What do you think?
Rate this book
Thorn Mystery #7
Blackwater Sound
It comes out of nowhere--an airliner silently dropping from the sky into the torpid shallows of Florida's Blackwater Sound. Thorn witnesses the crash and pulls the survivors to safety, soon finding himself thrust into the media spotlight as a reluctant hero--and consumed by an elaborate conspiracy born out of the psychotic fantasies of a prominent Florida family. But their link to the doomed Rio-bound flight only touches the surface of a private world of murder, power, and revenge. And it's luring Thorn and crime-scene photographer Alexandra Rafferty dangerously close to the harrowing family secret that should have perished in the flames...
339 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
57 people are currently reading
425 people want to read
About the author
James W. Hall
89 books488 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James W. Hall is an Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author whose books have been translated into a dozen languages. He has written twenty-one novels, four books of poetry, two collections of short stories, and two works of non-fiction. He also won a John D. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Florida Fiction, presented by the JDM Bibliophile.
He has a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in literature from the University of Utah. He was a professor of literature and creative writing at Florida International University for 40 years where he taught such writers as Vicky Hendricks, Christine Kling, Barbara Parker and Dennis Lehane.
James W. Hall is an Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author whose books have been translated into a dozen languages. He has written twenty-one novels, four books of poetry, two collections of short stories, and two works of non-fiction. He also won a John D. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Florida Fiction, presented by the JDM Bibliophile.
He has a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in literature from the University of Utah. He was a professor of literature and creative writing at Florida International University for 40 years where he taught such writers as Vicky Hendricks, Christine Kling, Barbara Parker and Dennis Lehane.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
August 9, 2016
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
This is one of my favorite series. I absolutely love going back to Key West to see what Thorn is getting into next. Mr. Hall does a fabulous job of evoking the Florida Keys. Makes me want to go there so bad, even with all the fucked up stuff that seems to always be going on there.
Unfortunately I did not read Hall's previous book , Body Language, with the female MC, Alexandra Rafferty, in it. It might not have been necessary, but I really wish I had read it first. What with my series OCD I feel like I missed out on something important.
Anyway, this is a fun, fast paced edition to the series. The only reason I didn't rate higher was some choppyness in the pacing. Still highly recommend this series though. Lots of action, great characters and wonderful scenery.
This is one of my favorite series. I absolutely love going back to Key West to see what Thorn is getting into next. Mr. Hall does a fabulous job of evoking the Florida Keys. Makes me want to go there so bad, even with all the fucked up stuff that seems to always be going on there.
Unfortunately I did not read Hall's previous book , Body Language, with the female MC, Alexandra Rafferty, in it. It might not have been necessary, but I really wish I had read it first. What with my series OCD I feel like I missed out on something important.
Anyway, this is a fun, fast paced edition to the series. The only reason I didn't rate higher was some choppyness in the pacing. Still highly recommend this series though. Lots of action, great characters and wonderful scenery.
July 14, 2016
James W. Hall’s Blackwater Sound is a solid crime novel. Hall, who began his career as a poet, is a master of prose. His sentences soar, but never detract from the story, which is based around his character, Thorn—a man who specializes in creating and selling fish lures, but is drawn into solving crimes.
In this instance it involves a psychopathic family, a device capable of plunging airplanes from the sky, an attractive crime photographer named Alexandra, and Alexandra’s delightful, but memory-challenged father.
In the tradition of John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee, Thorn lives on a boat in South Florida, is a bit of a misfit, and lives by his own moral code. The book was written in 2002, which dates the ‘scientific’ aspect of the weapon, but doesn’t interfere too much with the story, which moves at a brisk pace. The villains are diabolical and the plot is built for action. It was an enjoyable read from beginning to end.
In this instance it involves a psychopathic family, a device capable of plunging airplanes from the sky, an attractive crime photographer named Alexandra, and Alexandra’s delightful, but memory-challenged father.
In the tradition of John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee, Thorn lives on a boat in South Florida, is a bit of a misfit, and lives by his own moral code. The book was written in 2002, which dates the ‘scientific’ aspect of the weapon, but doesn’t interfere too much with the story, which moves at a brisk pace. The villains are diabolical and the plot is built for action. It was an enjoyable read from beginning to end.
