Magic City--A Novel

It was 1964 in Miami, a magical city where anything could happen. A brash young boxer named Cassius Clay defeated defending champion Sonny Liston in a bout that was deemed historic. A photographer who was shooting the crowd focused for a moment on an unlikely group: a mobster, a future mayor, and an anti-Castro leader--none of whom wanted to be seen together in print. The record of their coming together is a secret worth killing for, even four decades later. Richard Allen brings MAGIC CITY to life with his articulate, measured speech. He makes his words sound so compelling that listeners are pulled along in their wake. While MAGIC CITY is a gripping novel in itself, Allen's delivery makes it a story listeners can't forget. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

January 15, 2007
In the fast, entertaining 14th novel from Edgar- and Shamus-winner Hall (after 2005's Forests of the Night
), the sharp-witted, multitalented Key Largo beach bum, Thorn, follows his girlfriend, Alexandra, to Miami, where he's caught in the violence whirling around a decades-old photograph taken during the 1964 Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston heavyweight boxing championship. After Thorn is threatened by two Cuban-American men looking for Alexandra's father, he starts investigating and in short order uncovers evidence of a plot to destroy all copies of the photo—and, if necessary, kill anyone who owns or has access to the prints. As Alexandra's father—a retired Miami cop as well as an old friend—is one such person, Thorn naturally takes a personal interest in stopping the men. While Thorn is no Travis McGee (John D. McDonald holds the edge in depictions of sharp-witted Florida beach bums), Hall offers lively characters, livelier dialogue and an excellent depiction of contemporary south Florida. 75,000 first printing; author tour.

May 28, 2007
Richard Allen has a rich, mellifluous voice, the kind that reassures you in slow, measured terms that everything is going to be all right. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong kind of voice for a dark, fast-paced thriller. Magic City
chronicles an array of inhumane behavior triggered by the hunt for a black and white photograph snapped 43 years ago. The latest adventure of Hall’s heroic and resourceful beach bum, Thorne, is filled with violence, murder, broken romances, family betrayals and secrets that could change the history of Florida. It’s the sort of material that demands a hard-edged if not hard-boiled delivery. Instead of matching the pace of the action, Allen slows things down to a crawl with a soft, unhurried rendition. When Hall writes: “Permeating the house was the harsh acrid reek of a death chamber,” he clearly didn’t mean for it to be read in a floating, unemotional singsong. There are audio books with narrators who are not quite the perfect fit for the material, but rarely does one find a mismatch this egregious. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin’s Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 15).