Dunne, May 2003, 23.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0312310161
Chicago police department veteran Detective John Thinnes is unhappy when he is forced into a partnership with the beautiful rookie detective Dom Franchi. She isn't elated that her new partner is part of the good old boy network. Both realize they have to make the best of a bad situation and their immediate superior thinks that in time it will prove to be a good pairing.
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Their first case turns out to be a brutal rape in which the victim is so battered her own roommate doesn't recognize her. The rapist's next target dies but the police recognize the signature of the perpetrator and connect him to two other rape cases. A break sends Thinnes and Franchi to the northern suburb of Waukegan where a series of rapes years ago bear a startling resemblance to the crimes being committed in the present. Just when they think they have a lead in the case another woman is abducted and the bickering duo has to race against time before she is abused.
Anyone who likes to read a solid police procedural is going to love THE FELINE FRIENDSHIP, in spite of the crime topic. The plot is an action thriller that doesn't neglect in depth characterizations. It is fascinating to watch the partnership of Franchi and Thinnes evolve from prickly co-existence to one of steady understanding and trust. Michael Allen Dymmoch is an expert at creating a believable investigation so that readers understand what police officers have to deal with on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see how the Thinnes-Franchi partnership holds up in future novels.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
