Rough Draft

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!

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their own series.Single mother Hannah Keller, a former policewoman turned bestselling author, is concerned about her withdrawn son.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.

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!

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.