James W. Hall (1) (1947–)

How Much for That Chocolate in the Window?

"Truth is stranger than fiction," and sometimes the only way to tell harsh truths is via the vehicle of fiction.
Harper; powerful, world-traveled, photographer female protagonist embodies the top notch ideal of "hitting like a girl" and creating justice from the deepest scorn. Excellent read. I will not stop thinking of this story, nor Harper's ragtag, dangerous family. Chocolate is central to this novel. Africa, the Ivory Coast. What our cravings cost others. Corporate corruption.
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There's a lot of recapping in the early pages of this one, but after those early bits, the story takes off and lives up to the best books in the Thorn series. With Hall's ever-so-detailed attention to character and action and nature, the book spirals forward in a story that's as heartbreaking as it is timely, and I absolutely loved it. Hall also outdid himself in making a memorable villain, albeit that's one of his hallmarks, and coming back to this story and Thorn was a trip into remembering why I fell in love with this series way back when it began.

I loved it.… (mehr)

3 - 3.5 stars. Kinda tossed up about it.
Interesting, compelling novel, read it basically straight through. Plot was well done and executed, but like some other reviewers I do question the likability of the characters. The only one I really liked was dear old dad, and I was really rooting for him to come up big in the end, and kinda disappointed he didn't. Also would have liked to learn just a little more about Norman before he was offed.
I had the killer, aka the Bloody Rapist, pegged pretty early on, but the author threw just enough red herrings in to have me questioning my choices a few times. Shoulda stuck with my gut though, I was right in the end.
The only other real comment I have to make about this book is that the author seemed to go out of his way a few times to be extra crude, I didn't mind per say, but it seemed to be a little over the top at points. Oh, and you could say the same thing for his penchant for over description. I don't really care all that much about how the room was decorated, and definitely didn't need a whole paragraph on it, found myself skimming over some of that stuff.
All in all this was my first read by this author and thought he did a pretty good job. Don't know if the crudeness and overdescriptability (like my new word?) are traits of his writing, but I wouldn't mind finding out.… (mehr)