Review of Network of Deceit by Tom Threadgill

Review of:  Network of Deceit

Tom Threadgill

I was so excited to read this book after being blown away by the first one in this Christian suspense series, Collision of Lies.  Network of Deceit continues to follow detective Amara Alvarez with the San Antonio PD, from her rise from the lowly Property Crimes division to her new promotion to Homicide.  This book centers around the death of a 17-year-old boy at a popular water park that soon goes from being labeled as accidental to murder.  Threadgill, as always, is a master at plotting and the clues are small but significant.  What I enjoyed best is learning more about Amara, her family, and developing (dare I hope?) relationship with Starsky.  I loved seeing Wylie - Amara's previous colleague, now retired and in a relationship with Amara's mother, again.  He shines as probably the most 3D of all Threadgill's characters in this series!  In short, this is certainly an excellent mystery, crafted with fine detail, snappy writing, and plenty of intrigue. It's definitely several tiers above most thrillers by far with the focus on plot development, story arc, and writing, rather than unnecessary fillers like violence, sex, or gore.  This being said, the first installment of this series (Collision of Lies) should qualify Threadgill for Lifetime Achievement Award of some kind in its pure creativity, research, and brilliant suspense.  It's tough to put forth a Grammy-winner and then try to have a follow-up!  I would have liked this one to be the precedent, and for Threadgill to have saved Collision of Lies for the final book in this series as it is sure to leave readers completely breathless.