Going Dark (Thorn P.I.)
Thorn is a hermetic, fly-tying loner whose attempts to carve a separate peace for himself on Key Largo are only intermittently successful. Inevitably, he is drawn into somebody else’s fight, or, in a kind of reverse serendipity, simply walks into a mess that needs fixing. And when Thorn gets to fixing something, he doesn’t stop until the job’s done. Ah, but collateral damage, there’s the rub. Too often Thorn’s knight-errantry puts those he loves in danger. This time it’s a little different. The problem is Thorn’s newly discovered son (Dead Last, 2011), who has joined forces with a band of ecoterrorists who have designs on Florida’s largest nuclear-power plant. (The plan is supposed to be nonviolent, but a cell within the cell has other ideas.) Thorn’s only hope of extricating his son is to join up with the terrorists, which raises the bar on possible collateral damage to a new high. Hall is one of those rare thriller writers who can build character as he ratchets tension, who can do no-holds-barred action scenes with panache and, in the midst of bedlam, never lose sight of nuance. All those skills are on display here, as Hall assembles a full-bodied supporting cast whose stories hold our interest as much as Thorn’s attempt to save his son without helping to bring about a South Florida version of Chernobyl. A fine thriller on every level. --Bill Ott