Tropical Freeze

One can smell the salt marsh and picture the bad guys through Thorn's eyes.James W Hall is as good here as he has ever been. A Hall reader looks forward, on a regular basis, to seeing what Thorn is up to next.Some graphic violence and some sexy stuff.

In this, James Hall's second novel featuring Thorn, the author expands on the one of the odder heroes of the Florida Keys. Thorn enjoys being the odd man out, anti-authority, anti-employment and a bit to out spoken for his own good. Mix this with an instinctive desire to right wrongs when they present themselves to him and you have a natural formula for trouble and good reading.This time Thorn's friend, FBI agent Gaeton Richards involves him in a very strange car deal (where the buyer tries to feed the salesman to the alligators) and then offers Thorn a job as fishing guide for Benny Cousins, a local political up and comer. Thorn declines (later he has to drop Benny in a hot tub to make his point). Benny may sound good, but he acts bad, and he is up to something more than a little fishy. Unfortunately, Gaeton, who was working undercover in the Cousins organization is exposed and suddenly disappears.Thorn is drawn into a relationship with Darcy Richards, Gaeton's sister and the local weatherwoman. The quest to find Gaeton ends grimly and Darcy and Thorn set about bringing the guilty to justice. What neither realizes is that Ozzie Hardison, a somewhat mentally deficient Florida Cracker (self-described), who has a compulsive yen for Darcy, is convinced that, if he only could kill everyone she liked, she would surely fall for him. Ozzie is a loser for sure, but he adds some deadly complications. Between Benny and Ozzie bad things are bound to happen.James Hall has a knack for pure storytelling. He paints with firm well-made strokes that make each character and every scene stand out from all the others. He uses a strong sense of humor to contrast perfectly with the grim and ugly parts. This type of story, the modern day heroic tale, is a challenge to write well. In order to make the quest for justice work the author must give away many of the plot's mysteries, hoping to draw us into the plot with suspense and ingenuity. Once again, Hall has proved himself a master of this genre.

This is Hall's second novel, Thorn's second outing. It is rich with minor characters and full of the elegant writing that marks all of his work. The book is about a scheme to smuggle into the US some very bad guys from other countries. Thorn stumbles onto it after losing one of his childhood friends who was an FBI agent working on the case.There are some really funny scenes and some beautiful snapshots of Key Largo. He brings that place alive brilliantly. It's almost as good as Under Cover of Daylight and right up there with some of the later Thorn novels, Mean High Tide and Red Sky at Night (my favorite).