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Liked It “"How long can YOU hold your breath?" James W. Hall writes gritty outdoor adventure novels, usually set in Florida near or on the water. Hell's Bay is more of the same, and marks the return of hard-bitten hero Thorn, who signs on to be first mate aboard the first voyage of former...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“"How long can YOU hold your breath?" James W. Hall writes gritty outdoor adventure novels, usually set in Florida near or on the water. Hell's Bay is more of the same, and marks the return of hard-bitten hero Thorn, who signs on to be first mate aboard the first voyage of former lover and female fishing guide Rusty Stabler's new houseboat. The houseboat will act as a base for daily forays deep into virgin fishing grounds. The first surprise comes when the client, whose name is Milligan, addresses Thorn by his full name, Daniel Oliver Thorn. Nobody knows his name. He's a Conch, and he has only one name; Thorn. Naturally, there are forces at work he does not understand, and soon he will play a major part in a game that began long before he agreed to make the trip with Rusty. A game that began with the question, "How long can you hold your breath?" and ended with the drowning death of one Abigail Bates, 85, principal shareholder and owner of Bates International, a huge multinational conglomerate. Thorn is a careful man. He sends his detective friend Sugarman to investigate the activities of Bates International, but Abigail Bate's killer, a woman named Sasha, has already learned that the Milligans, who are next in line to succeed at Bates international, have chartered a houseboat to go fishing on Hell's Bay. Sasha blames Bates for her husband's death from lung cancer, and her teenage son, just accepted to Yale with a full scholarship, is about to die from the same disease. They have a motto: head of the snake. They know what needs to happen next, and they are prepared and more than capable of making it happen. When Sugarman learns Bates International mines Gypsum and piles the radioactive residue in 80 million ton, twenty-story stacks 300 acres at their base, and that an elementary school with an astonishingly high student mortality rate not only borders a nearby stack but has been built with cinder blocks made from the waste, he is able to identify the killer and learn that she has already left to attack the charter fishing party. But will he be able to warn Thorn in time? Deep in the Everglades, beyond the reach of cell phones, Thorn has learned something too: he is Abigail Bate's nephew, and she has left a controlling interest in Bates International to him. "How long can you hold your breath?" Sasha asks her next victim during the long, dark, disastrous night that follows, and the story accelerates from there to its slam bang conclusion. Recommended for lovers of outdoor adventure. Art Tirrell is the author of 2007 adventure novel, "The Secret Ever Keeps" - set on and under Lake Ontario. "Simply put...the best underwater scenes I've ever read." Meg W - reviewer ”
Art T wrote this review Friday, May 2 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great story, well told. I really like Hall's books. Thorn, Hall's central character, reminds me of Lucas Davenport in the John Sandford books....rugged, individualistic, and charismatic. Write some more and bring them on.”
Andy C wrote this review Thursday, February 28 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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