December 25, 2022
I remember our first time in the Florida Keys some 20 30 years ago. I remember going into a book store probably in Key West, they had a section with books that were all Florida authors. I was then and still do love browsing book stores. I think I picked up a couple of paperbacks, one by Tim Dorsey (Serge) and a James W. Hall (Thorn). Got me to reading these characters on and off ever since.
This was a good one. I don’t remember having read it before. Anyway if I did I still enjoyed it this time. 😊
This was a good one. I don’t remember having read it before. Anyway if I did I still enjoyed it this time. 😊
March 16, 2011
I have read and enjoyed several novels featuring Thorn, a reluctant hero. He wants to keep to himself, but seems to be a magnet for trouble, and he can't help coming to the aid of persons in need. In this story, a truly dysfunctional family went off the deep end when the oldest son died in a fishing accident. In order to save their failing business, the daughter is willing to do anything, kill anyone. And does.
August 30, 2012
Loved this installment in the Thorn series and when I passed it along to the bartender at Nippers on Guana Cay, she gave me a couple free drinks! No library on the island and they love James W. Hall books!
July 23, 2008
excellent writer, very good.
Read
September 25, 2008Anything by Hall, a poet and mystery writer, is a lesson in suspense.
June 9, 2013
Still loving this series!
April 22, 2020
This is my first book by James W. Hall. I didn't know that it is part of a series, about Thorn, man of incredible skill of survival, self defense and heroism. It's also a crossover of two series about Thorn and Alexandra, who's also a heroin in a few Halls books. Alex is a photographer, crime scene investigator, very good in her job, objective, void of all emotions until it's about her demented father. Then she's capable of everything.
According to Goodreads, it's a 7th book in a Thorn mystery series, but I didn't have any problem reading it as a separate novel.
Even though, during the reading I didn't realize that Thorn is a private detective, it felt more like he is a retired marine with a fishing hobby and who enjoys spending time on his little boat with different wifes and his old friend, a cop, Sugarman, who says that Thorn is a magnet for trouble.
Just as Thorn is about to ask Casey to bring their relationship on a next level, a plane force landed into the sea - a horrible accident occurs. Parts of the human bodies scattered in the sea, wreckage sinking, parts of the plane still burning, and Thorn does what he does best - jumps in to help. Casey is clearly traumatized by this event and realizes that it's all a bit too much for her and then leaves Thorn.
What kind of an accident would it be without reporters that photograph Thorn while he was rescuing and older gentleman, and publish it around the globe.
Thorn sees that in the close proximity of the accident there was a yacht with 3 passengers that are observing. He had a weird feeling about that yacht and it's passengers and that's how he finds out about a megalomania family by the name of Braswell.
Braswell family, or what's left of it, consists of Megan, a daughter you can only wish for. After the tragedy she drops out of college to take care of her father, brother and a drowning company. Then there's Johnny - youngest son, obsessed with old mob movies that he often recites. Not very smart but very capable. He's good at "dirty jobs" that feeds his illusion of a mob family. Also he is addicted to expensive knives and their use, if not on someone then on himself. Cutting is all that matters. Father A.J., for the last 12 years is focused on a sword fish that he calls #Primemother". His goal is to capture it again while the transceiver on it's fin is still active. Mother Braswell committed suicide in the attic. She couldn't bear the tragedy of losing her son Andy, the smart son who was expected to have a bright future.
So, on the day when Andy died, Braswell Family was on a hunt for a swordfish like every month before. That event was encouraged by A.J. because he truly enjoys, while all the others only did their job/jobs. To make story short, Andy was by accident (or not?) caught by a fishing line and was dragged into the sea by a swordfish. But not before Johnny attached a transceiver on it's fin. It was the biggest swordfish A.J. has ever seen, around 700 kg. Morgan was devastated becouse she was very close to Andy. Considering that the company was sinking without proper leadership (she couldn't rely on her father) she begins to rummage trough Andy's old notebook full of ideas, some of them she even cashes in. But all she is interested in is revenge. Revenge against the world without Andy.
