Rating: Summary: The Return of Thorn Review: After taking some time off from his series character, James Hall has returned to writing about Thorn, a man who treasures his fierce independence only slightly less than his love of crusades. When last seen, Thorn was recovering from a mad doctor's unnecessary treatments, but now (without any real explanation) he is back to peak health and enjoying the mellow life of fishing, beer and beautiful women.In this story, his idyllic life is disrupted when a plane crashes while he is out at sea. It soon becomes apparent that this crash was not accidental, but is the result of a dysfunctional family and the nasty weapon they have developed. This also gets Thorn entangled with Alexandra Rafferty, the heroine of Hall's previous novel, Body Language. For Hall, one of the sharper writers in the field, this is not his best effort. Compared to past novels, his villains this time are only slightly warped and the chemistry between Thorn and Alex is relatively minimal. In addition, Thorn isn't as interesting as in the past, perhaps getting stuck in the rut of many series characters. Nonetheless, even weaker Hall is entertaining reading, and there is a lot of fun along the way. If you've never read Hall, you'd think this was pretty good crime fiction (and you'll be even happier when you read his other books). If you are a Hall fan, you should find this slightly disappointing, but still a worthwhile read.
Rating: Summary: The Return of Thorn Review: After taking some time off from his series character, James Hall has returned to writing about Thorn, a man who treasures his fierce independence only slightly less than his love of crusades. When last seen, Thorn was recovering from a mad doctor's unnecessary treatments, but now (without any real explanation) he is back to peak health and enjoying the mellow life of fishing, beer and beautiful women. In this story, his idyllic life is disrupted when a plane crashes while he is out at sea. It soon becomes apparent that this crash was not accidental, but is the result of a dysfunctional family and the nasty weapon they have developed. This also gets Thorn entangled with Alexandra Rafferty, the heroine of Hall's previous novel, Body Language. For Hall, one of the sharper writers in the field, this is not his best effort. Compared to past novels, his villains this time are only slightly warped and the chemistry between Thorn and Alex is relatively minimal. In addition, Thorn isn't as interesting as in the past, perhaps getting stuck in the rut of many series characters. Nonetheless, even weaker Hall is entertaining reading, and there is a lot of fun along the way. If you've never read Hall, you'd think this was pretty good crime fiction (and you'll be even happier when you read his other books). If you are a Hall fan, you should find this slightly disappointing, but still a worthwhile read.
Rating: Summary: Too careless Review: Beign my first Hall/Thorn book, wasn't sure what to expect. Felt that Thorn was too foolish to take seriously. No remorse shown when fellow he recruited was killed. Good college try, though.
Rating: Summary: SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS Review: I AGREE WITH AT LEAT ONE OTHER REVIEWER THAT YOU ARE LEFT WITH SOME QUESTIONS. I DID LIKE THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHING ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRST CHAPTER. BUT I WAS DISAPPOINTED THAT WITHIN THE FIRST 100 PAGES I HAD A PRETTY GOOD IDEA WHAT THE WHOLE STORY WAS ABOUT AND FINISHED THW BOOK TO SEE HOW IT CAME TOGETHER.thE BOOK DID HOLD MY ATTENTION AND WAS A PRETTY FAST READ. THERE ARE A FEW QUESTION I WOULD LIKED CLEARED UP BUT OH WELL. THIS BOOK HAS JUST ABOUT THE DEFINITION FOR DYSFUCTIONAL FAMILY
Rating: Summary: I truly enjoyed my crow - prepared by a master Review: I disliked Body Language intensely -- so much so that I wrote a highly uncomplimentary review. Didn't really like the characters, didn't like the plot, and missed Thorn. And now, James Hall has managed to let us know his daughter (Alex) well enough to like her, and brought back son/hero Thorn with more depth, more complexity, and the good sense to know a keeper when he has one. The story allows for unbelievable heroism and action, and is written so well that it seems truer than most news programs. Consider my earlier words eaten, with relish.
