Customer Reviews

Hell's Bay (Thorn Mysteries)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

James W. Hall is at the top of my "must read list" and "Hell's Bay" justifies that position. It is the best novel I have read in a long time. Hall's characterizations are amazingly fully developed and believable. However, as always, he stunningly captures the sights, smells, and sounds of the Everglades and the Florida Keys to such an extent that the swamp almost becomes a physical character in the final confrontation and climax.

Hall's loner and iconic hero, Thorn, finally gets a full name and fleshed out identity in this installment. Daniel Oliver Thorn knew nothing of his family tree since his parents died in an auto accident on the way home from the hospital after his birth. Suddenly, John Milligan and his daughter Mona schedule a maiden fishing excursion on a new houseboat owned and outfitted by Thorn's former lover and pal, Rusty Stabler, who has convinced Thorn to serve as guide and first mate.

Thorn is shocked and frozen with conflicting emotions when informed that John is his long lost uncle and Mona his cousin. The man with no history beyond his personal memories suddenly discovers he is a scion of one of the wealthiest families in Florida and an heir to Bates International, a multi faceted and multi layered conglomerate perhaps most infamously known for its strip mining of phosphates in central Florida which has made it a hated entity by citizens and community alike--especially when a cancer cluster is identified in Summerland, site of a large gypsum stack thought to be carcinogenic.

A number of intriguing plot threads are engaged by this meeting between Thorn and members of his family that ultimately intertwine and lead to a suspenseful and violence filled climax deep in the Everglades that reduces its human protagonists to the same primeval state of the swamp itself. The storyline actually splits into two major threads as the so called mothership heads deep into the Everglades on its purported fishing excursion carrying Thorn and his ill fitting and suspiciously unlikable newly found family members. A dangerous stalker appears and soon threatens, then rains chaos on the excursion. Why? Who is the stalker and what is the motivation? How does it tie to Thorn and his newly discovered ancestry? What is the real agenda of his relatives and their sudden decision to take this trip with Thorn?

Simultaneously, Thorn's great friend, Sugarman, heads to Summerland to investigate Thorn's background and the recent drowning death of his 86 year old grandmother, Abigail Bates. Was it murder as declared by Mona Milligan or the accident described in the police report? What is the relationship, if any, of the violence and hatred in Summerland and the attacks on Thorn's fishing expedition? What are the real motivations of Timmy Whelan, Summerland's sheriff, to whom Sugarman is both attracted and conflicted.

Hall's pacing and attention to detail make this an enthralling read as the suspense heightens unbearably toward an explosively primal confrontation where purely survival instinct battles an avenging spirit. Indeed, as mentioned, the isolation and vulnerability of the protagonists in the Everglades who fight for their very survival against man as well as nature raises this book to a special level for this reader. I cannot recommend it more strongly!!!

James W. Hall is masterful at creating villains.

It is not just that they never consider the moral consequences of their deeds, carry violence to an art form, create a combination of terror and tension---it is their "nothing to lose attitude" that is most frightening.

The fact that you know these people actually exist is genuinely terrifying. You sense them in real life, and cross the street to stay out of their path.

In Dr. Hall's latest Thorn novel, such a piece of work is Sasha Olson. Her outrage stems from the early death from cancer to her husband and the same disease ravaging her son. She blames it on Bates International who controls a gigantic phosphate strip mining operation in the middle of Florida.

Sasha's initial victim is the Bates International's family matriarch, Abigail Bates. Her preferred macabre method is death by drowning. Immediately before she places her prey under water she asks, "How long can you hold your breath?"

Abigail turns out to be Thorn's grandmother. Thorn's parents were killed in an auto accident shortly after he was born. He never knew about his family tree.

Thorn's uncle and his daughter appear to be clients on a fishing expedition where Thorn acts as a guide.

Sasha is on a mission to wipe out the Bates family. She haunts and hunts the family members deep in the remotest part of the Everglades. The outcome is in doubt until the final chapter.

The characters will hook you just as much as the plot that has as many twists as the Everglades. You just may want to sleep with light on after you experience "Hell's Bay."

James W. Hall writes gritty outdoor adventure novels, usually set in Florida near or on the water. Hell's Bay is more of the same, and marks the return of hard-bitten hero Thorn, who signs on to be first mate aboard the first voyage of former lover and female fishing guide Rusty Stabler's new houseboat. The houseboat will act as a base for daily forays deep into virgin fishing grounds.

The first surprise comes when the client, whose name is Milligan, addresses Thorn by his full name, Daniel Oliver Thorn. Nobody knows his name. He's a Conch, and he has only one name; Thorn. Naturally, there are forces at work he does not understand, and soon he will play a major part in a game that began long before he agreed to make the trip with Rusty. A game that began with the question, "How long can you hold your breath?" and ended with the drowning death of one Abigail Bates, 85, principal shareholder and owner of Bates International, a huge multinational conglomerate.

Thorn is a careful man. He sends his detective friend Sugarman to investigate the activities of Bates International, but Abigail Bate's killer, a woman named Sasha, has already learned that the Milligans, who are next in line to succeed at Bates international, have chartered a houseboat to go fishing on Hell's Bay.

Sasha blames Bates for her husband's death from lung cancer, and her teenage son, just accepted to Yale with a full scholarship, is about to die from the same disease.
They have a motto: head of the snake. They know what needs to happen next, and they are prepared and more than capable of making it happen.

When Sugarman learns Bates International mines Gypsum and piles the radioactive residue in 80 million ton, twenty-story stacks 300 acres at their base, and that an elementary school with an astonishingly high student mortality rate not only borders a nearby stack but has been built with cinder blocks made from the waste, he is able to identify the killer and learn that she has already left to attack the charter fishing party.

But will he be able to warn Thorn in time?

Deep in the Everglades, beyond the reach of cell phones, Thorn has learned something too: he is Abigail Bate's nephew, and she has left a controlling interest in Bates International to him.

"How long can you hold your breath?" Sasha asks her next victim during the long, dark, disastrous night that follows, and the story accelerates from there to its slam bang conclusion. Recommended for lovers of outdoor adventure.

Art Tirrell is the author of 2007 adventure novel, "The Secret Ever Keeps" - set on and under Lake Ontario.

"Simply put...the best underwater scenes I've ever read." Meg W - reviewer

James Hall is one of my favourite authors, although I have to admit that most of his recent efforts have been a little underwhelming. Hell's Bay is Hall's best in a while, although it still falls short of novels like Bones of Coral and Gone Wild. Hall has always favored darker themes, and his writing is generally more lyrical than other authors in this sub genre (the South Florida crime novel). Hell's Bay is as dark as we've come to expect from Hall, but the writing here is leaner than usual.

The Plot: Thorn agrees to be the first mate on a former lover's new commercial venture, taking small groups on week-long fishing expeditions deep in the everglades on a custom-made houseboat. The maiden voyage includes a travel writer and her photographer and a father/daughter pair who turn out to be Thorn's uncle and cousin. Unfortunately, Thorn and his new found family also happen to be the target of a woman whose life was destroyed by Thorn's family's corporate interests, and she seems determined to kill them all in Hell's Bay.

Hell's Bay is not an epic (a scant 300 pages) and features a pretty straightforward plot. There aren't many twists and turns, not much in the way of sub plots, and relatively few characters to keep track of. The basic premise of the novel is a familiar one. A small group of people, in a remote location, cut off from the outside world, are under siege from someone who wants to kill them, but doesn't appear to be in a great rush to do it.

The plot device is familiar (the isolated location is usually a rustic cabin in the deep woods, not a houseboat in the everglades - but it's still familiar). Hall makes good use of the setting though and effectively ratchets up the tension. Hell's Bay is a tightly wound, taut thriller.

What's missing? There isn't much of the dark quirky humour you usually find in a South Florida crime novel. The villain is filled with anger (for pretty good reason) but anger isn't creative and twisted enough to make her a really memorable killer (although I did like her tag line "How long can you hold your breath").

On an irrelevant side note: I did think it was strange that Thorn, a man who hates the trappings of civilization, would think that taking a large house boat deep into the everglades was a good idea. It seems to me that he would think a commercial enterprise going into the pristine, untouched everglades is an obscenity that he would want no part of. (Of course, if he didn't agree to go on the trip - there wouldn't be much of a story).

