Thomas Griffin’s New Novel
A COLD CASE
About the New Book
“A Cold Case keeps the reader in suspense!”
“… we follow a complex investigation that is always evolving, with fascinating, frequently ambiguous characters that keep us interested. It is an exciting book, well-written and engaging.”
It is a story about time and memory. The protagonist pieces together meaning from the evidence he encounters over a thirty-year time span: the first-person narrative that moves back and forth between the last years of the Cold War and the present. The novel explores overlapping milieus in Frankfurt whose uneasy coexistence sometimes erupts into violence: competing elements in the German underworld, the personalities and bureaucracies of German policing, American military personnel and military police, German and American academics. The reader shares the immediate experience of the American investigator, a former officer of the American Military Police who was once stationed in Frankfurt. The reader shares his reflections, as well, as the older man's accumulated experience becomes a lens through which he views his younger self. The dramatic and violent events of the first investigation, interspersed with the calm and reflective atmosphere of the second search, create the novel's particular rhythm.
Thomas Griffin’s Debut Crime Novel
“Minimalist sketches of streets and neighborhoods disclose an easy intimacy with the city of Berlin, creating a sense of place without recourse to the retro-expressionist references to Weimar-era decadence that so often seem to come with the territory. […] Thomas Griffin’s The Kreuzberg File is recommended for mystery readers and any reader with a tie to Berlin.” - Review by K.W. (Read this review on Goodreads.com)
The Kreuzberg File is a cross between a thriller and a mystery. The action takes place in the recent past. The central character is the private investigator Bill McDonald, who works for a law firm in New York. Because of his knowledge of German, he is sent to Berlin when an important file, seemingly the property of his firm's major client, is missing. The reader follows Bill's perilous search for the missing file, which begins in Berlin and leads him to Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. Deadly violence becomes a regular part of his pursuit because a criminal organization is also looking for the data of innovative medical research contained in the file. What seems initially to be a straightforward job turns into a frustrating task because Bill finds out that he was never given the complete information about his case. There are moments when it is not even sure whether the file actually exists. Bill's situation becomes very more tenuous when he realizes that he cannot fully trust his own employer.
About the Author
Thomas Griffin is a freelance writer with a background in cultural studies. He earned a university degree in history with an emphasis on modern Europe. He had teaching appointments at American and European universities and also worked as a college administrator. Presently, he spends his time as a novelist, essayist and consultant in New York and Berlin.
