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Average customer rating:

Well crafted page turner by a talented writer
Truly no Carl Hiaasen this
A superior thriller with truly poetic language
great writing makes for enjoyable read
The Return of Thorn

Blackwater Sound (A Thorn Mystery)
James W. Hall
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0312986289

Amazon.com

A powerful Florida family, its high-tech fortune dwindling, is haunted by an elusive, enormous blue marlin that claimed the life of its eldest son, who was meant to restore the family's prominence. But the Braswells are tormented by even darker secrets, such as incest and treason, that drive this dark, atmospheric thriller to an explosive conclusion, which might have been pulled straight from recent headlines. James Hall pits Thorn, his series protagonist, against the Braswells and their deadly plans. Although an existentially morose antihero is a convention of the mystery genre, Hall manages to transcend it with a fascinating plot and a powerful narrative, resulting in a suspenseful and resonant novel that shows off his well-developed talents for character development, place, and pacing. The author of 11 previous mysteries (including Mean High Tide and Rough Draft), Hall gets better with every book, and this one continues the trend. --Jane Adams

Book Description

It comes out of nowhere--an airliner silently dropping from the sky into the torpid shallows of Florida's Blackwater Sound. Thorn witnesses the crash and pulls the survivors to safety, soon finding himself thrust into the media spotlight as a reluctant hero--and consumed by an elaborate conspiracy born out of the psychotic fantasies of a prominent Florida family. But their link to the doomed Rio-bound flight only touches the surface of a private world of murder, power, and revenge. And it's luring Thorn and crime-scene photographer Alexandra Rafferty dangerously close to the harrowing family secret that should have perished in the flames....

Customer Reviews:

Well crafted page turner by a talented writer.......2006-02-15

In deciding what books to acquire and then spend precious time reading, I often read through Amazon.com customer reviews. When I find a book that has received an average rating of four or more by at least a combined total of 25 or more reviewers, I consider it a good bet. Such was James W. Hall's Blackwater Sound, a well-crafted page turner.

I was put off by one customer reviewer who gave it only one star and went on to badmouth the book and its author in a big way. The reviewer assured us that he is not a "callow moron," but he fails to tell us what kind of moron he is. If you like an action-packed thriller with really evil bad guys and good guys you'll cheer for, then disregard the one ridiculous review, go with the percentages, and read this book!

Truly no Carl Hiaasen this.......2004-12-30

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.

A superior thriller with truly poetic language.......2004-02-26

Thorn is back and so is Alexandra Rafferty. Fans of James W. Hall's Florida thrillers would recognize those names from previous novels. Thorn is the quintessential Florida hero who prefers to spend his time fishing in the keys. His idyllic life is commonly placed on hold whenever he is subjected to outside evil forces that he must contend with. In this case, he witnesses a jumbo jet crash land in the gulf while he is fishing there. After rescuing as many passengers as he could he notices something not quite right going on. He soon discovers the existence of a device that could shut off electricity at a distance. Hence, the ability to cause massive power failures, not only among aircrafts such as the one Thorn witnessed, but, in whole sections of cities. The device is being sold by the miscreant family called the Braswells. The father, AJ, is obsessed with the capture of a huge marlin responsible for the freak death of his eldest son Andy. Johnny, mentally deficient, is a psychopathic killer and his beautiful sister, Morgan, is evil incarnate. It is this family that Thorn must battle to stop the sale of this potentially devastating weapon. Teaming with Thorn is Alexandra Rafferty, the heroine of BODY LANGUAGE. Alexandra is a Miami PD photographic specialist. Her father, Lawton, suffering from Alzheimer's has stumbled upon the device and is held hostage by the Braswells until it is recovered.
The unique aspect of James W. Hall's books is the combination of a superior thriller with truly poetic and lyrical language. He is, not only a superb storyteller, but is a highly talented writer. He bears comparison to James Lee Burke in evoking the Florida landscape. The descriptions of fishing for the marlin is so magnificently described that one can't help thinking of Hemingway's OLD MAN AND THE SEA. The villains are quite similar to those in previous books. The psychopath, Johnny Braswell, bears an uncanny resemblance to Butler Jack, the terrorist of BUZZ CUT. The characters, however, are an overall believable bunch and ones that are quite familiar to fans of Mr. Hall of whom I proudly count myself as one of them. Highly recommended as are all of his books.

great writing makes for enjoyable read.......2003-12-14

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!

The Return of Thorn.......2003-02-05

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.

BLACKWATER SOUND.
Average customer rating:
BLACKWATER SOUND.

Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0007112742

Average customer rating:
Blackwater Sound
James W. Hall
Manufacturer: ST. MARTIN'S MINOTAUR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKEZIO

Florida, intracoastal waterway, Sands Key to Blackwater Sound [and] Blackwater Sound to Matecumbe (SuDoc C 55.418/7:11463/997)
Average customer rating:
Florida, intracoastal waterway, Sands Key to Blackwater Sound [and] Blackwater Sound to Matecumbe (SuDoc C 55.418/7:11463/997)
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Manufacturer: The Survey NOAA Distribution Division, N/ACC3, National Ocean Service, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010V48G

Florida, intracoastal waterway, Blackwater Sound to Matecumbe (SuDoc C 55.418/7:11464/2000)
Average customer rating:
Florida, intracoastal waterway, Blackwater Sound to Matecumbe (SuDoc C 55.418/7:11464/2000)
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Manufacturer: The Survey NOAA Distribution Division, N/ACC3, National Ocean Service, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000114PXQ

Florida, intracoastal waterway, Sands Key to Blackwater Sound (SuDoc C 55.418/7:11463/2000)
Average customer rating:
Florida, intracoastal waterway, Sands Key to Blackwater Sound (SuDoc C 55.418/7:11463/2000)
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Manufacturer: The Survey NOAA Distribution Division, N/ACC3, National Ocean Service, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000114PXG

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