Thrill Kill

Starred review from May 30, 2016
At the start of Thiem’s hard-hitting sequel to 2015’s Red Line, Det. Sgt. Matt Sinclair of the Oakland, Calif., PD and his police partner, Cathy Braddock, arrive at a crime scene in a park. Hanging by the neck from an oak tree is a dead naked woman. Sinclair recognizes the victim as Dawn Gustafson, a Midwest runaway turned prostitute whom he tried to help years earlier. Sinclair, who once did a harrowing stint in Iraq as part an Army CID detachment, manages to maintain his hard-won sobriety and overcome his terrifying nightmares as he plunges into a morass of political and big-business corruption in his search for Dawn’s killer. Thiem, a former Oakland police detective and retired U.S. Army officer, offers insights into the prices paid by those sworn to protect and defend an increasingly obstructive and even hostile citizenry. His portrayal of a decent man’s efforts to uphold civilization in a decaying urban jungle rings all too disturbingly true. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Agency.