The Kill Circle
A father and son hunting deer in the mountains of Colorado happen upon a stunning sight: a vintage sports car laying upside down in an icy stream, its elderly driver dead behind the wheel. The local sheriff’s department rules it an accident; the driver was apparently going too fast, missed a hairpin turn on a snow-covered road, and fell off a cliff to his death. Officials at the Central Intelligence Agency fear otherwise. The driver, Rico Perris, was the second retired CIA intelligence analyst to turn up dead in as many weeks under uncertain circumstances. Both victims were once assigned to a top-secret, internal review of CIA documents that delved into the agency’s long-rumored involvement in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Were they killed as part of a continuing cover-up to prevent the public from learning the truth of what happened that fateful day in Dallas in 1963? Cordell Logan’s former Alpha teammate, Buzz, who still works in the intelligence community, wants him to help investigate what looks increasingly like an ominous conspiracy. Logan would just as soon be left alone, content to operate his small civilian flight school in swanky Rancho Bonita–until Buzz introduces him to Layne Sterling, a brilliant, beautiful CIA case officer assigned to the investigation. Working together while pretending to ignore their simmering mutual attraction, she and Logan are soon caught up in a high stakes. cat-and-mouse game with powerful forces unknown, a game that could destroy them both. Facebook Instagram Tumblr The Kill Circle Studio Review Order Now Praise for The Kill Circle “Ex-military assassin Logan possesses both a quick wit and a thick skin. Another fast and highly enjoyable read by the talented Freed. Carl Hiaasen meets Randy Wayne White.” –Booklist “Entertaining, thrilling and, at times, absolutely hilarious. This is exactly how David Freed writes and why I buy his books. The plots are strong and fast paced, the characters are well defined and although the stories are very serious by design, there are also filled with lots of laugh-out-loud moments.” –Victor Dima, the AudioBookBlog “The Kill Circle is a fierce, often frenetic, and surprisingly funny novel whose characters are as complex as the plot they’ve been written into. The author deftly balances investigative savvy and romantic intrigue with subtle touches of backstory and ruminations on an event that’s haunted America for more than half a century. Despite the enormity of that topic, Freed never gets bogged down in its minutiae, resulting in a book that should satisfy both genre enthusiasts and assassination buffs, regardless of which side of the conspiracy/lone gunman debate they fall on. Ultimately, it’s the mystery and mastery of Cordell Logan that will sustain readers—and demand that they do their own recon on one of the great series protagonists of our time.” –John Valeri, The Criminal Element Complete Book Review from CriminalElement.com, written by John Valeri: There’s something to be said for writing what you know. David Freed, an instrument-rated pilot who has also worked extensively in the United States intelligence community, uses insider intel to inform the characters and circumstances that propel his Cordell Logan mysteries. Further, he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, screenwriter, and teacher—all disciplines that are evident in the breadth of his fiction. The Kill Circle—the series’ sixth entry—finds Cordell Logan contentedly retired from his former life as an assassin for the government. Now, he is residing in posh Rancho Bonita, California, where he inhabits a garage apartment with his non-sociable cat, Kiddiot, keeps company with his elderly dynamo of a landlady, Mrs. Schmulowitz, and operates a small civilian flight school nearby. Despite his training and former occupation, Logan is an aspiring Buddhist; still, certain personality types and proclivities—such as the uncivilized brute he encounters in Chapter Two—give him pause: Once upon a time, I wouldn’t have waited to discuss those things. We would have continued the conversation right then and there, and our little talk would have ended with him in intensive care or, quite possibly, the morgue. But with maturity, if you’re at all fortunate, comes the dawning awareness that 10 percent of life is what you make it; the other 90 percent is how you take it. You learn when to pick your battles and the wisdom that most battles ultimately aren’t worth fighting to begin with. Discovering Buddhism late in life had helped me understand that lesson, even if I sometimes fell well short in practicing it. The yin and yang. The lover of peace. The purveyor of death. I didn’t want to harm anyone but I would if I had to.Of course, relative peace doesn’t make for a compelling whodunit. Consequently, Logan’s solitude is broken when he receives a call from a former comrade-in-arms, Buzz (who is still active in the intelligence community), asking him to assist in a sensitive matter that has ties to the JFK assassination. Though Logan initially declines the