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Birdwatching in the lower Chesapeake Bay can lead to some wondrous discoveries. Fritz
Tullis, a defrocked college history professor, lost his tenured position with a Texas
university due to his own recklessness and lack of restraint and has retreated to an
abandoned sharecropper's shack on his family's large Maryland estate to lick his wounds.
He is spending his enforced sabbatical rebuilding the shambles of the shack, while he
contemplates his self indulgent past and his uncertain future. With his life in a
tailspin, he vows to curb his reckless behavior and never again become involved in
something he cannot control.
He spends his days drifting in a small boat in a cypress swamp, photographing birds,
sipping beer and nursing daily hangovers. He soon discovers a rare sight –-- an
endangered young Whooping Crane amongst a flock of Sandhill Cranes, all completely out of
their range. He covets his secret find even while fully intending to turn the Whooping
Crane, whom he has dubbed Ollie, over to wildlife authorities. He is reluctant, however,
to allow the world to encroach on his solitude, so geared with the only things of value he
has left --- his state of the art cameras, video equipment, and computers --- he is
amassing a log of rare photos and allowing himself the small pleasure of keeping his
harmless secret.
One early dawn, while photographing his flock, he sees a plane touch down on the remote
private landing strip of an adjacent property. Curious, he focuses his camera's long lens
on the plane and witnesses a shocking point blank assassination. Far enough away to remain
hidden under cover of swamp growth, he clicks furiously as the drama unfolds. He soon
finds himself exactly where he doesn't want to be –-- a central figure in a dangerous
situation with everyone but himself in control.
BIRD'S EYE VIEW moves deftly from a tale of a man in search of himself to superbly crafted
meditations in the wilds of Maryland to growing suspense as he finds himself reluctantly
ensnared in an international scandal. The many multifaceted characters unfold in an
interesting and engaging manner; you find yourself caring about what happens to them and
cheering when the bad guys meet their fate. Just when I thought the plot was becoming
predictable, it took a pleasantly surprising turn.
This is Freedman's seventh novel. His first, AGAINST THE WIND, was a New York Times
bestseller.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea (HOST BKPG ROZ)
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