Third plot in the book is about Alexandra Rafferty, her father Lawton, his old friend Arnold Peretti who is a bookie and one other thing you can only see in a SF moves, a gun that produces impulses that shuts down all technology in a certain perimeter. How did Arnold Peretti came into the possession of such a gun I will not tell you, but there are corpses in play, danger lurks everywhere. Even though he is involved in a case by accident, he suffers from Alzheimer's and most of the time he doesn't know what is going on. He gives a little humor into this novel with his disappearance and by describing events. Alex scours everything to find him, even though she is occupied with a mysterious murder of a man and a woman - reporter and his daughter in whose company Arnold is last seen. She is afraid that everything will end badly for her father. The only one she has left.
These 3 stories intertwine on a really exciting way, but all that SF thing just isn't for me. The book is interesting, plot is good, even though at the beginning you don't really know what's going on. Just the right amount of action even though I'm not a fan of so called Sylvester Stallone characters (so to call I'm the toughest guy here). That's why I give this book 3 stars. Descriptions of coral islands and fishing was dull for me - not much of a fan, but I understand that it's important that it's for Thorn's character.
Even though it's and older edition, book is solid. I recommend this book to all fans of action, thriller and crime novels. Although I wouldn't put it in any of those categories.
According to Goodreads, it's a 7th book in a Thorn mystery series, but I didn't have any problem reading it as a separate novel.
Even though, during the reading I didn't realize that Thorn is a private detective, it felt more like he is a retired marine with a fishing hobby and who enjoys spending time on his little boat with different wifes and his old friend, a cop, Sugarman, who says that Thorn is a magnet for trouble.
Just as Thorn is about to ask Casey to bring their relationship on a next level, a plane force landed into the sea - a horrible accident occurs. Parts of the human bodies scattered in the sea, wreckage sinking, parts of the plane still burning, and Thorn does what he does best - jumps in to help. Casey is clearly traumatized by this event and realizes that it's all a bit too much for her and then leaves Thorn.
What kind of an accident would it be without reporters that photograph Thorn while he was rescuing and older gentleman, and publish it around the globe.
Thorn sees that in the close proximity of the accident there was a yacht with 3 passengers that are observing. He had a weird feeling about that yacht and it's passengers and that's how he finds out about a megalomania family by the name of Braswell.
Braswell family, or what's left of it, consists of Megan, a daughter you can only wish for. After the tragedy she drops out of college to take care of her father, brother and a drowning company. Then there's Johnny - youngest son, obsessed with old mob movies that he often recites. Not very smart but very capable. He's good at "dirty jobs" that feeds his illusion of a mob family. Also he is addicted to expensive knives and their use, if not on someone then on himself. Cutting is all that matters. Father A.J., for the last 12 years is focused on a sword fish that he calls #Primemother". His goal is to capture it again while the transceiver on it's fin is still active. Mother Braswell committed suicide in the attic. She couldn't bear the tragedy of losing her son Andy, the smart son who was expected to have a bright future.
So, on the day when Andy died, Braswell Family was on a hunt for a swordfish like every month before. That event was encouraged by A.J. because he truly enjoys, while all the others only did their job/jobs. To make story short, Andy was by accident (or not?) caught by a fishing line and was dragged into the sea by a swordfish. But not before Johnny attached a transceiver on it's fin. It was the biggest swordfish A.J. has ever seen, around 700 kg. Morgan was devastated becouse she was very close to Andy. Considering that the company was sinking without proper leadership (she couldn't rely on her father) she begins to rummage trough Andy's old notebook full of ideas, some of them she even cashes in. But all she is interested in is revenge. Revenge against the world without Andy.
Third plot in the book is about Alexandra Rafferty, her father Lawton, his old friend Arnold Peretti who is a bookie and one other thing you can only see in a SF moves, a gun that produces impulses that shuts down all technology in a certain perimeter. How did Arnold Peretti came into the possession of such a gun I will not tell you, but there are corpses in play, danger lurks everywhere. Even though he is involved in a case by accident, he suffers from Alzheimer's and most of the time he doesn't know what is going on. He gives a little humor into this novel with his disappearance and by describing events. Alex scours everything to find him, even though she is occupied with a mysterious murder of a man and a woman - reporter and his daughter in whose company Arnold is last seen. She is afraid that everything will end badly for her father. The only one she has left.
