From the book’s Table of Contents, which appears in the shape of a pyramid, to the opening line: “John Gowan didn’t like summing up his life but did it constantly,” readers know they are in for an out-of-the-ordinary ride with Martin Kendall’s THE FREEDOM BUILDING. As a psychological thriller, it soon becomes apparent the book’s main character is perhaps not necessarily who he initially introduces himself to be: A solid man from a good family with decent childhood memories. An ex-husband and father of a daughter whose small, chosen family have moved on. Proud co-founder of an architectural firm created with an old college chum, which is by now handling ever-bigger clients. The problem is: there was a huge, possibly North African terrorist group-induced explosion at the Zenith Star building, one of those ugly, modern glass structures lacking in warmth and humanity in John’s opinion, which somehow he and the Gowan firm received a contract to redesign–only waking from a car accident with amnesia, John finds these details impossible to recall.
And it isn’t for lack of trying. It’s as if some dark force keeps stopping him from remembering anything about this particular building. But the media have questions. So does his company, the client, and the people in John’s life. In covering up whatever oddness is happening to him, John Gowan manages to publicly make a damning statement that seems to imply the new design for the Zenith Star building was inspired by the terrorist act. This is not something anyone else is open to hearing.
Remarkable in its use of surprising word play along with unexpected plot twists, Martin Kendall’s THE FREEDOM BUILDING covers plenty of ground. Israel. Muslims. Fast-talking attempts at recovering the narrative when public faux pas are made, not only by John but also by Zenith company chairman Mr. Wilkinson’s son, whom many parties then want to see forced to step down. There are the opinions of television experts and politicians. The effects of such well-publicized turmoil on market share. And there’s John’s old friend and business partner Pete Williams, who may have an agenda of his own.
Tautly-paced, THE FREEDOM BUILDING by Martin Kendall churns from one mysterious development to another as hero John Gowan along with the book’s reader tries to figure out what exactly is going on.
~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader