Blackwater Sound by
John Hall
pbk out June 02
(HarperCollins)
at £9.99
The wealthy Braswell family had always lived the good life but beneath the
glittering lifestyle lurked a dark secret that they choose to ignore - one
that could ruin them. Then their eldest son is killed in a freak fishing
accident and the family swear to hunt down the giant marlin that took their
golden boy. Ten years later an airliner crashes in Blackwater Sound,
reluctant investigator Thorn is one of the first to help pull the injured
and the dead from the water. He is soon drawn into the tangle of a bizarre
conspiracy which involves allegations of a new high-tech weapon able to
destroy electrical systems and rumours of a connection to the Braswells.
Police photographer Alexandra Rafferty spends her life shooting murder
scenes, she is covering a double murder when news comes of a boating
accident, a body pulled from the sea. Rafferty is worried - her
increasingly confused father has gone fishing in the vicinity with a friend
and she doesn't know where he is.
In Blackwater Sound the villains are evil incarnate, the violence frequent
and dramatic, the body count high and thus there's a comic book feel to the
novel. The twists and changes of fortune come thick and fast and Hall sets
a great pace which maintains a high level of suspense. This is
counterpointed by Thorn's droll take on the world and the warm way in which
other relationships are depicted. Florida noir with a marvellous maritime
setting. Manchester Evening News 15.6.02
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