These 3 stories intertwine on a really exciting way, but all that SF thing just isn't for me. The book is interesting, plot is good, even though at the beginning you don't really know what's going on. Just the right amount of action even though I'm not a fan of so called Sylvester Stallone characters (so to call I'm the toughest guy here). That's why I give this book 3 stars. Descriptions of coral islands and fishing was dull for me - not much of a fan, but I understand that it's important that it's for Thorn's character.
Even though it's and older edition, book is solid. I recommend this book to all fans of action, thriller and crime novels. Although I wouldn't put it in any of those categories.
September 3, 2020
It comes out of nowhere--an airliner silently dropping from the sky into the torpid shallows of Florida's Blackwater Sound. Thorn witnesses the crash and pulls the survivors to safety, soon finding himself thrust into the media spotlight as a reluctant hero--and consumed by an elaborate conspiracy born out of the psychotic fantasies of a prominent Florida family. But their link to the doomed Rio-bound flight only touches the surface of a private world of murder, power, and revenge. And it's luring Thorn and crime-scene photographer Alexandra Rafferty dangerously close to the harrowing family secret that should have perished in the flames.
July 10, 2017
I'm reading all of James W. Hall. He aims to educate in each book. In this one it's guns that shut off power sources and dolphins, along with the usual dysfunctional families that seem standard in any Hall book. He has his protagonist hook up with another Hall character, Alexandra, and her father who has dementia. Thorn thinks "this is the one." We'll see. He seems to have a short record with women, loner and shack living off the radar mano a mano that he is.
October 21, 2020
Been a while since I read a book in a series like this, and this was book 7?! Set near our Florida home, it was fun reading about all the places we go to when we are there. I really liked this and will start with book one and read the series, eventually.
July 18, 2022
Love it when books throw me into the action right away and James W. Hall sure did a good job on that. Rollercoaster ride across the book, finished in 3 days. Pleasently suprised! Definitly recommanded if you like a good thriller combined with some good detective work and different perspectives!
January 19, 2018
Love it
Once again Thorne leads the way in a twisted plot that leaves little to fret over. Just wish you knew where his sTuff wound up he goes t's like bad his last gfs
Once again Thorne leads the way in a twisted plot that leaves little to fret over. Just wish you knew where his sTuff wound up he goes t's like bad his last gfs
April 24, 2018
I started at 7 this time! Time to go backwards. I like this character. I like the south Florida setting. Decent story and it flowed pretty well too.
July 27, 2021
Bogme se dobro proširila hlebinska škola...naive
February 8, 2022
Read in 2002. A solid crime novel.
March 1, 2024
Nothing special.
July 30, 2024
Liked the characters and it was interesting about the Marlin fishing. I originally thought the main character Thorn was someone I had already read about
August 10, 2025
This is a solid book. Good, interesting story. I think this is the first book I’ve read by this author. I would try some more.
December 23, 2022
It zipped along the way it was supposed to zip along. I admit I did some skimming. The characters didn't grab me that much. But it zipped along the way it was supposed to zip along.
January 29, 2019
I've never read one of the Thorn novels from James Hall before, but like all Hall novels this is another cracker. The various leading characters clash heads beautifully and of course you want the good guy to win. But it is how he develops the storyline, and the eventual conflict that I loved!
Why isn't this guy a huge seller? He's as good as Child. Indeed he's a better writer.So if you haven't read him, seek him out because he's one of the best!
Why isn't this guy a huge seller? He's as good as Child. Indeed he's a better writer.So if you haven't read him, seek him out because he's one of the best!
October 17, 2015
#7 in the Thorn series. 2003 Shamus Award for Best Novel.