assignment, the allure of Layne Sterling, a fellow agent whose beauty is matched by her intelligence and quick wit, causes him to reconsider; he finds himself attracted to Sterling in a way that he hasn’t been to any other woman since his deceased ex-wife. This unexpected surge of emotions is one that both tantalizes and terrifies him, adding to the narrative tension. I liked her smile, the gentle way she teased me, her self-confidence. At what point, I wondered, does liking someone start to add up to something more than that? I was about to do something I’ve rarely done—share with a woman what I was starting to feel for her—when a waiter showed up and interrupted the moment. He was a tall, chiseled twenty-something, with long sideburns, carefully cropped stubble, and an arrogant air that suggested little trouble with the ladies.Their assignment—particularly timely, given the impending release of our government’s final batch of classified documents on the case—is to quietly investigate the deaths of two men who have perished within weeks of one another under questionable circumstances. Both were former intelligence analysts who once
The Three-Nine Line
More than forty years after being freed from the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” three aging former American prisoners of war return to Vietnam at the urging of the U.S. State Department. Their mission: to shake hands and finally make peace with their most brutal former captor, a guard they’d once nicknamed, “Mr. Wonderful.” Washington hopes the reconciliation will help cement an ambitious, multi-billion dollar trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam. But when Mr. Wonderful is found murdered, communist officials accuse the ex-POWs of the guard’s slaying, and the trade agreement threatens to fall apart. Enter Cordell Logan. Working with a newly formed intelligence unit that answers directly to the White House, Logan is dispatched undercover to Hanoi with two objectives: identify the real killer of Mr. Wonderful, and somehow get the former POW’s out of Vietnam before they can be tried by a kangaroo court and sentenced once again to prison. The mission will test every ounce of Logan’s resourcefulness and resolve, putting him in danger as never before. Facebook Instagram Tumblr The Three-Nine Line Studio Review Order Now Praise for The Three-Nine Line “A well-written thriller with enough plot twists to keep both Logan and readers wondering what will happen next. Along the way, the story explores raw feelings that still exist among veterans on both sides of the Vietnam War and touches on a host of contemporary issues from spy satellites to human trafficking. But what makes each Cordell Logan novel especially enjoyable is spending time with the protagonist, whom Freed allows to narrate his own story. Logan is affable, funny, and introspective. Through four books now, he’s still trying, and often failing, to apply the principles of Buddhism to a life that’s in constant conflict with them. And, unlike many of today’s action heroes, he is uncomfortable with the violence he is so capable of and does his best to avoid it.” –Associated Press “A nifty detective story with juicy writing and a very likeable hero.” –Kirkus Reviews “The Three-Nine Line is an efficient and satisfying standalone mystery with a dollop of political commentary about the Vietnam War to give it some heft and enough red herrings to keep most mystery fans hooked. Cordell Logan’s shadowy network of former special ops colleagues—and his real life readers—probably couldn’t ask for a better friend.” –Book Browse “Outstanding…Freed pulls off the remarkable feat of writing an entertaining, first-class suspense yarn while addressing serious political and personal issues in an evenhanded, informed manner.” –Publishers Weekly Order Now
Voodoo Ridge
At the height of the Cold War, a twin-engine Beechcraft bearing top-secret cargo departs from the Santa Paula Airport near Los Angeles and disappears into a blinding rainstorm. Six decades later, on a flight over the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California, flight instructor and former military assassin Cordell Logan discovers what appears to be aircraft wreckage strewn on a remote, all-but-inaccessible, alpine hillside. His life as he knows it will never be the same. Logan and his beautiful ex-wife Savannah have planned a weekend getaway in the ski resort of Lake Tahoe. But upon landing in the Ruptured Duck, his aging Cessna, Logan agrees to put those plans on hold to help lead a sheriff’s search and rescue team to the mountainous crash site. The team finds the long-missing airplane with the mummified remains of its pilot still at the controls, along with something much more recent and far more sinister: the body of a local young man, apparently shot to death only hours earlier. Someone has beaten the rescuers to the site to salvage the plane’s mysterious cargo and will clearly do whatever it takes to profit from it– including kidnapping and threatening to kill Savannah if Logan refuses to help them carry out their illicit