Off The Chart [Import] [Paperback]

James Hall (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007112769
• ISBN-13: 978-0007112760
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,567,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A high octane character rich thriller, February 27, 2004

By 

Larry Gandle (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Off the Chart: A Novel (Hardcover)

Thorne, the hero of so many of James W. Hall's thrillers is once again faced with a difficult situation. An insane "pirate", Vic Joy, wants his land in a prime location on the Florida Keys to build a very large resort. He resorts to kidnapping Thorne's best friend Sugerman's daughter. Thorne tries to use his past relationship with Vic Joy's sister, Anne, to discover where the child is being held. It is a race against time to rescue the child before the insane Joy decides to kill her.
James W. Hall never fails to please with his high octane thrillers rich in characterizations and depiction of the South Florida locale. OFF THE CHART is no exception. There is, however, a certain sense of predictability in the plot. A recurring theme in James W. Hall's books is the maladjusted siblings. This has been used in several prior Hall novels. Names of the villains are very original and memorable whether it is the notorious Butler Jack or the current Vic Joy. Technology has finally caught up with the characters in that contact with the kidnapping victim is via satellite internet connection. The plots of the books by James W. Hall are well planned. It is apparent the author knows where he is taking us and both reader and author have fun on the ride. As with all the thrillers by Jim Hall, this one comes highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exhilerating!!!, June 18, 2003

By 

nobizinfla "nobizinfla" (Windermere, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Off the Chart: A Novel (Hardcover)

James W. Hall's "Off the Chart" is a suspenseful, complex tale populated with three-dimensional characters in a vibrant setting.

A modern day high seas pirate with a Mafia background, a violent psycho pirate wannabe, a former Secretary of Navy working covertly for a black helicopter organization converge to alter the life of confirmed loner Thorn's newly idyllic life.

Via deceit and deception the villains coerce and convince Thorn's best friend Sugarman and girl friend Alexandra to abandon him---leaving Thorn to fend for himself versus the land-grabbing pirates.

In the attempt to seize Thorn's valuable five acres of waterfront property, the pirates abduct Sugarman's nine-year-old daughter---introducing a ticking clock subplot that leads to a nightmare confrontation.

The crisply written high octane pacing never slows as the action moves from the Keys to the middle of the ocean to the Central American jungles.

Jim Hall never disappoints---superior in every way.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This one doesn't measure up to the rest, October 14, 2008

By 

Art Tirrell - "The Vitaman Effect" (upstate ny) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Off the Chart: A Novel (Thorn Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Early in this one, still-thorny and always-horny Thorn finds himself trying to explain to Alexandra, his current squeeze, the kiss a waitress named Anne Joy has just planted on his lips. Turns out, Anne and Thorn had a passionate but short-lived fling a while back. She's the sister of the notorious hoodlum Vic Joy, and guess what? We haven't heard the last of her - or her brother.

Don't think for a second Vic Joy hasn't heard about Thorn. He has. Vic's the type who pulls the legs off frogs, and collects the testicles of family enemies. Not the kind of guy you want plotting to bring you down.

It's not long at all before a hoodlum named Marty Messina arrives at Thorn's doorstep in the Florida Keys and offers him 3 million for his property. When Thorn declines to sell, it's the signal for Vic to put into motion a plan designed to change his mind, and fast.

James W. Hall likes to build his stories by jumping from one character's head to another's. The Thorn novels, for example, include a minor character named Sugarman, a private eye who is usually enlisted to help Thorn in some way. At some point in the story, you can expect to find yourself in Sugarman's head as he investigates some bit of the puzzle facing Thorn in the main thread of the story.

Hall is particularly adept at building his villain's characterizations this way, and his stories always feature vivid and believable bad guys.

Vic Joy's plan is simple; he grabs Sugarman's 11 year old daughter and holds her for ransom. The deed to Thorn's property for the girl. Take it or leave it.

This time, though, when the jump to Sugarman's head comes, it ends up lasting too long, and the several segments of the plot involving him and his search for his kidnapped daughter take up way too much of the stage time, while little or nothing is going on with Thorn. It's a major flaw I haven't seen before in this prolific author's work.

In fact, if Thorn hadn't been (conveniently) kidnapped by Vic and dragged along to attend the big convention of pirates at the denouement - the same place (too coincidenatlly) where Sugarman's daughter is being held, he wouldn't even have been in on the big climactic showdown which for the most part fizzled rather than sizzled.

It doesn't feel as if as much energy went into the creation of this novel as has been invested in the others. There are spurts of color, especially when the scene involves Alexandra's demented father, but for the most part Thorn is lifeless. It's almost as if he doesn't give a damn about his own story.

Read the other Thorn novels first, then if you absolutely need another fix, pick up this one.

Art Tirrell is the author of The Secret Ever Keeps.
"simply put, the best underwater scenes I've ever read." reviewer Meg W.