Robin’s Review of Freebourne
Title: Freebourne
Author: Salman Shaheen
Genres: Murder Thrillers
Serial Killer Thrillers
Science Fiction
Source: Kindle, Paperback
Freebourne
After learning of his wife’s affair with his best friend and business partner, divorced and unemployed MindTech entrepreneur Dr Harry Coulson arrives in the idyllic English town of Freebourne, looking to start a new life. But any hopes of quietly picking up the pieces of his broken world are shattered when he steps off the train to discover the body of a young woman lying in the snow. It’s almost as if she’d been left there for him to find. Harry does everything he can to help. But as a stranger arriving on the night Freebourne witnesses its first murder in over a century, he not only becomes a suspect in the woman’s killing but finds himself caught in a deadly game between science, faith, and free will — in a secret far darker and more terrifying than anything he could have imagined.
Robin’s Review
What Did I Just Walk Into?
Divorced tech bro Harry Coulson thinks he’s moving to a sleepy English hamlet to lick his wounds, but instead steps off the train and immediately finds a corpse in the snow. Freebourne hasn’t seen a murder in a century, so naturally everyone assumes it’s Harry’s fault. From there it turns into part whodunnit, part AI fever dream, part “Black Mirror ate Midsomer Murders for breakfast.”
Here’s What Slapped:
That opening scene: step off the train, boom—dead body. Welcome to Freebourne, Harry.
Snowy English countryside atmosphere done right: cozy but make it creepy.
AI + faith + free will = brain-melting cocktail of philosophy and paranoia.
Everyone is shady, everyone has secrets prime small-town thriller juice.
The twist? Let’s just say I stopped chewing mid-bite.
What Could’ve Been Better:
Some sections got so convoluted I wasn’t sure if I was reading the story or trapped in Harry’s malfunctioning AI project.
A couple of characters felt like placeholders for “Look! Suspicion!” rather than actual people.
The gore occasionally tipped over from effective to “okay, we get it.”
Perfect for Readers Who Love:
Black Mirror meets Midsomer Murders
Small towns with big secrets
Philosophical thrillers that ask “what if AI messed with your brain?”
Snow-covered corpses and cozy dread
Reviewed by Robin for Robin’s Review
Walk With Me Into the Dark
