Red Line: A Matt Sinclair Mystery Paperback – August 11, 2015

This crime novel Red Line was one of the more compelling crime novels I have read. I feel Brian Thiem has woven his real life experiences which in itself is amazing into a world of which I was allowed to enter. I got to know Matt Sinclair and his inner demons as well as his compelling need to do right and see justice in the world. I would recommend this book to any crime buff or for that matter crime writer.

A good read. Easy to see that the author was in law enforcement. Certainly knew his way around the characters and the processes of police work. Doesn’t hurt that the main character is also a friend of Bill W’sI am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Mysteries and police procedurals have been my forte for many years. I had read most of the US based procedurals, and went to the UK, Ireland and Scotland included, and to Norway, Sweden, Japan, and Russia. This book by author, Brian Thiem, has brought me back home. This is the kind of police procedural/mystery that interests me. Intelligent protagonist, well read, keen insight and someone who can think on their feet. Of course, this person has issues, don't we all. I read his second book, 'Thrill Kill', first, but quickly found his first one.Oakland, California is often known as that small city next to San Francisco. However, we learn quickly that Oakland has many pluses and minuses. But, what they do have is an excellent Homicide Squad, and it is kept busy. Matt Sinclair is a man who did his time in the Iraq war, suffers from PTSD, has difficulty sleeping, and is returning to Homicide duty after a requisite time in rehab for his alcoholism, and on desk duty. Now is his time to once again prove himself. He is a Sargeant in the Oakland Homicide Squad, goes to AA, and tries his best every day to remain sober. He has been called the scene of a murder, and meets his new Sargeant Cathy Braddock as his partner. She took over when he was asked to leave and was mentored by Sinclair's old partner, Phil. This is a murder of a young teenage boy, found propped up on a bus stop bench. What we find out is that Sinclair cares about the people he meets, the people they once were, and the families. He will work hard to uncover the truth and find the murderers. No one is too poor for him to care. 'Red Line' Is a fast moving, at times riveting book. Many areas of interest are brought to the fore, young inexperienced teenagers, drugs, journalists, TV reporters, the 'higher ups' in the police force, and Sinclair's colleagues. We meet the murderer as he plans his next victims, and are with him as he follows them, and ...And, as the bodies start to pile up, there are very few areas that go unexplored.Recommended. prisrob 11-24-16The writing is precise, well turned phrases, the terms used by homicide and other departments explained as part of the story. The story is very well laid out and brings us to places we did not expect. Lots of room for more in this series.The private life of Matt Sinclair is explored, but as we know from book two, there is always more.

I really enjoyed this book even though it was a bit slow getting started. Once it took off, I found it difficult to put down. I have now started the third and last book so far in this series. I certainly hope he writes more of them. I live 45 minutes from Oakland, Ca. It is fun to recognize all the familiar streets and places. I worked in LE for a number of years and his procedural information is spot on but a bit boring at times....I'm not so sure the reader needs to know all the incidental details....it feels like "filler". My only other complaint is that I, like many readers, are a little over the "damaged" police officer. Of all the thousands of LE officers with former military experience and war time background, less than 1% of them suffer from PTSD and few from alcohol addiction. It seems that having some kind of syndrome, anxiety issue or addiction has become the latest popular competitive sport. It is much more likely they suffer from relationship issues...

This wasn’t a bad novel, but it was nothing special.It was a well told story with a good blend of tension, action, and emotion. Thiem does a great job of slowly revealing that what appears to be similar crimes are actually two separate ones.I’m not a fan of novels that include chapters in the killer’s POV. They can disrupt the flow of the story, especially when they appear irregularly, as Thiem does here. They also sometimes give too much away, diluting the climax. I’d much rather stay in the main character’s POV and see how he or she fits the clues together to catch the killer.One thing seemed off early in the book: How can a pathologist scoop a beaker of blood from the chest cavity of someone who didn’t die of internal bleeding?I won’t actively seek out more novels by this author but I won’t past them up if they come my way.

It is hard to believe that "RedLine" was a first novel by Mr. Thiel. There was not wrong move nor a dull moment in the story that grabbed this reader's attention and never let go. His hero, Matt Sinclair, a cop with the Oakland, CA police dept. is a recovering alcoholic, but not a burned-out case. To the contrary, he loves his job as a homicide cop, giving it all he can to catch the killer who is on a murder spree which involves apparently unconnected victims.The investigation -police procedural plot drives toward the unmasking of the killer, but not until the corpse count grows.With many crime novels, the identity of the killer, where it is not revealed by the author as a device to build a sense of taunting competition between good guys and bad, can be guessed at. Not in "Red Line" , at least to me. The was one small clue, but I won't drop a spoiler . The identity surprised me, but the author played fair by giving a hint, a tiny one. Great stuff.Trigger warnings: not much . A bit of cursing, some romantic sexual talk, some violence( it is a murder novel, right?) "Red Line" would look good on the screen.Recommendation: Grab "RedLine" to read and enjoy. Oh, the next book in the series will be issued soon. Can't wait.

Written with authentic police language. Doesn't include romance novel situations. Flawed but likeable main character. Recommend to readers of detective novels.

A page turning story with great characters. Only problem is to wait for the next one.

Somewhat contrived plot line, occasionally very improbable.