Silencer by James W. Hall

by Nancy Miller
(Red Banks WI)

I have always enjoyed reading authors who create a great character and build a series of books around him or her. Since John D. McDonald died taking his unfinished tale of Travis McGee with him, I have cherished those authors who have stayed alive to continue feeding my habit!
One of those authors, Robert B. Parker died 3 weeks ago ending my relationship with Spenser and Dr. Susan Silverman, and Jesse Stone. After shedding a tear or two over this loss, I discovered one of my favorite Florida authors, James W. Hall, was offering me another tale involving his character Thorn.
I was even more eager to read his latest novel, Silencer, when I saw the jacket blurbs praising his latest work were provided by three of my other favorite authors: Michael Connelly of Harry Bosch fame, James Lee Burke with his Dave Robicheaux character, and Robert Crais, whose Elvis Cole has been a companion of mine for years.
We join Thorn as he is about to unburden himself from all the wealth he inherited from an eccentric elderly widow relative in his last adventure, Hell’s Bay. His current paramour, Rusty, works out a land trade deal that involves the widow Bates property near Tampa in exchange for a game preserve by the Everglades owned by a many generation Florida settler family. The object is to put the land in a protected state land trust.
As usual, Hall’s prose praising the beautiful, lesser traveled areas of Florida is spot on. As the tale unravels the usual cast of characters appears in Thorn’s sidekick Sugarman, and bad guys so warped that one would think Carl Hiasson created them!
Silencer was an absolutely wonderful way to spend a cold winter’s day by the fire in my little home on the Bay in Red Banks, Wisconsin. I can’t wait for his next adventure, but it would be fine to read it in my hammock overlooking the Bay on a warm summer day!