Hell's Bay - Hardcover

Hall, James W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312359586 ISBN 13: 9780312359584

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2008

Synopsis

Master of suspense James W. Hall’s Hell’s Bay sends Thorn deep into the wilds of South Florida, in a story with all the haunting atmosphere of Deliverance and the sheer terror of Cape Fear.

 

Descended from pioneer stock, the Bateses are an aristocratic Floridian family with vast holdings in real estate and mining. When matriarch Abigail Bates is discovered drowned in the Peace River, a chain of events is set into motion, embroiling Thorn with a family he never knew he had and a fortune he doesn’t necessarily want.

Thorn is leading a fishing expedition into the isolated lakes and mangrove swamps of Hell’s Bay when Abigail’s son and beautiful granddaughter arrive, claiming Thorn as a long-lost relative and asking him to solve the woman’s murder. Little do they know that the killer is already on their trail. Soon their houseboat becomes a precarious island of safety in a landscape of escalating violence. What does the killer want? And why is their predator so enraged, determined to kill them all no matter what the cost?

As Marilyn Stasio said in The New York Times, “If violence can be poetic, Hall has the lyric voice for it.”  In this tour de force of fear and suspense, Hall shows how one family’s dark past comes back to haunt its most remote member---and may ultimately cost him his life.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Bestselling author and “master of suspense” (The New York Times Book Review) James W. Hall combines the haunting atmosphere of Deliverance with the sheer terror of Cape Fear in his most ambitious thriller to date.

IN THE DEEP, DARK MANGROVE SWAMPS

Wealthy Florida matron Abigail Bates is on a canoe trip down a backwater river when suddenly, from out of nowhere, she is held underwater to drown by a strange and merciless killer...

DANGER LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE

Thorn is aboard a houseboat in Hell’s Bay when he is confronted by Abigail’s son and alluring granddaughter. Thorn soon learns that they are his long-lost relatives—and that he is about to inherit a great fortune. He’s also about to find out that being a member of the Bates family comes with a price...

AND A KILLER HIDES IN PLAIN SIGHT

As he searches for clues about Abigail’s murder, Thorn’s houseboat becomes a precarious island of safety as he and the others find themselves hunted by an invisible enemy. For someone out there knows much more about the Bates family’s dark past than Thorn does. Someone who has lived a lifetime in their shadow—and has seen the damage their wealth and influence has caused. Someone who is determined to exact revenge on the family... no matter what the cost.

“A white-knuckle thriller that draws on our deepest fears.”  —Booklist (starred review)

“A thoroughly indulgent and hardy stew of a thriller.”—Miami Herald

About the Author:

JAMES W. HALL is an Edgar and Shamus Award–winning author whose books have been translated into a dozen languages. He has written four books of poetry, a collection of short fiction, and a collection of essays. This is his fifteenth novel. He and his wife, Evelyn, divide their time between South Florida and North Carolina.

About this edition

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0312359586
• ISBN 13: 9780312359584
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320