James W. Hall

Analyzes the common themes in many of the 20th century's best-sellers, what made them best-sellers, and recounts the experiences and discoveries the author shared with students in his popular modern literature college courses.

Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers

Hit Lit

Harper McDaniel's husband was investigating some mysterious deaths at a cacao plantation on the Ivory Coast just before he and their infant son died in a fire in their Florida home. She's convinced he was targeted in a corporate conspiracy to silence him-- and she's determined to settle the score. Aided by her former mafioso grandfather and well-connected financier brother, Harper embarks on a global manhunt to expose a high-level cover-up inside a powerful chocolate conglomerate. In trying to cover their tracks, the conspirators made one fatal miscalculation: they didn't count on Harper McDaniel coming for them.

When They Come for You

A forensic photographer for the Miami police, Alexandra Rafferty finds her life spinning out of control as a series of gruesome rape/murders forces her to confront a violent event from her own past and sends her on the run from her husband, his enemies, and a killer. 150,000 first printing. Tour.

Body Language

Years after his real parents are killed by a drunken driver and Thorn executes his own justice in the form of murder, his foster-mother is found brutally killed on her charter fishing boat, and Thorn, now in his late thirties, edges in among the suspects.

Under Cover of Daylight

James W. Hall is the critically acclaimed author of eleven crime novels, including Body Language and Blackwater Sound. He's also published four books of poetry. And several of his short stories have appeared in magazines like the Georgia Review and Kenyon Review. Now, writing in the spirit of Dave Barry and Garrison Keillor, Hall wins a new kind of reader with this collection of essays that run from insightful to opinionated, funny to wise. Hall ponders subjects as diverse as his own love affair with Florida which began on a trip after college from which he never returned, to his equally passionate romance with books. He ponders the nature of summer heat, the writing of Hemingway and James Dickey, television, teaching, politics, fatherhood and much more. In the vibrant and elegant prose which characterize his fiction and poetry, Hall now proves himself a master of the essay as well.

Alligators in the Casino, Nude Women in the Grass, How Seashells Changed the Course of History, and Other Dispatches from Paradise

Hot Damn!

Elmore Leonard

Dave Barry

Edna Buchanan

Paul Levine

A comic mystery written by 13 authors, each of whom contributed a chapter, often including characters from his other books. The plot concerns a 102-year-old woman swimmer in Florida, defending the environment with the help of a sea cow. She becomes involved with drug smugglers, Cuban revanchists and murder.

A Novel

Naked Came the Manatee

Policewoman Charlotte Monroe intercepts a threat by one of the FBI's most wanted men, intended for her husband, a situation that turns deadly when her troubled teenage daughter runs away with the outlaw to the Great Smoky Mountains.

Forests of the Night

The discovery of a black-and-white photograph taken during the 1964 Clay-Liston fight in Miami Beach unleashes a modern-day murder spree that forces Thorn into an alliance with a dangerous enemy to seek retribution for the death of a loved one.

Magic City

The New York Times Book Review calls Edgar Award–winner James W. Hall a "master of suspense" and this new high-stakes thriller Going Dark shows why as Thorn embarks on a mission to save his newfound son Earth Liberation Front, known as ELF, is a loosely knit organization comprised of environmental activists scattered around the country. These extremists take a "by any means necessary" approach to defending the planet. In the last decade ELF has been responsible for close to a hundred million dollars in damage mainly through arson. The FBI ranks them, along with other eco-radicals, as the number one homegrown terrorist threat. Flynn Moss, Thorn's newly discovered son, has naively fallen in with an ELF cell in Miami which has its sights on Turkey Point, the largest nuclear power plant in the state. This ELF group has concocted a non-violent plan to shut the nuke plant down—nothing more than a huge publicity stunt to call attention to the dangers of nuclear power. But unbeknownst to some in the group, there are other members with a far more violent scheme in mind—to cause a radioactive catastrophe rivaling Chernobyl or Fukushima. With a growing sense of dread about the group's true intentions, Flynn summons Thorn to help him escape from Prince Key, the remote island off the shores of Miami where the ELF group is camped. Unable to refuse this son he barely knows, Thorn heads off to Prince Key and quickly reaches a frightening realization. There is only one way to save his son's life. He must join with the eco-terrorists and help them complete their deadly mission.

A Thorn Novel

Going Dark

Before Thorn fell in love with crime-scene photographer Alexandra Rafferty, he was involved with Anne Joy, a beautiful woman who abandoned a violent life to forge a new, happier one in the Florida Keys. But her past includes her sadistic brother Vic, now a wealthy rogue businessman who specializes in the hijacking of pleasure boats and who delights in cruelly murdering their owners. Vic is obsessed by his sister and will do whatever it takes to drive his sister's lovers away-even murder. When Vic decides that he must possess the land on which Thorn's beloved home is built, nothing will stand in his way-not even the life of a little girl, the daughter of Thorn's closest friend.

