Hell's Bay

December 10, 2007
Edgar-winner Hall (Magic City
) puts a Southern gothic twist on his latest Florida thriller to feature his iconic hero, Key Largo beach bum Thorn. While helping old flame Rusty set up a houseboat deep in the Everglades as a fishing spot for tourists, Thorn becomes entangled in the intrigue surrounding the murder of Abigail Bates, a wealthy land and mine owner. Soon after, one of Rusty’s first customers, John Milligan, confronts Thorn and claims to be Thorn’s uncle, making him face old family secrets possibly connected to Bates’s murder. Thorn’s detective friend, Sugarman, at Thorn’s request, starts making possibly dangerous inquiries into the crime. The appeal of this multilayered novel lies in the authenticity of its evocation of the Everglades, along with a slow-burning plot that kicks into high gear when Thorn and Rusty’s guests, cut off from the outside world by sabotage, are hunted by Bates’s killers. The result is another compulsive page-turner from a master of suspense. Author tour.

Hall's popular series features Thorn, a reluctant protagonist who's always getting embroiled in other people's adventures while trying to maintain his status as a "Glades" recluse. This story is a bit slow to get going, and Ed Sala's usually engaging narrative style is hampered in the beginning. However, the story picks up the pace in the second half as the suspense builds. Sala has a simple, clean narrative style that fits the hero like a glove. There's no need for complex voicings when the principal player has a deadpan style. This simplicity also works well for the range of ancillary characters. For lovers of Thorn, the Everglades, Florida culture, and wilderness adventures. M.C. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine