Rough Draft - Softcover

Hall, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006512763 ISBN 13: 9780006512769

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

Synopsis

Rough Draft

About this title

Review:

James Hall's series about beach bum Thorne (Bones of Coral, Buzz Cut, Hard Aground) placed him firmly in a Holy Trinity of Floridian crime novelists. Like Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen, Hall brought to life Florida's alluring, addictive mix of sand and ocean, hibiscus and alligator, tanned skin and pastel stucco. Rough Draft, however, is less concerned with place than with plot: Miami is a cipher, a generic background for the convoluted whodunit (or perhaps more precisely, who's doing it to whom) Hall weaves around former policewoman and successful crime writer Hannah Keller.

Fiercely protective of her brilliant but haunted 11-year-old son, who five years ago witnessed the murders of his grandparents(presumably by the embezzler his grandfather was pursuing), Hannah becomes an unwitting pawn in an FBI operation to catch Hal Bonner. Bonner is a Cali assassin with a particularly brutal "signature". Since JJ Fielding escaped with $463 million in drug money, Hal is hot on his trail; if--the FBI assumes--he can be persuaded that Hannah has found Fielding and the cash, he'll emerge from hiding to exact revenge. They lay a series of clues for Hannah to follow, beginning with a gruesomely annotated copy of her first book that seems to be a direct message from her parents' killer. But as the 72 hours allotted to the plan unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that Hannah will not be led by breadcrumbs; she prefers making her own path.

For sheer presence and emotional depth, Hannah may not be on a par with Alexandra Rafferty, the Miami police photographer of Body Language, and the machinations of the FBI agents--mostly an unpleasant bunch who are wound tighter than the proverbial top--may seem so labyrinthine as to verge on the ridiculous. But Hall serves up a delicious pair of villains in Hal and Misty (who is stalking Hannah for her own purposes). The slow-thinking killer and the quick-talking Hooters girl are chillingly vicious and oddly funny; picture a Capra-esque screwball courtship conducted at the Bates Motel. --Kelly Flynn

Review:

‘Dizzying... a convoluted story of murder, revenge and mayhem. Hall’s villains mesmerize us. In Hal, he has hit homicidal pay dirt, creating a character as chillingly complex and as grimly comical as anything concocted by Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard.’ Los Angeles Times

‘Funny, moving and scary: a thoroughly satisfying thriller.’ Washington Post

‘A cracking, unputdownable read from a writer who just keeps getting better and better.’ Irish Independent

‘A hell of a ride... remarkably original. The creepy hitman is one of Hall’s best psychos. The guy never loses his menace... chilling.’ Miami Herald

‘The most elegantly mean of contemporary American crime writers.’ Guardian

‘James Hall is a writer I have learned from over the years. His people and places have more brush strokes than a Van Gogh. He delivers taut and muscular stories about a place where evil always lurks below the surface.’ MICHAEL CONNELLY

‘James Hall is the master of suspense, his writing runs as clear and fast as the Gulf Stream waters.’ New York Times

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0006512763
• ISBN 13: 9780006512769
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480