Mean High Tide

Thorn Mystery #3

by James W. Hall

Beneath the still blue waters off  Key Largo a woman dives into a dazzling array of  color. But behind the shimmering schools of fish,  somewhere in the shadows of the reef, a death trap  awaits. In minutes one life will be expertly,  brutally taken, and another plunged into a mean season  of fury, obsession, and revenge... His name is  Thorn, his world is mangrove islands, open waters, and  the ghosts of a too-violent past. Darcy Richards  was everything to him. Now, finding her killer is.  Wading into a seething mystery, Thorn is  catapulted into a nightmare of violence and deception.  There lurks a sensual young woman with a hard come-on,  an aging former mobster, and a diabolical ex-CIA  man. What they all have in common is each other's  mad ruthlessness -- and a little red fish that will  make some people very rich, and others very  dead...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Audiobook

403 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James W. Hall is an Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author whose books have been translated into a dozen languages. He has written twenty-one novels, four books of poetry, two collections of short stories, and two works of non-fiction. He also won a John D. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Florida Fiction, presented by the JDM Bibliophile.

He has a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in literature from the University of Utah. He was a professor of literature and creative writing at Florida International University for 40 years where he taught such writers as Vicky Hendricks, Christine Kling, Barbara Parker and Dennis Lehane.

Reviews

[Nigeyb]

In Mean High Tide (Thorn #3), we find Thorn content and happy. Needless to say that lasts all of about 30 pages. Then it's all about vengeance and uncovering what informs another fairly improbable yet gripping tale.

Once again the Florida Keys fight against human incursion and ecological destruction form the backdrop to the action. We also get more utterly sociopathic villains.

Another compelling instalment of the Thorn series, a series to which I am rapidly becoming addicted.

I've already got Gone Wild (Thorn #4) lined up and am looking forward to getting stuck in

4/5



Beneath the still blue waters off Key Largo a woman dives into a dazzling array of color. But behind the shimmering schools of fish, somewhere in the shadows of the reef, a death trap awaits. In minutes one life will be expertly, brutally taken, and another plunged into a mean season of fury, obsession, and revenge... His name is Thorn, his world is mangrove islands, open waters, and the ghosts of a too-violent past. Darcy Richards was everything to him. Now, finding her killer is. Wading into a seething mystery, Thorn is catapulted into a nightmare of violence and deception. There lurks a sensual young woman with a hard come-on, an aging former mobster, and a diabolical ex-CIA man. What they all have in common is each other's mad ruthlessness -- and a little red fish that will make some people very rich, and others very dead...

[Barbi Vandermolen]

Another 3.5. Not a huge fan of Sylvie and some things just don’t add up at all but a light read.

[Colleen]

Like an old friend

When I was much younger and lived in South Florida, I met a man. He quickly burrowed a place in my life, and I spent as much time with him as I could. Eventually, I moved away and have thought about him occasionally but never got back to him. I tried to find someone to fill that place. Some seemed like possibilities for awhile but let me down. Travis McGee could not be replaced. When I started reading Mean High Tide, I thought John D. MacDonald had returned to write again. It’s like my old friend had been revived. Thorn, the protagonist here, is that same sort of man. He prefers simple life on the water. He has his best friend. He takes care of problems when he has to. The only thing that I didn’t live is the weird Cheetos thing. I assume the spelling used throughout has something to do with copyright laws. All in all—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. And if you haven’t met Travis McGee, read that series when you finish this book.

[Don Gorman]

(2 1/2). Wow, serious Florida noir. This is such a different read. We start off with a seemingly very cool protagonist who almost loses his place in the story to the overwhelming plot lines going on. We have an overwhelmingly bad, bad guy, a pretty bad guy, a good sidekick, a totally insane girl who is related to way too many of the other players and as I said, a storyline that gets totally overwhelming. The wonderful Key Largo setting does its best to hold it all together but in the end it is so dark it is hard to plow through a lot of the time. Medium stuff.