Bottom line: Hell's Bay is not overly original and is a far cry from Hall's best work, but it is a fast paced, lean, mean thriller.

In this novel, James W. Hall reminded me of Carl Hiassen without the humor. Well written, interesting characters, a company wreaking ecological mayhem on the folks of Florida and a killer on the loose in the Everglades.

If that doesn't wet your whistle then you must have a very full and interesting life.

I have read many of Mr.Hall's novels involving the intrepid and inegmatic Thorn and I would rank this one right up there with the best of them.

From the central Florida of Lithia Springs to Clearwater, off the tourist routes, we have seen the southern equivalent of strip mines and "boney piles" or "slag heaps." These radon sources are at the center of this latst of Hall's attacks on the destruction of the Florida habitat. This is a tightly planned and fast moving novel which for a surprise does not pit Thorn against real estate developers. It also reveals a good bit about his background, which we learned with the recent republication of Hall's early work. All in all it is a good rad. A grand and exciting opening; nice complication and surprise - yes potential reader, Florida small towns have curious ties of kin/friendship that entangle locals in ways mysterious to outsiders- and Hall weaves this into the plot.

I am a bit overwhelmed by the ritualized violence of the ending. It runs on, chapter after chapter. I think it could be compressed. Confrontation with the killer would have sufficed. The meeting with the bull shark is a bit too much. Perhaps Hall's next novel will confront us with a killer manatee overturning kayaks and airboats in Everglades City.

Still, this is a good novel. The description of the glades, back country and the serene beauty of the rivers is enough to carry it all. If you like Florida action novels, this is for you.

For those of you who like Hall's Thorn character, you need to add this to your must read list. In "Hell's Bay" Thorn is once again pitted and tested against some of Florida's greatest wealth and corruption. In Hall's typical style, Thorn is reluctantly dragged into a situation of revenge, corruption and violence. The setting takes place in Everglades National Park. This book also gives you further insight into Thorn's life long friend "Sugar" as both work independently to solve the mystery of the sudden appearance of Thorn's blood family and the mysteries that this familty brings.

Hall has written many good Thorn novels, but this is not up to his usual standard -- perhaps it is time for a sabbatical.

I decided to find another read from JWH after practically achieving reader's ecstasy with UNDER COVER OF DAYLIGHT ( see my review on Amazon). HELL'S BAY does not skip a beat. Suspense leaps off the page from the open. The Keys and The 10,000 Islands are a fine backdrop for mystery. Hall has a magnificent eye and pen for nature writing. His prose is is lyrical and beautiful; and, his writing unequivocally elevates the genre. Thorn makes the scene weary with wear and tear. Like a cross between a Greek God and The Unsinkable Molly Brown; the legend of Thorn the Conch baby who survived a car crash at 1 day old (wherein both parents drown) is re-iterated. More genealogy is revealed. Due to Thorn's newly acquired blue-blood line he is square in the sites of a crazed cracker mama mercenary assassin (named Sasha) with bad intentions, a vengeful axe to grind, and the moves to commit murder and mayhem. The action is in God's Country in The Everglades. Hall pens a paean to the mangrove swamp. The reader is spellbound as the lowly mangrove swamp is revealed as a power-house in the web of life. The River of Grass is also magnificently illuminated. Hall is the successor to John D. Macdonald and has surpassed that greedy, shameless, hack-- Randy Wayne White. At page 100 this baby is rollin' and keeps gettin' better. There is heart thumping ,adrenaline pumping action here. Let me tease the reader by calling one terrifying scene " Teeter and The Gator" ; your move. Caution; not for readers with angina. Well, our man Thorn gets to "kiss his sister" ; and,we almost get the answer to the question whether Florida's incest laws allow brother and sister to copulate. But, in all sincerity, at page 200 this baby keeps hummin' like a '57 Chevy. This is an unmitigated good read. An effective environmental polemic against "gyp stacks"; and the evils of phosphate mining in Florida. This is gold dagger quality. A must read. Good to the last drop. It is also a funky salt and pepper rogue Crockett and Tubbs buddy theme with the Sugarman/Thorn duo. This remains a good read from beginning to end.

