Customer Reviews

Dead Last

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Jim Hall is an uncompromising novelist. His latest Thorn adventure is an intoxicating, noir shrouded Florida mystery/thriller.

Thorn at best is a conflicted and reluctant hero. After his bride of just one month dies, he withdraws and attempts to destroy all of his possessions. Underneath the rage, he appears to be re-evaluating his existence.

The self-pity is short lived when an Oklahoma Sheriff enters his life. She's 19 years old and as fierce as any 19 year police veteran. She (Buddha Hilton) has a case that interlocks with Thorn's past and present. The case takes Thorn out of his comfort zone in the Keys and into the urban jungle of Miami.

In Miami, Thorn is reunited with a lover from his past (Obituary writer, April Moss) and learns that he now has twin sons. He reacts as best he can...but it's a tough one to come to grips with.

To get to the bottom of the murders, Thorn must match wits with both the law and the bad guys.

Everyone he encounters harbors some secret and suspicions weave through the story. No action (past or present) is without consequence.

"Dead Last" is smartly plotted. The plot is absorbing, disquieting and unpredictable.

Even with just a small cameo from Thorn's best friend Sugarman, the supporting cast is wonderful.

April Moss, his former lover; FBI agent Frank Sheffield; Sheriff Buddha Hilton and April's mom, Garvey are vividly brought to life.

Jim Hall captures the Florida feel in an authentic manner---you can feel the humidity, taste the salty sea breezes and feel the heat of the Florida summer sun.

At the end, past and present lock together for a payoff I never saw coming.

In the finale, Thorn requests one favor from April. The granting of that favor on the final pages is powerful, moving and unforgettable.

Just a great ending that leaves you thinking Thorn may have hope for some happiness in the future.

Sawyer Moss, son of Miami Herald obit reporter April, uses his mom's obituaries as a key source in writing scripts for the cable series "Miami Ops"; a show in which his twin stars. The show's theme centers on a serial killer using obituaries as a guide to selecting his next kill.

However, a fan duplicates the TV show using April's obits to pick and kill. Starkville, Oklahoma teenage sheriff Buddha Hilton travels to Key Largo to ask for reclusive grieving widower Daniel Thorn's help. Thorn's late wife Rusty's Aunt Michaela Stabler (who also was Buddha's adoptive mother) was stabbed to death in Starkville; Rusty's Miami Herald obituary next to her. Thorn agrees to assist the Sooner law enforcement official in finding out who enforces real life to imitate art.

The latest Thorn thriller (see Silencer) is a superb whodunit as the protagonist wonders if someone from the show is willing to do anything for publicity. The story line is fast-paced while containing plausible exciting twists. Thorn is at his best as he prefers to grieve his loss alone, but out of homage to his late wife works the case. James W. Hall always provides a great mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I've read every Thorne novel as well as all of James W. Hall's non-Thorne novels and DEAD LAST just might be this accomplished author's best. It features Hall's dependably gorgeous prose, pitch-perfect dialogue, great pacing, and revelations that are as stunning to the reader as they are to Thorne. An absolute don't-miss!!

McFestus gives 4 stars. Thorn and an Oklahoma deputy pursue a serial killer who is using Miami obituaries as a guide to whom he will kill next. Another enjoyable appearance by the always droll and laid back FBI agent - Frank Sheffield. The mystery is better than average, the bad guy turns out to be less riveting and humorous but maybe creepier than Hall's usual and the thriller aspect is still there. This one evokes some sadness but it's a good read nonetheless.

James Hall has been churning out the Thorn series for years now and it's incomprehensible to me that after all this time his best book could come this deep into the series. And trust me, this is one strong series.

Thorn has continued to develop and in this book, he's at his tormented, driven best. Thorn tries to do what's right and Hall did right by his main man by giving him some serious challenges in this book. I'm not sure I've ever identified as much with Thorn as I did in "Dead Last." And I wish I could tell you why.

I'm not a book reviewer but I'm a serious reader and if you don't find this book compelling you need to find another genre.

Hall is still, after all these years, at the absolute top of his game.

I love all of the Thorn novels and this is one of the best. The plot is never predictable and the final pages are riveting. Thorn the hero never gets old. Can't wait to see where Hall takes him next. Bravo.

Hall delivers again in Dead Last, serving up plenty of action and engaging characters in a vibrant South Florida setting. Thorn faces some of his most daunting challenges yet, from the bad guys that threaten his very existence to his inner battle with grief. A definite page turner that shows Thorn as a multi-faceted character rather than just a stereotypical thriller hero.

This was my first James W. Hall book, and it will be my last. This Thorn character is a complete stereotype and rip off of all the worst parts of Travis McGee, Doc Ford et al. Beyond that, Thorn is completely unlikeable and unappealing as a "protagonist". I was hoping he would get knocked off. Then there is the plot, if you can consider it that. Laughable, predictable, uninspired, dime-store. How did this get published?? Seriously. Truly awful book

James W. Hall has assembled an amazing cast of characters for this complex story set in southern Florida. There are the artsy types who work around the cable TV series "Miami Ops": Gus Dollimore, a marginal producer/director who sees the show as his last shot at the A-list; Daniela Diamond Dollimore, his ditzy daughter and star of the program; Sawyer Moss, who does the scripting, while his twin, Flynn, plays the male lead; and April Moss, the twins' mother who writes obituaries for the local newspaper that seem connected to the serial killer's timetable.

Then there are the police and special agents committed to catching the culprit before he strikes again. They include Daniel Thorn, a reclusive investigator who is recovering from losing the love of his life, his wife of one month, to cancer; Frank Sheffield, a special agent who still thinks that Thorn has what it takes to help him on this case; and Buddha Hilton, a small town sheriff from Oklahoma who comes to Florida tracking a killer who might be the same one the Miami police are after.

Hall has a way with dialogue that zeroes in perfectly on the character who is speaking. They include both the most likable and most despicable characters in the story. For example, director Gus Dollimore is speaking to his writer, Sawyer Moss: "Let me tell you how it works. Two strikes, you're done. You, my boy, got your first strike writing "Miami Ops," which at this moment is dead last in its slot, a serious stinker. Throw in another strike, like even a hint of you being a suspect in a string of murders. You'll never blow your nose near a TV script again."

As in many of the best stories, things are not always as they seem. And that's exactly what keeps the reader guessing until the very last chapter. What is the killer's motivation? Is it the result of some choices made years ago that are now beginning to surface? Is someone connected to the show trying to boost ratings by keeping "Miami Ops" on the front pages? Are there secrets that have not yet been exposed? Hall deftly reveals the answers in a way that often leads the reader on a merry mind chase. Yet, once the killer is exposed, we might give ourselves a head slap for not seeing it sooner.

James W. Hall is a prolific writer who has enjoyed success in many areas of the craft, from poetry to mysteries and from essays to short stories. He has been given kudos by the best of today's mystery writers, including James Lee Burke, who says, "I believe no one has written more lyrically about the Gulf stream since Ernest Hemingway." DEAD LAST is sure to satisfy his fans and win him many new ones, myself included.

Reviewed by Maggie Harding

...still an enjoyable read.

I found the prologue off-putting and a little too revealing. I also found the premise a bit lazy. Thorn going from zero to sixty under a minute on the grieving continuum is a bit much. In spite of the subject matter, this book *feels* less dark than previous Thorn novels, though, and I think that's because we don't really believe in the characters or Thorn's personal interest in the situation. Speaking for myself, I couldn't have cared less who the culprit was among the small range of suspects.

And yet it IS Thorn, hence three stars and not fewer.