I like old guys who can get the job done, or at least attempt to do so, whether they exist in the real world or in the netherland of fiction. James W. Hall’s Thorn is one of those guys. Thorn is somewhere on the downside of middle age, closer to social security than insecurity, and aware of his limitations, if not always entirely comfortable with them. He has seen and done bad things in the name of the good but has attempted to put that part of his life behind him, content instead to live way off the grid in the Florida Keys, manufacturing unique fishing flies by hand while watching the sun come up. However, his past keeps intruding on the present and continues to drag him into violence, despite his best intentions.

"[I]f this indeed is Thorn’s finale, Hall is sending his creation off in a literary vehicle that consists of some of his best writing to date and certainly one of his best books in a career that has run for almost three decades."

THE BIG FINISH has been advertised as the finale to the Thorn series. Indeed, from the first sentence, Hall appears to be dead set on not only dumping over the apple cart he has so meticulously created over the past several years, but also kicking all of its contents down the road. As Thorn makes his initial appearance here, he is on the receiving end of a number of postcards from Flynn Moss, the son Thorn never knew he had until recently. Flynn went off the grid (like father, like son), but for a far different purpose, disappearing into the shadowy world of eco-activists and -terrorists. Thorn has respected his son’s decision, but when he gets a card with a one-word message --- HELP --- he does what any father would do and springs into action. He brings his capable, if somewhat reluctant, friend Sugarman into the mix, as well as Tina, a quasi-love interest of Sugarman’s who attaches herself, almost barnacle-like, to the party at the last minute.

It isn’t long before things turn drastically upside down, starting with a woman who introduces herself as an FBI agent named Madeline Cruz. After taking Thorn and Sugarman into custody (while Tina makes a jackrabbit-like escape), Cruz advises Thorn that Flynn and his organization have been ambushed by the owner of a North Carolina hog farming operation on which they had been gathering information. He offers Thorn the opportunity to rescue his son, while Cruz wants Cassandra, the woman with whom Flynn has aligned himself, and with whom Thorn himself had a brief relationship in the past. Cruz wants to use Thorn as bait to get what they both want.

Thorn, though, slowly comes to the realization that everything he thinks he knows about Cruz, Flynn, Cassandra, and the mission they are undertaking is all a lie. Worse, Thorn’s life is on a collision course with a fanatical eco-terrorist who goes by the name of X-88. Be warned: X-88 is a very unique and dangerous antagonist with an almost-superhuman ability that is credible and fascinating. It gives him a frightening edge in certain circumstances; as we learn by the book’s conclusion, it is also a ticking time bomb that may take him and all those around him. The collision between X-88 and Thorn is only one of many that Thorn will experience as he races with Sugarman to North Carolina to save his son, even though both men are coming to the sinking realization that they may be too late.  

THE BIG FINISH does not end entirely neatly or well. Still, if this indeed is Thorn’s finale, Hall is sending his creation off in a literary vehicle that consists of some of his best writing to date and certainly one of his best books in a career that has run for almost three decades. His legions of readers can hardly be blamed for wanting more of the character, and hopefully of Hall. Let’s pray that we get at least half a loaf in the future.