Check out our Most Anticipated Books for 2025

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:
  • Published:
  • Dec 2013, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy 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 $45 for 12 months or $15 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.

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 $45 for 12 months or $15 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 $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more thrillers...

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 $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Sequel
    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz
    In Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Sequel, Anna Williams-Bonner, the wife of recently deceased author ...
  • Book Jacket: My Good Bright Wolf
    My Good Bright Wolf
    by Sarah Moss
    Sarah Moss has been afflicted with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa since her pre-teen years but...
  • Book Jacket
    Canoes
    by Maylis De Kerangal
    The short stories in Maylis de Kerangal's new collection, Canoes, translated from the French by ...
  • Book Jacket: Absolution
    Absolution
    by Jeff VanderMeer
    Ten years ago, the literary landscape was changed forever when Jeff VanderMeer became the "King of ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

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.