Thrill Girl

Jack
Curran
Genre: 
Mystery

It's 1951 Los Angeles and reporter Jack Curran is hot on the trail of Thrill Girl, a blonde vigilante dispensing her own kind of justice. As Jack hunts down clues to identify the elusive blonde, he meets rich girl Alana Maxwell and her wheelchair-bound brother, Tomas. But what seems straightforward to begin with turns deadly as Jack uncovers tentacles that lead back to the Second World War, to experimentation, legends and to more deaths. Determined to follow the story where it leads, Jack takes on the police, the military establishment and a shadowy pursuer, relying on his instincts, a few good friends, and a code of honor that won't let him give up or give in.

In an interesting twist, Jack Curran is both author and main character in this fast-paced, suspense-filled noir tale that brings 1950s Los Angeles to life. Curran expertly weaves the history of World War II and the geopolitics of the fifties with life in pre-Miranda, pre-civil rights, and pre-sprawl Los Angeles. Jack dismisses his own war service, but it's the idealism for which he fought, his belief in the first amendment and the public's right to the truth that makes this unlikely hero stand out. "Thrill Girl" thrills in a gripping, tautly-written tale that doesn't let up from the first page until the last.  

Tricia Hill