plans. With the clock ticking and the love of his life in jeopardy, Logan finds himself drawn into a pulse-pounding whirlwind of a mystery as dangerous as any he had ever known. Facebook Instagram Tumblr Voodoo Ridge Studio Review Order Now Praise for Voodoo Ridge “The tension-packed plot and the fine prose, including well-drawn characters and vivid portraits of the natural landscape, are just what fans have come to expect from this author.” —-Bruce DeSilva, the Associated Press “Freed has a serious surprise in store for the reader this time, and he skillfully builds up to the shocker. The unusual pilot- sleuth premise, the jaunty style, and the genuine suspense combine to make this one a thoroughly entertaining installment in what has become a fine series.” –Booklist “This is…an economically told thriller which makes the simplicity of a linear plot a delight to watch. The tension is skillfully maintained as we watch Cordell’s sense of duty collide with his love for his ex-wife….My delight in Voodoo ridge is not saying I want all my books to be grim, but there does come a point when the endless sunlight of modern fiction becomes tiring and a healthy dose of reality is appreciated. If you enjoy thrillers with a darker edge, this is a superb example of the form and you should snap it up.” –Thinking About Books Order Now
Flat Spin
Flight instructor Cordell Logan is a man with a dark history and dwindling savings who shares a converted garage apartment in California’s ritziest beach towns with the world’s most intellectually challenged cat. A quick-witted, sardonically humorous man struggling to come to terms with his violent past by flirting with Buddhism, Logan is going nowhere fast—until his ex-wife, Savannah, approaches him years after their divorce and begs him to investigate the unsolved murder of her second husband, Arlo Echevarria. At first Logan declines. After all, Savannah left him for Echevarria, and Logan’s bitterness lingers. But he knows something Savannah doesn’t and few others do: he and Echevarria were once “go-to guys” assigned to a top-secret military assassination team code-named “Alpha.” Was Echevarria’s death the result of the team’s clandestine activities? Logan realizes he has no choice but to find out. Relying on his aging Cessna, the Ruptured Duck, along with the deadly skills he learned working for the government, Logan sets out to find Echevarria’s killer. His hunt will take him from the Los Angeles haunts of ruthless Russian mobsters to the penthouses of Las Vegas billionaires, risking his life while struggling to come to terms with the woman he still loves, despite her having broken his heart. Facebook Instagram Tumblr Flat Spin Studio Review Order Now Praise for Flat Spin “Freed is a superb writer. His prose is at once muscular and musical—and sometimes verges on poetry.” –Associated Press “Virtually impossible to out down. If murders and mysteries are your passion, this is a book for you!” –Portland Book Review “Cordell Logan, a retired National Security assassin, just wants to be a flight instructor with his beloved 1973 Cessna, the Ruptured Duck. Then his beautiful ex-wife Savannah asks him to help the killer of her husband, Logan’s former friend and fellow agent. Freed, a pilot, screenwriter, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist makes his debut with a wisecracking on-the-wagon protagonist who finds his violent past still has its uses. This series launch is a delightful romp through the hard-boiled scene with a literate hero who admits he is so far failing to find tranquility with the Buddha. Highly recommended.” –Library Journal (starred review) “When you write your first thriller, it’s wise to stick with what you know, and Freed, a superb writer, knows his turf. He mixes a hard-boiled attitude with flashes of wry humor. The riveting plot and fine prose are sure to make Flat Spin one of the best debuts of 2012.” –Huffington Post “Pulitzer-winning reporter Freed brings his knowledge of aviation, the military and law enforcement to his fiction debut. His story is full of interesting episodes and feels authentic.” –Kirkus Reviews “Flat Spin is a superior whodunit-style mystery, written in such an effortless manner that it is difficult to believe this is the author’s first crime novel. The characters are all well-drawn, tweaked in all the right ways to be ever so slightly larger than life. The plot is credibly developed…Flat Spin will almost certainly be remembered as one of the best mysteries of the year; don’t miss it.” –Mysterious Reviews “Deftly plotted, capably balancing humor and serious themes. Readers will find Cordell Logan, intrigued by Buddhism and still emotionally vulnerable from his divorce, an engaging protagonist.” –Publishers Weekly “Flat Spin will almost certainly be remembered as one of the best mysteries of the year… This is the first work of fiction by Freed, a Pulitzer Prize winner for journalism—but hopefully not his last.” –AudioFile “The only thing I didn’t like was that the book came to an end. This is definitely a book to add to your shelf.” –Clay Stafford, Killer Nashville “The real appeal here lies in Cordell’s wise-cracking persona (there’s a definite touch of Robert. B. Parker’s Spencer) and in the flight scenes, melded seamlessly into the story. Has there been a pilot-sleuth since Sky King, star of the 1950s TV series? There is one now, and he’s a keeper.” –Booklist “Best international thriller Tom Clancy didn’t write.” –Chicago Center for Literature and Photography “A perfect takeoff.” –Michael Connelly Order Now
