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Freedom’s Child
Jax Miller
A heart-stopping debut thriller about a woman named Freedom, who will stop at nothing to save the daughter she only knew for two minutes and seventeen seconds.Call me what you will: a murderer, a cop killer, a fugitive, a drunk…Freedom Oliver has spent the last eighteen years living a quietly desperate life under Witness Protection in a backwater of Oregon after being exonerated of her husband’s murder.But now Freedom’s daughter Rebekah is missing, the same one who was wrenched from her arms just moments after birth. Freedom slips her handlers and embarks on an epic journey across the US to Kentucky, determined to find her child.No longer under the protection of the U.S. Marshalls, Freedom is tracked by her late husband’s psychotic brothers, who will stop at nothing in their quest for vengeance. But they are not the only threat she faces as she draws nearer to the horrifying truth behind Rebekah’s disappearance…
Copyright (#u91bc10fd-43c2-5ba4-9742-17336419c8bd)
Harper
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Copyright © Jax Miller 2015
Jax Miller asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Cover photographs © Jacket layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Cover design © www.headdesign.co.uk (http://www.headdesign.co.uk)
Cover photographs © Anne Heine/Alamy (chapel in landscape); Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel Images (female figure)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, living or dead, real events, businesses, organizations and localities are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. All names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental. The only exception to this are the characters Dean Scott, Syd Fraser, and Tony Wishart – who have given their express permission to be fictionalized in this volume – and Hector, the resident Banff Police Station ghost, who hasn’t. All behaviour, history, and character traits assigned to these individuals have been designed to serve the needs of the narrative and do not necessarily bear any resemblance to the real people. The Tarlair Outdoor Swimming Pool signage appears courtesy of Aberdeenshire Council.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books
Source ISBN: 9780007595914
Ebook Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9780008132798
Version 2015-12-02
Praise for Freedom’s Child: (#u91bc10fd-43c2-5ba4-9742-17336419c8bd)
‘A terrific read from a powerful new voice’
Karin Slaughter
‘Original, compelling and seriously recommended’
Lee Child
‘Seldom has a literary creation bounced off the page with as much raw vitality … one of the standout debuts of the year’
Guardian
‘There’s a reckless power to Miller’s untamed prose … she’s just plain amazing’
New York Times
‘A relentless and fiercely compelling debut. Freedom’s Child will hold you captive until the very last page’
Richard Montanari
‘A propulsive, full-throttle tale of revenge and redemption’
Irish Times
‘Freedom’s Child isn’t just a great debut, it’s a great book with one of the most angry, complex and compelling heroines this side of a certain girl with a certain tattoo’
Simon Toyne
‘I loved it. Such an original new voice’
Kate Medina
‘Brilliant’
Julia Crouch
‘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
‘Freedom’s Child is a page-turning tale of redemption that explores the complicated, intertwined bonds of motherhood and justice’
Elizabeth L. Silver
‘Horror, mistrust, deception and a cracker of a female protagonist. A top-notch, right rollicking read’
Writing.ie
‘A ferocious, witty, tough-as-nails debut’
The Times (South Africa)
‘Abounds with a charged rawness which is quite compelling to witness’
Jaffa Reads Too
‘This is a tense, absorbing read with a restless energy about it that appealed to me completely … I’m sticking with this author for life’
Liz Loves Books
Dedication (#u91bc10fd-43c2-5ba4-9742-17336419c8bd)
For Babchi and the boss of the city.
And to Pat Raia, the Robin to my Gotham.
Table of Contents
Cover (#u3bf91da9-2bc1-5fb5-b41b-aeb338687265)
Title Page (#u2a65a191-5e4c-5ae1-b34f-3e240432e141)
Copyright (#u01833ade-13f4-593d-8d6b-1109cae5c062)
Praise for Freedom’s Child (#u1d44d08e-c31e-539c-98ce-8c4943944007)
Dedication (#u814e7161-6cdd-51e4-96be-933890775210)
Prologue (#ub9a5133c-9c8b-5318-9664-f11e26efa016)
Part I (#uc20ce825-76c1-5e8a-8b02-7b7095f212f8)
Chapter 1: Freedom and the Whippersnappers (#u0b9ff948-42ff-5bfb-bcf8-26a7103b4cb2)
Chapter 2: Mason and Violet (#u157a48af-eb5c-5708-a0f5-42d2c570acda)
Chapter 3: The Cockroach (#ucf8b95e9-21a3-5236-aacf-573463b7994e)
Chapter 4: Home to ma (#ufd97ca1b-21ca-5a12-bb73-c1c309ecbae8)
Chapter 5: The Need to Know (#u6f045af8-3cd7-5625-b6d7-43057c06998c)
Chapter 6: The Music of the Devil (#u6a1ec7d6-9c06-551f-bc5f-50fede97c2e9)
Chapter 7: High School Sweetheart (#u44ad4f94-d429-5685-8311-5ac705e5a656)
Chapter 8: The Suicide Jar (#u1dc9d4dd-05f6-5acc-9a0b-712e1d502375)
Chapter 9: Freedom and Passion (#ue2136444-c111-51e9-8240-61310f57dbed)
Chapter 10: The Delaney House (#ue3de75b9-f3cc-5c4a-99bb-0b180c715eb6)
Chapter 11: Copper (#u849ca1d5-0724-5edc-9134-14b8694fe37c)
Chapter 12: The Firm and the Archangel (#ufeab913d-0078-5154-b09f-584a8574643e)
Chapter 13: On The Breast (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14: Mattley (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15: The Empty Womb (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16: Peter (#litres_trial_promo)
Part II (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17: The Bluegrass (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18: Freedom in Jesus (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19: The Third-Day Adventists (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20: The Nose of a Viper (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21: A Favor (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22: The Land of Freedom (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23: Freedom and Sacrifice (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24: Freedom and the Road Less Traveled (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25: Cat’s Cradle (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26: The End of Autumn (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27: America the Beautiful (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28: Charmed (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29: The Legend of Freedom (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30: Cuckoo (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31: Sunset (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 32: Run, Rebekah, Run (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 33: Speak Udda Debble (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 34: The Whipping Post (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 35: Freedom and Discovery (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 36: Retired (#litres_trial_promo)