[Lawrence T Saulnier]

Just way to long and complicated. Though it was going to be all about the keys.

Thought it was going to be all about the keys . spend 20 winters in Marathon and absolutely loved every day. This very long story was about a farm that was raising unusual talapia. Didn't hold my interest but had started it so had to finish the book. I found it to be a waste of my time and I think you will too. Can't recommend. Good luck!!!

[Bread]

Infuriating. Starting with the good, this book has all the strengths of the previous Thorn books, just heavily watered down. Interesting characters, at first; strong writing, mostly; good atmosphere and strong scene setting, for the most part. Moving on to the bad, the meandering plot that never came together, constant viewpoint shifts, obsession with sex, terrible protagonist. The viewpoint shifts I think did me in the most. The problem with changing viewpoint every few paragraphs is that it never gives the story time to build momentum. Imagine driving in stop and go traffic, very similar feeling. The protagonist was wholly unrelatable, he's supposed to come off as a vengeful antihero, but he felt more like an idiot throwing a tantrum. The whole story he can't do a single thing right. The obsession with sex got tiring as well. Everybody bangs somebody by the end. At one point Thorn comes across a couple of alligators while sneaking through the Everglades, and of course they have to be banging each other. If Hall can find a way to sneak a sex metaphor or simile into a scene, he does. Maybe he thought he had something to say about sex. He doesn't. It all comes to a head at the climax, which could have been exciting, but just turned into a slog. This one killed the Thorn series for me. There's also a rape scene that takes place near the middle, that while the story never says it was rape, it absolutely was, so anybody sensitive to that should stay away. God this book was horrible.

[M. Sprouse]

3.5, Rounded up
Wow, I'm still debating in my mind if this was more of a masterpiece or a mess? Was it an offbeat, unique and darkly amusing story or was it a plot full of holes that only makes sense if you are a little demented? In the end, I gave it four stars as I generally enjoyed the crazy, quirkiness. It certainly is better written and more interesting than the first two novels of the series. I read it at the beach which had to help.

I would like to have had more Thorn in this story. It reminded me of James Lee Burke, with more characterization and pages going to the villains then the protagonist. Sylvie and her Dad though extremely interesting, are one shot wonders. Surely James W. Hall is not through developing Thorn?

[Dan Smith]

In minutes one life will be expertly, brutally taken, and another plunged into a mean season of fury, obsession, and revenge... His name is Thorn, his world is mangrove islands, open waters, and the ghosts of a too-violent past. Darcy Richards was everything to him. Now, finding her killer is. Wading into a seething mystery, Thorn is catapulted into a nightmare of violence and deception. There lurks a sensual young woman with a hard come-on, an aging former mobster, and a diabolical ex-CIA man. What they all have in common is each other's mad ruthlessness -- and a little red fish that will make some people very rich, and others very dead.

[Robert Scott]

---A well plotted mystery, but the heavy is excessively violent and self centered and has taught his daughter to be the same. Thorn and his fiance Darcy Richards are fishing and diving off his boat when the unexpected & unforgivable happens. Harden Winchester and daughter Sylvie run a fish farm in the back of nowhere and obsess about ex-wife and mother Doris Albright. Sugarman is an ex-cop who has opened a private investigations office next to a beauty salon run by Rochelle Hamilton. Roy Murtha (once Ray Bianetti) has an antique store and is closely related (unknown to them) to two of the women. Judy Nelson is an agent of the Fish & Wildlife Service.---

[John Morse]

A very dark and twisted tale, number three in the series. The author has already written Thorn #15. Hall uses very powerful descriptions of the sea, Florida maritime life, people, sex acts and fights in this noir thriller where Thorn saves the world from the release of millions of very aggressive fish with a fast reproductive cycle that will eventually paralyze the industry on the East Coast. Lots of well-developed characters riding a weak plot and some very sick relationships. Perhaps later books in the series are more balanced.

[Varrick Nunez]

Continuing the Thorn series, pretty quick thriller, with some very unusual twists that I will need to look into. This is a re-read from my Navy days, great story, loved it b/c The Keys, Florida characters, murder & mayhem.

Interestingly, Hall was a professor at Troy State to Craig Pittman, a local journalist-author who covers Florida and it's oddities, incl. "The State You're In: Florida Men, Women & other Wildlife."

[janis louthis]

Not just an ordinary Florida beachy book

This book was way better than I expected it to be! That's always a great thing. I thought it would be just an easy beachy Florida thing like the rest. However, it had lots of surprises. It definitely kept my heart rate up here and there. Interesting mysteries abounded. If you are interested in something different, this is it!

[Charles G.]

Good read! Hard to put down for dinner; can't do an errand for the wife kind of can't put down.

Exciting read with an imagery too close to reality. If one is a fan of mysteries, this will fit the bill. If one likes ecology, this is the thriller of choice! Kind of rough and bloody if you're faint of heart.

[False]

Thorn is obviously a protagonist who keeps "losing" women--through relationship spinout or death. Why breed red tilapia fish? You're about to learn, with the usual cast of low rent girls, over the hill Mommas and your usual psychopath or two.

[Nancy M Davis]

Clever and engaging

A most unusual mystery, written by an author who really knows the Florida keys. I'm moving to the next one...
If you like Florida, read "A Land Remembered" True Florida.

[Mark Walsh]

My introduction to Hall's writing was simply great. Well developed characters including the likeable Thorn. Very interesting plot and mystery too. I've heard Hall is far from the first to visit this beach - John D. MacDonald perhaps? - but I just love it when Hall writes about Thorn!

[Dwight Burgess]

Decent plot.

However, subplots are way out there. Thoughts and languages are even further out there. I enjoy fiction and read the entire book, but only glanced at dozens of pages, rather than read them, due to rambling of the words.

[Joe Skowronski]

Detailed but Fast moving. Complete surprising story comes together well with facts fitting perfectly in the end. Enjoyable read. Almost feel like you are in the action at times as you feel yourself running, swimming and dreaming

[Arthur Okun]

Fantastic trip under and above water

A love story. Darcy and Thorn.
A wonderful fish story that was written with great emotion and tremendous knowledge.
A family novel.
Action doesn’t stop.
I wish all my friends would read it.
So far the best book I have read this year.

[Kim A. Mann]

Great story

I enjoyed this book immensely. Fascinating characters, great plot, fast paced and extremely readable. The premise for this story is fascinating as well as disturbing. I recommend you read this.

[Sean Nutter]

I think the thorn series is a hidden gem in the thriller world. I have read the 1st 3 and have been pleased. Great pacing in the books, and a wonderful description of South Florida. This one had some characters that could be seen as outlandish, sure, but still a good overall read.

[Jayne P. Loff]

Big fish

Stories of mutation new fish anthe feeding og of the world mixws with ways to make itvrich along with killing

[Micah Konyha]

One of the best books I have read in a while, the suspense was great and the author did great with character development.

[Lee]

Thorn runs into one dysfunctional family, looking for revenge. Hall does a magnificent job of a sense of place, in this series. Gotta really like Thorn.

[Patricia Piacentine]

Never take a bite of tilapia without thinking of the environmental havoc of food farming again

[Carol Waters]

I enjoyed this book but some of the random violence was just too random.

[Ian O'Donnell]

A fast moving high action thriller full of nasty villains and brave heroes . Enjoyed it immensely, highly recommend.

[Jeanne C. Smith]

????it's

Had to skip pages and didn't miss a thing. Don't plan to continue this series even if it were free.

[Gary Johnson]

Great read

It was a well written murder book that everyone who enjoys a good mystery should read. Put in your library and enjoy.

[Murray Brockman]

Great writing

The writing is great, the plot is ridiculous. Tilapia apocalypse. A new psychotic every third page. Not my thing, maybe it’s yours.