She misses her kids and is sorry she ever made this deal with the Feds. What Freedom doesn't know is that her worst enemy has just been released from prison. While inside, Matthew Delaney found out where she is, and now he's coming for her with revenge on his mind. Adding to this unknown danger, Freedom learns that her daughter has gone missing and has possibly been kidnapped. The past that Freedom has kept at bay now returns with a vengeance. VERDICT Miller's debut novel is not for the faint of heart as it's pretty graphic in terms of violence, language, and imagery. For fans of fast-paced reads, reckless characters, and noir, this thriller will be a hit. It may also attract readers who enjoy Chelsea Cain's writing. [Library marketing.]—Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

Kirkus Reviews

2015-03-18
Twenty years after going into witness protection, a woman's violent past comes back to haunt her. Freedom Oliver tends bar at the Whammy in the remote Oregon coast town of Painter, and most nights she's behind the bar, getting blackout drunk. The local cops, particularly Officer James Mattley, know the best thing to do is take her home, not toss her in a jail cell. Mattley is familiar with the stories Freedom tells when she's drunk—and denies when she's sober—especially about her two children, Ethan and Layla, and her desperate fear of being raped. It turns out that Freedom's stories are true—though, in what turns out to be a frustrating habit of Miller's, we're given that information twice. She's really Nessa Delaney from Long Island, accused of killing her abusive husband, Mark, an NYPD officer; she made a sort-of deal with the devil that led to her two young children being given away for adoption—she signed away her parental rights—and her entering the witness protection program. Part of the arrangement meant that Mark's brother, Matthew—despite their biblical names, the entire Delaney family is rotten to the core—went down for Nessa's crime. Now he's out and wants revenge. Freedom is determined to find and protect her children—now known as Mason and Rebekah and living in their own version of hell—no matter the cost. Miller creates an intriguingly flawed heroine in Freedom, but there's simply too much background noise—case in point: Mason and Rebekah are tied to a Kentucky doomsday religious cult—to let the character resonate properly. A thrilling if excessively plotted debut.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169439137
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/02/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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