Off the Chart

Buzz Cut

"Master of suspense" (The New York Times Book Review) James W. Hall delivers another nail-biting Thorn thriller and this time, the stakes are higher than ever as Thorn embarks on a mission to save his newfound son. Earth Liberation Front is a loosely-knit national organization of radical environmental activists who take a "by any means necessary" approach to defending the planet. In the last decade, ELF has been responsible for almost a hundred million dollars in damage mainly through arson. The FBI ranks them, along with other eco-radicals, as the number one homegrown terrorist threat. And Flynn Moss—Thorn's newly discovered son—appears to be among ELF's members. "no-holds-barred action...A fine thriller on every level." —Booklist Flynn has naively fallen in with an ELF cell in Miami, where he's engaged in non-violent protest against one of Florida's largest nuclear power plants. But soon Flynn uncovers another, darker plot among ELF operatives—one that involves a radioactive catastrophe rivaling Chernobyl or Fukushima. With a growing sense of dread about his involvement in such a scheme, Flynn summons Thorn to help him escape from Prince Key, the remote island off the shores of Miami where the ELF group is camped. But just as soon as Thorn leads the fight to save Flynn, he reaches a frightening realization: In order to protect his son, he must join the eco-terrorists and help them complete their deadly mission. And time is running out in Going Dark... "James Hall is the king of the Florida-gothic noir."—New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.

Teaming up with the FBI to catch his son's killer by setting himself up as bait, Thorn travels to a small North Carolina town to infiltrate a gang, only to discover that nothing he has been told is true. By the Edgar Award-winning author of Going Dark.

The Big Finish

Professor James Hall

Compelling action and suspense in the Florida Keys and Bahamas -- in the atmospheric new thriller from a writer acclaimed by Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Robert Crais.

Blackwater Sound

Roman

Operation Arche Noah

Vowing to save the endangered orangutan species while attempting to uncover the truth about her daughter's murder by a poacher's bullet, Allison Farleigh teams up with Thorn to expose an international conspiracy

Gone Wild

Years after Thorn's real parents are killed by a drunk driver and he executes his own justice in the form of murder, his foster mother is found brutally murdered, and Thorn edges in among the suspects

A year ago Thorn's son, Flynn Moss, disappeared into the eco-underground, his only contact with Thorn a series of postcards chronicling his exploits. But a postcard arrives unlike the others, a call for help, Thorn jumps into action, setting off for North Carolina. But before Thorn arrives, he's intercepted by a federal agent who informs him he's too late—Flynn had been acting as an informant for the FBI, and when his traitorous acts were discovered, he was summarily executed. The agent proposes a scheme to catch Flynn's killer using Thorn as bait. Thorn, full of rage, accepts the job if only to get his hands on his son's killer. The mission takes him to a small town where the gang is holed up, planning an attack on a hog farming operation that has been polluting local rivers and spreading illness through the area. Little by little Thorn discovers that nothing he's been told is true, and the trap they're setting isn't for Flynn's killer, but for his partner, a woman who proves more daring and dangerous than any Thorn's ever met. She's on her own crusade of vengeance, and she and Thorn make an uneasy alliance. With her help Thorn uncovers a conspiracy that stretches far beyond this small Carolina town.

An aging mobster finds trouble in a nursing home in the latest caper from an Edgar Award–winning author. Back in the day, Little Mo Connor was a hired gun for Slick Dickey Scalini, taking down opponents without discretion, always with the same signature kill: three shots to the head, one shot to the heart. Now he’s living out his last days hidden away in an anonymous facility, surrounded by other seniors. Haunted by his past, his dementia comes as something of a blessing . . . though he can’t always remember what it is he wants to forget—he’s always mixing up the memories from his own life with those from books he’s read and movies he’s seen. A lover of crime novels from the pulp paperback era, Little Mo relishes lurid tales—the more violent the better. Take, for example, his most recent acquisition: a novel in which he and his trusty .38 snubnose are the stars. It tells the story of a former hit man in love with Varla, a geriatric serial killer who convinces him that murdering his grown daughter is the only way to escape the captivity of their nursing home. But as the plot of the novel begins to play out in Little Mo’s waking life, he must struggle to separate fact from fiction before they meet in a deadly conclusion. Hailed a “master of suspense” by the New York Times Book Review, author of the Thorn Mysteries James W. Hall now presents one of the most unusual and enthralling novellas in the Bibliomystery series. The Haze is a treat for book lovers and mystery buffs alike. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

The Haze

Thorn is back-with a vengeance-in the latest white-knuckle thriller from "Master of suspense" (The New York Times Book Review) James W. Hall It has been one year since Thorn Moss's son, Flynn, disappeared into the eco-underground, his only contact with Thorn a series of postcards chronicling his exploits. When a new postcard from Flynn arrives-with a plea for help-Thorn sets off for North Carolina to save him. But before Thorn gets there he's intercepted by a federal agent who tells him he's too late: Flynn had been acting as an informant for the FBI, and when his traitorous acts were discovered, he was summarily executed. "Keeps the tension mounting."-Publishers Weekly The agent proposes a scheme to catch Flynn's killer using Thorn as bait. Full of rage, Thorn agrees to the mission. Soon he's among a gang of eco-terrorists planning an attack on a hog-farming operation...only to realize that the trap the FBI's setting is not for Flynn's killer at all. It's for Flynn's partner, a woman who has her own dangerous agenda. Now, with her help, Thorn must unravel a deadly conspiracy that stretches far beyond this small Carolina town. And he will stop at nothing until justice is won... "Clever and cinematic, The Big Finish explores, entertains, and educates."-Richmond Times-Dispatch

James W. Hall

Books

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