Thorn series - When a passenger plane crash-lands near Thorn's boat in the Florida coastal waters, Thorn finds himself thrust into a rescue operation that leads him deeper and deeper into the lunatic world of the Braswell family. The Braswell children boy genius Andy, psychopathic Johnny and dangerously beautiful Morgan make an impressively deadly combination. When circumstances lead Alexandra Rafferty's - Body Language (1998) - wandering and forgetful father, Lawton Collins, into Thorn's path and into the clutches of the Braswells, Thorn and Alexandra become uneasy allies. There's much more at stake than the rescue of one endearing old man with a confused mind the Braswells' evil plans to market a terrifying device promises a reign of terror of awesome proportions.
Thorn series - When a passenger plane crash-lands near Thorn's boat in the Florida coastal waters, Thorn finds himself thrust into a rescue operation that leads him deeper and deeper into the lunatic world of the Braswell family. The Braswell children boy genius Andy, psychopathic Johnny and dangerously beautiful Morgan make an impressively deadly combination. When circumstances lead Alexandra Rafferty's - Body Language (1998) - wandering and forgetful father, Lawton Collins, into Thorn's path and into the clutches of the Braswells, Thorn and Alexandra become uneasy allies. There's much more at stake than the rescue of one endearing old man with a confused mind the Braswells' evil plans to market a terrifying device promises a reign of terror of awesome proportions.
January 1, 2012
Thorn is a low-key guy in the Florida Keys who likes to fish and ride around in his sailboat. One day he and his girlfriend are out on the water and they witness a jet crash. They end up rescuing a number of people. The investigation into the crash leads to a sinister plot put together by a rich family. It involves a high energy electromagnetic weapon.The story involves marlin fishing, the Bahamas, an addled old man, his police photographer daughter, an evil rich woman tycoon and her slimy family and a small time gangster among other things. The plot is reasonably interesting, but sometimes a little hard to follow with all the characters.
April 4, 2017
This book was given to me off of a friends bookshelf. I had no idea what to expect. I now find that it was the 7th book involving the character, Thorn. Now I did like Thorn, so I might be interested in reading an additional (earlier) volume. I did discover that this author provided you names of everyone; the busboy, the valet, so you had to pay attention to all the names in case they were important. I did not like that. I have a hard enough time keeping characters and storylines straight
January 17, 2016
Na ovu knjigu sam naletio na nekom sajmu za 5/10 kn.
Nisam puno očekivao, pa sam čak i ostao ugodno iznenađen s radnjom koja prati nesvakidašnjeg junaka Thorna koji preživljava izrađujući mamce za ribolov, međutim igrom slučaja upada u središte zavjere jedne disfunkcionalne obitelji.
Iako je sam tijek odvijanja radnje djeluje malo nespretno, na trenutke nabacano, s sci-fi elementima knjiga mi je do samog kraja bila jako zanimljiva.
Nisam puno očekivao, pa sam čak i ostao ugodno iznenađen s radnjom koja prati nesvakidašnjeg junaka Thorna koji preživljava izrađujući mamce za ribolov, međutim igrom slučaja upada u središte zavjere jedne disfunkcionalne obitelji.
Iako je sam tijek odvijanja radnje djeluje malo nespretno, na trenutke nabacano, s sci-fi elementima knjiga mi je do samog kraja bila jako zanimljiva.
July 25, 2009
While marlin fishing, the Braswell's oldest boy was pulled overboard by the fish. The family has many secrets and affiliations but their obsession with tracking that particular marlin has destroyed them. This was my first James W. Hall book but certainly not my last. This was wonderfully suspenseful and wacky.
November 23, 2009
The only reason I am giving this book three stars is that I like Thorn, the protagonist. The book itself is hardly deserving, in my opinion, of the reviews it has received from critics and authors. If you want a quick read when you go marlin fishing in the carribbean then this is it. Otherwise...eh.
October 25, 2010
This book was not nearly as suspenseful as Body Language or other books that I have read by James Hall. I hate stories where the bad guys just kill random people but feel the need to tie up the hero so they can first explain why they did what they did before the inevitable escape. The story's climax was cheesier than a block of Cracker Barrel cheddar.
January 21, 2011
This was a surprise. I had read a Hall mystery in the past and for some unknown reason I never picked up another one again until now. This was fun and well written. Family of killers hunting a fish, a guy who ‘gets involved’, and a lady cop looking for her simple-minded father. Good action and even better characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews