From Publishers Weekly
Setting his suspense story in the Florida Keys, Hall, who is also a poet, makes place and climate as important as character in building the powerful effect of this accomplished novel. As he weaves themes of revenge and passion, loss and attachment, he fashions a mystery that in lesser hands could be contrived but here takes shape with the inevitability of truth. Thorn was an infant when his parents died in a senseless car crash; he was 19 when he killed the man who, as a reckless teenager, caused their deaths. In the 20 years since that act, he has lived in a shack on Key Largo, tying bonefish flies for a living and trying to come to terms with his guilt. Then he meets Sarah Ryan, a young prosecuting attorney, and she begins to draw him out, involving him in the fight against uncontrolled development of the Keys that she wages with Kate, Thorn's foster mother. When Kate is found murdered on her charter fishing boat, Thorn leaves his cave for good. A progressively crazy hired killer and a complicated land acquisition scheme, Kate's murder and others that follow, who Sarah really is, and what secrets she and Thorn will keep or tell keep this complex story together until its dramatic, satisfying resolution. Throughout, Hall's characters, people of heart and soul with real-life combinations of strengths and flaws, are so sharply evoked as to be almost physically present; the sex scenes, graphic and strong and often lovely, are particularly effective. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Nineteen years after the death of his parents, a troubled teenager avenges them by causing the death of the drunk driver responsible. Now thirty-nine and emotionally scarred, Thorn still lives in Key Largo, selling hand-tied fish flies. His adoptive mother, Kate Truman, a sturdy, outspoken fisherwoman, leads local battles against land developmentthe most recent of which results in her rape/murder. Thorn's hunt for the culprit(s) increasingly involves new lady friend Sarah Ryan, Kate's lawyer buddy, sometime dope-smuggling partner, and (secretly) daughter of the dead drunk driver come to spy on his "killer." Hard-hitting, nuts-and-bolts prose, effectively picturesque characterization, periodic sex and violence, and a wonderful, cinematic climax embellish a largely realistic plot. A great first novel and necessary purchase. Rex E. Klett, Anson Cty. Lib., Wadesboro, N . C.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Washington Post
An exciting, well-crafted first novel that smoothly places complex, believable characters into an action-filled plot.


Chicago Tribune
It starts good and stays good, right to the end.


Elmore Leonard
This book is a beauty. . . . The plot, the action, the marvelous sense of place, are enough to keep anyone reading.


Book Description
James W. Hall's haunting debut novel first introduced the rugged character Thorn and the breathtaking South Florida landscape where he lives. Thorn's past includes a savage act of revenge on the drunken hit-and-run killer of his parents. Now, fifteen years later, Thorn still cannot escape that moment, or the darkness he took into his soul that night. Not even his best friend, Sugarman, knows the truth. Not even Sarah Ryan knows the depths of her lover's pain. Then suddenly, the nightmare begins again as Thorn's foster mother is found slaughtered. Thorn can almost taste the rage as he stalks her killer and waits.


From the Publisher
Thorn has captivated readers with each of his haunting appearances in James Hall's South Florida thrillers. A dark, brooding hero who understands the passions that drive men to violence, Thorn faced down a hijacker in Buzz Cut and hunted brutal killers in both Gone Wild and Mean High Tide. But it is Hall's first novel that reveals the dark mystery of Thorn's past, and explains why he is one of the most intriguing and complex characters in crime fiction. At nineteen, Thorn committed a crime that would haunt him for the rest of his life--he stalked and murdered the drunk driver who killed his parents. With that one act of vengeance, Thorn set off a chain of events that would plunge him into a nightmare of betrayal and revenge--in a novel that is James Hall's darkest and most emotionally powerful work to date.This unique reader's edition of Under Cover of Daylight, complete with a special Introduction, will be remembered as a genuine classic of crime fiction--the stunning debut novel that started it all, by the writer The New York Times hailed as the unrivaled "master of suspense."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

James W. Hall's haunting debut novel first introduced the rugged character Thorn and the breathtaking South Florida landscape where he lives. Thorn's past includes a savage act of revenge on the drunken hit-and-run killer of his parents. Now, fifteen years later, Thorn still cannot escape that moment, or the darkness he took into his soul that night. Not even his best friend, Sugarman, knows the truth. Not even Sarah Ryan knows the depths of her lover's pain. Then suddenly, the nightmare begins again as Thorn's foster mother is found slaughtered. Thorn can almost taste the rage as he stalks her killer and waits.

An exciting, well-crafted first novel that smoothly places complex, believable characters into an action-filled plot. (Washington Post)

It starts good and stays good, right to the end. (Chicago Tribune)

This book is a beauty. . . . The plot, the action, the marvelous sense of place, are enough to keep anyone reading. (Elmore Leonard)