Under Cover of Daylight
Author: James W. Hall, Jim Hall
List Price: $16.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0393024849
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company (October, 1987)
Sales Rank: 2,268,424
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Hall's first and best
This is the novel where Hall introduced Thorn, his anti-hero protagonist.
This is the best of Hall's novels - it's the template after which all of the others are patterned. It has all of the elements that make hall's work exciting - the lazy Florida Keys setting, the quirky characters, the complicated plots, and the brilliant prose. This book also has an intensity the later ones lack - Thorn is like a force of nature, and in this book, you really FEEL that. This is the single best crime novel I have ever read.
Rating: 4 out of 5
A great south Florida mystery
I don't know how I managed to go this long without being aware of James W. Hall, but I did. I was a huge Travis McGee fan and, although Hall's Thorn character is quite different from John D. McDonald's wonderful knight-errant, it was great to return to south Florida for a terrific story. Thorn is a much more gritty character than McGee, and Hall's writing style is also grittier. Thorn is a hermit-like eccentric with a troubled past who earns a living in the Florida Keys making bonefish lures. He winds up in the middle of a mystery that he decides to resolve himself. Hall describes his setting beautifully and fills his version of the Keys with some odd and quirky characters. All of his characters, even the minor ones, are rich and well fleshed out. The story flows smoothly and the pages fly by. I'm looking forward to reading all of Hall's mysteries, especially those featuring the Thorn character. Very highly recommended.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A spectacular debut!
In 1987's "Under Cover of Daylight" James W. Hall introduces Thorn, the nonconformist antihero, and reveals his troubled past.It is a believable suspenseful story of secrets, revenge, personal loss and an elaborate land grab scheme.
A drunken driver who escaped conviction killed Thorn's parents.
At age nineteen, Thorn avenges their death.
Twenty years later, living in the Keys---life seems good for Thorn. His hand made bone fish flies are in huge demand---there is plenty of time for Thorn and his friend Sugarman to enjoy the Keys lifestyle---and prosecuting attorney Sarah Ryan has entered his life.
And then---a psycho hired killer murders Thorn's adoptive mother (who actively opposes the condo developers). Once again Thorn is compelled to find justice on his terms.
This is a dynamic debut novel. All the characters are richly drawn; the Keys come vividly to life, the plot races along and the resolution is most satisfying.
"Under Cover of Daylight" is a most worthy reread for all fans of James W. Hall and Thorn.
Similar Products
Blackwater Sound
Book Index