Book Review: Thrash Track by Julie Hiner
Title: Thrash Track (Detective Mahoney Series Book 5)
Author: Julie Hiner
Release date: July 28th, 2024
*Huge thanks to Julie for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*
I previously read ‘Devil’s Track’ which is book four in the series, and when I saw Julie had a new one coming out in this world, I was very excited for her. Then, when she asked if I wanted a review copy, I was very excited for me, ha! Excited because I enjoy Julie’s storytelling, love the world she’s created here and the mixture of music and detective narrative work so well together. Couple that with the main character of Stella Mahoney and you know you’re in for a good time. Much like with book four, Hiner indicates that you don’t have to have read any of the prior books and I found that to be true here. While there are some call backs to book four I recognized (and probably some to earlier books), I never felt lost, nor as though I’d need to stop and go back and read prior releases.
What I liked: Taking place in 1999, Stella gets called to a found-body crime scene behind a restaurant near Electric Avenue, the party strip of town. There, they find a victim, who has had their skin removed from their hand and not many other clues.
Hiner does a great job of setting the stage for what’s to come and the expected cat-and-mouse game of detective and killer. Throughout, we get a great look into each of their minds and it works really well that we are essentially shown who the killer is early on and learn about their motives and what makes them tick, while also seeing how Stella works, how her mind works and how her and her partner figure things out.
The highlight of this book (and the previous one) was the character of Stella. Part rocker chick, part strung out detective, part adult grappling with changes in their lives, Stella is masterfully crafted and is very, very relatable. She is the lead singer of the book if you will, the one that has the spot light on them and the one that all eyes are drawn too, no matter the situation.
Hiner easily takes us from 0-100 mph time and time again throughout and the finale of this is, I think, much more put together and fleshed out than Book Four wrapped up (not that the ending there was horrible). This one just left a taste in my mouth and scenes replaying in my brain, which is always what you want in an ending.
What I didn’t like: Actually, in this case, I found at times there were too many music references. They’re purposeful and not only set up different parts of the book, but also pay homage to different groups, but at times it became a bit of a distraction when things were running along and suddenly a real name/group was tossed into the book and it pulled me from the fictional narrative. Minor issue on my end, but something I noticed.
Why you should buy this: This book is a pulse-pounding read. Stella is in deep in this one and Hiner decides that’s not far enough, pushing our main character to the very brink. As she always does, Julie deftly weaves a tale punch full of mystery, complexity and buckets of blood.
Had a total blast with this one!
4.5/5