Rating: Summary: great writing makes for enjoyable read Review: I know I've enjoyed a book when I go online to discover which other books the author has written. As soon as I finished 'Blackwater Sound' I found myself searching for the next book by James W. Hall that I would read. Hall's charachters are vividly drawn and though flawed, very likeable. I was happy to discover that Hall's newest novel revisits Thorn, Alexandra, Lawton and Sugarman as I've grown to love them. In 'Blackwater Sound' Thorn is accidentally visited by an injured old man, Lawton Collins, who is suffering from not only a knife wound but the early stages of Alzheimer's. He likes Lawton and tries to help him by giving him a place to stay and some rudimentary first aid. Lawton wanders off and his daughter, Alexandra, in an effort to find her father encounters Thorn. She is understandably upset with Thorn's irresponsible care of her dad and each goes off separately to search for Lawton and to investigate his connection to the murder of a shady friend, a missing electronic device and a recent airplane crash. Inevitably they find they must work together to solve this intriguing mystery. The plot is original, the writing crisp and the charachters are unforgettable. You'll really enjoy this one!
Rating: Summary: Another great JW Hall book with some minor flaws Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book when I found out that JW Hall was bringing back Thorn, Sugerman and Alexandra. The book is almost written in a lyrical way and for that reason enjoyable to read. The first chapter is right out of Hemingway and takes your breath away: a killer Mama Marlin. And as usual, Hall brings to the fore some real funky villains. Talk about brotherly love to the extreme. But there were so many unanswered "holes" in the story. Didn't she and her father bump into him in a previous novel (Body Language)? And what's with this NERF box or gun. I'd hate to be in the same boat with it when someone pushed the button and turned off all the power. Holy Buck Rogers! And what's with the big explosion in the marina? What caused it? How does it relate to the story? Of course, Thorn got to rescue Alexandra and see her in the all together. And how did Alexandra get injured? I thought she was back on the boat. And finally the ending... I'm not going to give it away, but...c'mon JW! You traded a grouper for a marlin. Bring back the BIG MAMA MARLIN!
Rating: Summary: What happened? Review: I'm a huge fan of James Hall's work and have read everything he's published to date except his poetry, and I've only missed that because I can't find it. For me, his strength lies in the balance of characterizations, plot, and description--at his best his prose is truly poetic. Only a few living authors in his genre are his equal; among them I would count Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and James Burke. That these three, along with Robert Crais (another author whose works I greatly enjoy) wrote complementary reviews for the blurb of Blackwater Sound really whetted my appetite for Hall's latest, and I began it with real anticipation. One of the Hallmarks (pun fully intended) of Hall's writing is a plot in which big issues are at stake--it's not just a case of solving or preventing a murder; ecological catastrophe, grisly human experimentation or the ownership of Miami are up for grabs. Blackwater Sound is no exception, and this novel concerns an experimental weapon capable of destroying electrical systems at a distance--devastating for airplanes, banks, and in fact most of modern life. Hall's antihero Thorn comes to the rescue--in spite of the fact that in his last appearance (Red Sky at Night) he was suffering from drug-induced paralysis and a gunshot from which we were told he might not fully recover. This crisis, which was so devastating and profound for Thorn, is not even mentioned in passing in Blackwater Sound. Frankly I think we've seen enough of Thorn for a while--although I like him, he's losing his credibility unless he really is a bad-luck magnet; as one of the characters says: "the baddest luck I've ever known." But the book starts beautifully. Here are the first two sentences: "The marlin was the color of the ocean at twenty fathoms, an iridescent blue, with eerie light smoldering within its silky flesh as if its electrons had become unstable by the cold friction of the sea. A ghostly phosphorescence, a gleaming flash, its large eye unblinking as it slipped into a seam in the current, then rose toward the luminous surface where a school of tuna was pecking at the tiny larvae and crustaceans snagged on a weed line." To me, there's a sense of joy in the language that Hall conveys, and I'm captivated by writing like this. Inexplicably, though, somewhere along the way the book becomes