Hard Riding — Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is an award winning Canadian author who has written detective novels, non-fiction, historical fiction for young adults, television scripts for children, documentary scripts, theatrical plays and educational videos. His two most recent books, The End of War and Hard Riding show the depth and breadth of his writing.

Hard Riding is a detective novel set in Toronto, where Bill lives. The book comes out of his personal experiences. As a young man he was a Probation Officer and got to know many police officers, judges, criminals and young offenders. He supervised probationers, participated in criminal trials and learned how police officers operate.

One thing Bill soon came to understand was that police work has little in common with its depiction in most movies and books. It is attention to detail, hard work, cross-examination of suspect and the gaining the co-operation of witnesses that is important. A good police officer needs to understand our society and the social context of the crime. Hard Riding is a police procedural, following Detective Mariner as he struggles to find justice in the death of a young woman cyclist.

The End of War could not be more different. It is a work of adult non-fiction that attempts to understand war by focusing on empires. The book concludes with an optimistic assessment of the possibilities of peace and concludes that social and political conditions have changed dramatically in recent years so that finally the end of war is a real possibility.

But one element is common to both of these books -- in fact it is a characteristic of all of Bill's works -- they are written in an accessible style and language so that they can be appreciated by a broard audience.