Hot Start
Lounging naked one sweltering night in the swimming pool of their opulent estate in seaside Rancho Bonita, an infamous big game hunter and his wife are gunned down at long range by an expert sniper. Local police quickly charge an outspoken animal rights activist with the murders, and with good reason. The evidence against him is overwhelming. But then rumors begin to surface that other suspects may have had their own reasons for wanting the couple dead. Pilot and former government operator Cordell Logan would rather not get involved in the case. He has better things to do, like trying to earn a living running his struggling flight school. However, he and the accused animal rights activist have mutual friends who persuade him to do some preliminary digging. What Logan soon discovers will lead him down a rabbit hole of deceit as vexing and potentially lethal as any he’s ever known. Pursuing the truth will expose him to a corrupt Congressman with ties to the White House, a European prostitution ring, and a ruthless Czech crime lord who will not hesitate to kill in protecting his business interests. Facebook Instagram Tumblr Hot Start Studio Review Order Now Praise For Hot Start “David Freed is unusually well equipped to tell tales like the one in his new crime novel, Hot Start. He won a Pulitzer Prize covering the police for The Los Angeles Times, covered war in Kuwait and Iraq, worked for a government security agency…and is an experienced pilot. Like his protagonist, Cordell Logan, he owns his own airplane. The result is another well-written yarn with both a streak of quirky humor and a sense of authenticity.” –Associated Press “Fast paced with generous dollops of humor and populated with vividly crafted and colorful characters.” -Library Journal (starred review) “Freed’s fifth mystery has a great pace, abundant humor, and a lively cast of supporting characters.” –Kirkus Reviews “Packed with rim-shot snappy dialogue and sharply barbed observations, David Freed’s Hot Start is a tasty romp. When it’s time to choose the right moments for Buddha and the right moments for something stronger, Cordell Logan is the right guy for the job. You’ll find him in the fray, cool as a cucumber and ready to fire off the next one-liner.” –The New York Journal of Books “A double murder propels Logan’s well-paced, action-filled fifth mystery featuring flight instructor and former government assassin Cordell Logan….as he deals smoothly with thugs, prostitutes, politicians, and other lowlifes enroute to a satisfying conclusion.” –Publishers Weekly Order Now
Fangs Out
With his execution moments away, the condemned killer of famous Vietnam War pilot-hero Hub Walker’s daughter makes a stunning assertion: the real murderer is a prominent U.S. defense contractor and close friend of Walker’s. Incensed by what he regards as a groundless allegation, Walker wants to hire someone to dig up information that will debunk the convicted killer’s claims and restore his friend’s reputation. That someone turns out to be none other than Cordell Logan. Walker is a Medal of Honor recipient married to a former Playboy Playmate of the Year. They live in a mansion overlooking the Pacific in the exclusive San Diego enclave of La Jolla. Logan figures the job will be little more than a paid vacation and an opportunity to help restore his relationship with his beautiful ex-wife, Savannah. But soon after flying her to San Diego in his beloved, aging Cessna 172, the Ruptured Duck, Logan is sucked into a twisting vortex of lies as perplexing as it is potentially deadly. The deeper he digs, the further away the truth appears to be, and the more in peril he finds himself. Who really killed Hub Walker’s daughter and why? Somebody wants to prevent Logan from finding out, and they will stop at nothing to silence him. Facebook Instagram Tumblr Fangs Out Studio Review Order Now Praise For Fangs Out “Told in first-person, Fangs Out is the second book in the widely acclaimed Cordell Logan series, and like its predecessor is filled with bullet-speed wit, original characters (and a cat to die for), plus a fast-paced and intelligent plot line, climaxing with more than one surprise…David Freed is a master of mordant one-liners for which Raymond Chandler’s leading man, Philip Marlowe, would have given his eye teeth. Highly recommended for crime and thriller fans alike.” –The New York Journal of Books “Freed’s skills as a reporter, screenwriter, and pilot made Flat Spin a delight, and Fangs Out continues that roller-coaster pleasure. Logan is a stubborn, wise-cracking, ordinary guy with some extraordinary skills