Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Book Summary and Reviews of Going Dark by James W. Hall

Going Dark by James W. Hall

Going Dark

A Thorn P.I. Novel

by James W. Hall

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • Dec 2013, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

Earth Liberation Front, known as ELF, is a loosely knit organization comprised of environmental activists scattered around the country.  These extremists take a "by any means necessary" approach to defending the planet.  In the last decade ELF has been responsible for close to a hundred million dollars in damage mainly through arson.  The FBI ranks them, along with other eco-radicals, as the number one homegrown terrorist threat.

Flynn Moss, Thorn's newly discovered son, has naively fallen in with an ELF cell in Miami which has its sights on Turkey Point, the largest nuclear power plant in the state.  This ELF group has concocted a non-violent plan to shut the nuke plant down - nothing more than a huge publicity stunt to call attention to the dangers of nuclear power. But unbeknownst to some in the group, there are other members with a far more violent scheme in mind - to cause a radioactive catastrophe rivaling Chernobyl or Fukushima. 

With a growing sense of dread about the group's true intentions, Flynn summons Thorn to help him escape from Prince Key, the remote island off the shores of Miami where the ELF group is camped.  Unable to refuse this son he barely knows, Thorn heads off to Prince Key and quickly reaches a frightening realization.  There is only one way to save his son's life.  He must join with the eco-terrorists and help them complete their deadly mission.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Moral ambiguity seasons the violent action in Edgar-winner Hall's outstanding 13th thriller... The result is both thoughtful and white-knuckle tense." - Publishers Weekly

"Like fellow Floridian Carl Hiassen, Hall displays a love of his home state's landscape with criticism of the greed that threatens it, plus a fondness for unpredictable characters." - Library Journal

"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...A fine thriller on every level." - Booklist

This information about Going Dark was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

James W. Hall Author Biography

James W. Hall is an American author and professor from Florida. He has written several novels, poetry, a collection of short stories, and a collection of essays. His novels include The Big Finish, Dead Last, Silencer, Under Cover of Daylight, Hard Aground, Gone Wild, Buzz Cut, Red Sky at Night, and Hells Bay. His writing includes the collection of personal essays Hot Damn, written for the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's Sunshine Magazine, Washington Post and Miami Herald.

His two short story collections are Paper Products and Over Exposure. Over Exposure includes the short story "The Carch", winner of an Edgar Award. He also won a John D. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Florida Fiction, presented by the JDM Bibliophile.

He was a Fulbright professor of literature in Spain and is a ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to James W. Hall's Website

Other books by James W. Hall at BookBrowse
  • Blackwater Sound jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Going Dark, try these:

  • A Peculiar Combination jacket

    A Peculiar Combination

    by Ashley Weaver

    Published 2022

    About this book

    The first in the Electra McDonnell series from Edgar-nominated author Ashley Weaver, set in England during World War II, A Peculiar Combination is a delightful mystery filled with spies, murder, romance, and the author's signature wit.

  • Alone Out Here jacket

    Alone Out Here

    by Riley Redgate

    Published 2022

    About this book

    The year is 2072. Soon a volcanic eruption will trigger catastrophic devastation, and the only way out is up. While the world's leaders, scientists, and engineers oversee the frantic production of a space fleet meant to save humankind, their children are brought in for a weekend of touring the Lazarus, a high-tech prototype spaceship.

  • Rescuing the Planet jacket

    Rescuing the Planet

    by Tony Hiss

    Published 2022

    About this book

    An urgent, resounding call to protect 50 percent of the earth's land by 2050--thereby saving millions of its species--and a candid assessment of the health of our planet and our role in conserving it, from the award-winning author of The Experience of Place and veteran New Yorker staff writer.

We have 10 read-alikes for Going Dark, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!
Win This Book
Win Theo of Golden

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

Enter

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
A Pair of Aces
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
Two women on opposite sides of the law team up to bring down gangster Lucky Luciano in this gripping novel.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    The Reimagining of Thornwood House
    by Jaleigh Johnson
    A witch and her ward discover a magical walking house and find the true meaning of home.
  • Book Jacket
    Summer's Never Over
    by Darby Bozeman
    A woman revisits a Southern summer camp where a counselor's death may not have been an accident.
  • Book Jacket
    Feast
    by Catherine Kurtz
    In 19th-century France, a girl with a magical taste becomes a duc’s poison taster amid nobility and danger.
  • Book Jacket
    Somebody Worth Killing
    by Jessica Payne
    Meet Nadia Davis, loving mom, devoted wife, secret assassin… and she needs a babysitter.
Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

The C is A R

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.