just another thriller. As other reviewers have mentioned, there is an explosion which is not explained and very subtly set-up {actually the paperback differs from the hardback in that a few lines are added concerning it}, and which propels events in a direction they might not otherwise have taken. Thorn and the female protagonist, Alexandra, fall deeply and suddenly in love most unconvincingly since they have been deeply antagonistic towards one another. One of the minor characters who Thorn enlisted in his aid is killed and there is no fallout whatsoever--Thorn apparently never gives him another thought. And finally, the villain who had acted so coolly throughout the rest of the book comes back for revenge on Thorn with apparently no more of a plan to kill him than to outdraw him. Compare this writing from the end to those gorgeous opening sentences: "He pulled her up in his arms and held her for a moment, both of them watching as Lawton hauled the grouper up from the shallows. The old man bent down and scooped up the fish and turned around, holding up his silver prize with both hands." I do understand that writers may handle words differently at the beginnings of books than they do at the end, but where has the poetry gone, where is the evocative description? The ending seems flat to me; serviceable, but nothing special. Writing literary thrillers is certainly a special challenge and I'm grateful that Hall accepts it; but I hope for a return to his old magic in his next work.
Rating: Summary: not for me Review: If you like books that are very violent, this may be for you. If you like books to which the explanation of everything in the plot is, "psychopath" this book may be for you. I hated it. To be fair, in general i hate books where the device to explain an otherwise unbelievable set of characters is: one or more of them is a psychopath, so nothing needs to be explained, he or she is "evil" and could do anything. In addition, the characters are cardboard, the plot, such as it is , is dumb, and the most sympathetic character is a fish.
Rating: Summary: Truly no Carl Hiaasen this Review: The most noteworthy part of this otherwise forgettable book is the half dozen quotes on the back of the hard cover edition I read. Each is an author who's output I follow and I usually enjoy reading. This is a first. Normally this many blurbs include some by authors I don't know or don't like. So this, for me is a special case and deserves comment.
Now I don't want to go off on a rant here, but I am not a callow moron. Countless times I finish an inferior book and am left to speculate darkly what book industry machinations ordained that Elmore Leonard or Michael Connelly blurbs shall be associated with it. Long ago I stopped believing it was the benign kindness of these paragons, who in their wisdom detected some promise in the work that completely escaped me. Because often I can't believe they'd actually hold still to read the thing. My social life became pretty much a dud since I overheard a friend's wife on the phone tell someone, He had to go back to school, at his age, while scuffling to the john. Surely only an unemployed smuck like me, unable to buy books under present circumstances winds up on holiday break with the library closed and has nothing better to do with his afternoon than finish a substandard piece of genre fiction. What excuse could Michael Connelly possibly have?
So because of its list of, for me, impeccable blurbs this case leaves me not merely wondering once again, What gives? but offended. Unlike the product of these favorites, the work at hand is lifeless and formulaic. It contains no humor, twisted or otherwise. No anger, vicious or righteous. Its author has no talent for character. Instead of showing us character's with behavior and dialogue he tells us how, for instance the main character's (I wince typing Thorn) two lovers are different. The villain(ess) is especially mechanical and bloodless which I find unusual. Often a cleverly wrought villain strikes me as the only apparent reason an otherwise undistinguished piece of genre fiction gets published. And the ploy of putting dialogue from gangster movies into the mouth of one of the bad guys to mark him wasn't just stupid because it's hackneyed; it glaringly illuminated the flatness of the rest of the dialogue. The only quality this author has is the stamina to grind his dreary harebrained plot and stock characters out to completion. But it's merely a fact that there's a lot of junk genre fiction out there, some worse than this. What I object to is its talented producers' collusion in hoodwinking their fans by promoting an example of it like this one, rather than using their blurbs to help us sift out the truly entertaining.
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