Once every so often spending time with Thorn delivers the same shot of pleasure as reading "Alice in Wonderland." For instance, Thorn's crime-busting sidekick Sugarman gets this response when asking to speak to the town sheriff, "If she wants to talk to you, she'll find you. You don't need to find her." Simple. Straightforward. But think about it. It's very logical, but a little bit crazy nonetheless.

"Hell's Bay" by my figuring is James W. Hall's, tenth story featuring Daniel Oliver Thorn, a risk-taking Conch (Key Largo beach bum) who has the same attraction to danger as lime has to an ice-cold Corona. As in most of the previous nine, "Hell's Bay" begins fast and with the violent death of a somebody who is important to the story, a someone any normal reader would expect to be around a little longer to ride along with the action. It's almost as if Hall were writing short stories that don't allow a lot of time to ease the reader into the action or to get familiar with the surroundings.

This time out and only a couple pages into it, Abigail Bates, 86, rents a canoe and is paddling down the Everglades' Peace River. Already she has "spotted three deer in the brush along the river. An eagle, four osprey, a red-tailed hawk feasting on a plump dove, numerous ibis, a handful of limpkins, and a large creature rooting in the shrubs along a section of private farmland." Paddling leisurely on, enjoying the scenery, she "traveled almost an hour downstream before her killer appeared."

That's one thing about James W. Hall that keeps readers off balance. He likes to kill off a significant character early on. Like Hitchcock's knifing of Janet Leigh's character in "Psycho." This unpredictability is unnerving and one of the reason Hall's stories always carry a certain edginess. In Hall's thrillers, I do not ever consider anyone safe, even Thorn.

This time out Thorn is helping out Rusty, a former lover - their fling lasted a couple weeks then ended "as well as break-ups can." He is helping by working as first mate on her luxurious houseboat. The "Mothership" is outfitted in style for very exclusive excursions to unchartered fishing holes deep in the Everglades.

Rusty's first customers, John Mulligan and his daughter Mona announce as soon as they come on board for the Mothership's maiden voyage that they are Thorn's uncle and cousin. Moreover, Mulligan is the son of Abigail Bates, the woman murdered as the story begins. That makes Thorn the dead Bates' grandson and an heir to her immense wealth as the head of the family phosphate conglomerate.

As we're quickly reminded and as everyone in Florida apparently already knows, phosphate is "bigger than citrus, bigger than sugar, nearly as big as Disney." As big of an industry as it is, phosphate mining appears to be equally unfriendly to the environment and just as ruinous to human health - "Millions of years to forge the mineral, a few decades to plunder it, and eons to heal the damage."

No one knows that better than Sasha Olsen, a former member of the Florida National Guard who served with extreme valor in Iraq where she became only the second woman since World War Two to be awarded the military's Silver Star. Olsen's husband C. C. has died of cancer, one of a cluster of cancer deaths that we are told is related to the lethal effects of phosphate mining. Now her son Griffith is nearing his last labored breath, another phosphate victim. Olsen is their avenging angel.

She has crippled the Mothership and has managed to cut it off from the outside world. She is intent on taking revenge against every member of the Bates family, Thorn included. That's the build up for a climatic confrontation that takes place at night under the cloud cover of "Everglades Dark," a darkness "that drank light. Absorbed it, and didn't give it back."

After one initial action burst, Hall develops his story methodically, in measured clips. Halfway through, however, the pace accelerates. Events begin to unfold at a breakneck speed. He builds tension and suspense by cross cutting from one point of view to another, from hunted to hunter. Then he reverses roles.

I doubt that anyone will be surprised how it all turns out. That's okay. Hall may be criticized as formulaic. But by now his formula for suspense and thrill is burnished to a sheen. And we always learn something. This time out Hall digs into the geology of central Florida and the phosphate industry. As readers of the previous Thorn stories also know, the final pages serve as a release - the slow, smooth glide at the end of a rollercoaster ride. "Hell's Bay" is a thrill of a ride and in the end that's what counts most.