and a passion for flying.” –Library Journal “Freed, an experienced pilot, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a military affairs expert with an active security clearance, spins his suspenseful plot with the same muscular prose, hard-boiled attitude and flashes of wry humor that made the first Cordell Logan novel a critical success.” –Bruce DeSilva, Associated Press “An intriguing mystery. When Logan is in the air, Freed’s series really takes off.” –Booklist “Filled with humor and pop culture references, Fangs Out is a quick read that will leave even the most jaded reader eager for Cordell’s next adventure. Oh, and about that title. You are just going to have to read the book to find out what the term means.” –Bolo Books “Fangs Out is a fast-paced, lean plot which positively crackles with wit and invention.” –Thinking About Books “In Freed’s crackling second mystery…the appeal Logan, a wise-cracking, marriage-challenged loner trying to practice Buddhist tenets, once again proves his mettle as both pilot and investigator.” –Publishers Weekly “Freed entertains with the wisecracking Logan and a catalogue of offbeat characters. But is is not all humor. Freed, whose own flying experience is front and center and woven seamlessly into the story, has crafted a fine mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.” –Mystery Scene Magazine “Exceptionally well-plotted with plenty of nicely positioned twists and turns and cleverly conceived paths of misdirection.” –Mysterious Reviews “All I can say is, “wow”….This one is outstanding. Action-adventure, mystery, death, and destruction, what more could a discerning reader want! The author has put together a great story.” –Paul Johnson, ReadersFavorite.com Order Now
Meet David
About David The son of a street cop, David was born in Georgia, grew up in Denver, and spent nearly two decades as an investigative journalist, mostly with the Los Angeles Times. He served as The Times’ lead police reporter, reported from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, was an individual finalist for the Pulitzer Prize’s Gold Medal for Public Service, the highest award in American journalism, and shared in a Pulitzer for the Times’ coverage of the 1992 Rodney King riots. David later worked as an investigator and associate field producer for CBS News before selling a screenplay to 20th Century Fox. He subsequently spent more than 10 years writing movies in Hollywood while also working as an independent contractor with the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and US Army’s Battle Command Battle Lab. Since then, he has written extensively for national magazines, including Air & Space Smithsonian, where was a contributing editor, and the Atlantic, where his expose, “The Wrong Man,” was honored by the American Society of Magazine Editors as one of the year’s best feature stories. David is a former special assistant professor of journalism at Colorado State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and is a member of CSU’s Media Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was honored as the university’s College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumnus. He holds a Master of Liberal Arts degree from Harvard University and currently serves as a creative writing instructor at Harvard’s Extension School. When not teaching, writing, or flying his airplane, you can find him at home in Santa Barbara, California, playing with his Australian shepherd, Oz, and working on the next Cordell Logan mystery. “Deep Fury” is the seventh installment in his critically acclaimed Cordell Logan mystery series. Published Works “The First U.S. General to Call Trump a Bigot”The Atlantic “California’s Camarillo Airport is Nirvana for Small Airplanes”Air & Space Smithsonian “We Built This City”Air & Space Smithsonian “Meet the Jets Competing to Become the Next Air Force Trainer”Air& Space Smithsonian “Vietnam, the CIA, and the World’s Fastest Aircraft”Air & Space Smithsonian “Cameramen in Vietnam”Air & Space Smithsonian “The Missile Men of North Vietnam”Air & Space Smithsonian “Crime Pays”United Airlines Rhapsody magazine Air Boomtown: Gulfstreams and Dassault Falcons crowd the skies over Williston, North Dakota.Pacific Standard magazine The pilots and fans dedicated to prolonging the stardom of the venerable Beech 18.Air & Space Smithsonian Emissary: Never send a man to do a robot’s missionAir & Space Smithsonian California’s Medical Marijuana MorassMiller-McCune The Wrong Man: FBI Anthrax InvestigationThe Atlantic Audio Interview with David Freed regarding FBI anthrax investigationNational Public Radio News Analysis: LAPD Slow in Coping with Wave of Unrest: Response: But the rapidly unfolding violence might have overwhelmed any police department.LA Times Ride-Sharing With the Rich: How Fractional Jet Owners Get Out of Flying CoachAir & Space Smithsonian Crime Overloads L.A. Justice SystemLA Times Special Investigations Section: Watching Crime Happen: LAPD’s Secret SIS Unit : Citizens Terrorized as Police Look On LA Times Facebook Twitter Instagram Tumblr