Customer Reviews

Rough Draft (Thorn Mysteries)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I eagerly await each new book from James Hall, having read him from the beginning. Rough Draft is another outstanding South Florida suspense story. Each Hall book is completely different, with new characters, etc. But they retain the riveting writing style, perverse humor, and intriguing plot that grab you and won't let go. Hal and Misty in Rough Draft are characters that border on preposterous yet are still very believable in today's violent world.

Hall doesn't seem to get the same recognition as Carl Hiiason, Elmore Leonard or some other current greats but he's number one on my list of favorites.

James Hall has rapidly become one of my favorite authors, whether he's writing another book in his Thorn series, or the stand-alone thrillers he's been producing lately. _Rough Draft_ is one of his stand-alones, but the characters he creates here are compelling enough to warrant their own series.

Single mother Hannah Keller, a former policewoman turned bestselling author, is concerned about her withdrawn son. The boy apparently was an eyewitness to the murder of his grandparents many years before by a man Hannah's father was prosecuting for embezzlement.

The FBI is aware of her circumstances and an especially devious agent-in-charge sets up an elaborate sting, aimed at the vicious mob killer, Hal Bonner, an odd, inhuman, almost robotic man, with a grisly trademark to his slayings. The agent in charge of the investigation into the death of Hannah's father years before, Frank Sheffield, shows up again and starts to fall in love with Hannah.

Just based on this brief summary, you'd be right in thinking this is a pretty convoluted plot for a thriller, but Hall makes it work. His characters are real, believable human beings and they're often put in situations of extreme jeopardy. Not all will survive. It is also to Hall's credit that he almost manages the feat of making us care about the inhuman Hal, who becomes involved in a love affair of his own during the course of the story.

This is an excellent, fast-moving thriller, and highly recommended.

Just like Body Language, this is a great novel. The main characters, Hannah and her son, are very endearing. The pace never lets up, the book is very well written, with many different and colorful characters.

Jim Hall is a GREAT writer! I don'tknow why he is so underpublicized....he is better than many of the top suspense/mystery writers with the big names. Read his books!

OK, I'll admit to being a Hall fan since Daylight and Tropical Freeze--all his poor series-hero Thorn wants is to sit in the Keys and zone out into a humid, salty torpor when BLAM...some thug kills his stepmom/girlfriend/best friend and he's back in revenge mode. Words are Hall's playground, and he never fails to bend them in a new way that makes you feel his hero's rage. His antagonists come with unexpected, nicely-twisted traits from wannabe Yuppiedom to tag teams of cross-dressers paired with U>S> Senators. In Rough Draft, his bad guy may be the most recognizable acquaintance who ever showed up at your door. Then you discover that he's there to twist your head off with all the skills, experience, and casual sociopathy he needs to make sure he will be the only one of you to walk out alive. (e.g. even Jackie Chan would be a little too slow to save himself.) This is a sly and complex story that will make you tingle...arguably his best yet.

this is my very first book of james hall that i've read and, since i enjoyed it sooooo much, i'm actively seeking out each and every one that he's written before! this was the ultimate cat & mouse game with a terrific cast of characters! i particularly liked viewing the juxtaposition of hannah (the lead character) and erin (hannah's lead character in HER book)....Hal is a sociopath of the highest order and would most certainly equal Boy in Bogner's phenomenal 'to die in provence'! hall's easy style of writing makes you just zip through this book to the very satisfying ending which was truly a surprise as well as an excellent conclusion! i can't wait to read all of his other books and i'm grateful that there are sooooo many for me to enjoy! grab this book fast...you'll be glad that you did!

James Hall is a terrific writer in every respect. Not only are his characterizations vivid and his plots intriguing, but his use of language often creates a tone or mood that is poetic in its beauty or depth. In fact, Hall started writing as a poet. However, in this most recent outing, I feel that Hall is slightly off his mark. I've read all his published works to date, and recently I re-read Bones of Coral because it was so good. So I was unpleasantly surprised when I noticed all the parallels between Rough Draft and Bones of Coral. Both works feature two couples that are in some sense mirror images of each other. The "good couple" in both novels have a beautiful woman at the peak of her career brought low by family tragedy and a hero who has seen better days but retains a lot of Travis McGee's influence; the "evil couple" both center around a psychopath with an unhappy childhood who is simply unable to understand normal human interactions and his female counterpart who follows him to depths of depravity believing herself to have found her soul mate. I think Bones of Coral is Hall's best book to date; and after getting over the parallels I was able to enjoy Rough Draft. But I must say that in this book Hall seemed to me to concentrate more on plot (the ending is more interesting than that of Bones of Coral) and less on the characterisations and descriptions and settings which have made his other works so enjoyable to me. Rough Draft seemed like it could have been written by any of a number of good mystery writers; Bones of Coral could only have been written by Hall. I hope that he recaptures the quality of his earlier style--but I do appreciate that this wasn't another Thorne book. Poor Thorne has about had it, and I'm not sure after Red Sky at Night he'll ever be able to return. But that's okay--Hall doesn't have to write a series like so many other of today's authors in order to write a great book.

Having read James Hall from the beginning I rank "Rough Draft" as his finest yet. Those other reviewers, for whom this is their first James Hall, have a lot of treats waiting for them.

"Rough Draft" is a complex thriller, taking the cat and mouse game to new heights. Mr Hall's easy to read flowing writing style allows the reader to keep up with the twists, turns and red herrings without confusion.

The chacters are deeply drawn and we get good insight into their professional and personal sides.

Full of drama, suspense and tension this tale almost turns the pages for you. It took me a bit of willing suspension of disbelief concerning the villain's homicide method (but that's why they call it fiction). The conclusion was satisfying and whodunit a worthy surprise.

I feel Mr. Hall could have another successful series if Frank and Hannah started their own PI firm.

Count me among those puzzled by Mr. Hall's lack of recognition. He writes the Florida crime/mystery novel as well as anyone, and better than most.

This is the first James Hall book I ever read and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Hall creates characters that are clearly presented and embedded in your mind. From the gruesome Hal to the motherly heroine Hannah, Hall's portrayals are exceptional.

This is a really fast read and it doesn't slow down a bit-it actually picks up in the last 50 or so pages until the very end.

In the office of her young son's psychiatrist, writer Hannah Keller finds a copy of her first novel which is marked up with notes and some sort of coded messages. Does this have anything to do with the brutal murders of her parents 5 years before? What does fugitive financier J. J. Fielding have to do with those murders and the messages? Why is the FBI watching Hannah and who is watching the FBI watch her? The suspense mounts as maverick agent Frank Sheffield searches for answers from both professional and personal perspectives. The characters in this novel are especially well fleshed out with their own unique sets of quirks and problems. The story begins building up steam early on and maintains its frenetic pace all the way to the exciting climax. This is highly recommended reading.

Hannah Keller, ex cop and Author is being used as bait by the FBI to catch serial killer Hal, who kills people by bursting their hearts with his bare hands. Agent Frank Sheffield, who is unwillingly recruited to help the FBI in their mission ends up antagonizing the rest of the FBI team and helping Hannah Keller. Inspite of unbelievable characters such as Hal and Stevie, a 13 year old computer whiz, the book is a thrilling read.
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