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BODY LANGUAGE
by James W. Hall
St. Martin's, August 1999
370 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0312969120


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This is a thriller set in South Florida that never quite reaches its full potential. It's really two stories in one, linked by a few of the characters in the novel. It's too bad, because both stories are interesting enough to stand alone. It's not possible to discuss in much detail either plot without revealing important details, so let's look at three characters who are prominent in the book and in whom both stories reside.

Alexandra Rafferty is the lead protagonist. She is an uneasy character, someone you'd like to care more about, but she does and says too many dumb things. She doesn't have to because Hall has given this young woman a good mind, ambition and a generally healthy outlook, in spite of a major calamity in her past. She's a part-time police photographer, married to a bozo she ought to have rid herself of before the book opens, because it's clear from the beginning, he's not good for her.

Alexandra's husband is an ex-jock who's fallen on hard times. His job is a responsible one, but won't lead to a promotion. He embraces chaos theory and in spite of an almost obsessive interest in the literature of crime and criminals, which leads him to some in-depth research, he seems to have difficulty dealing with real circumstances in a rational way.

Alexandra is also saddled with her dad, a retired cop and a widower in the throes of Alzheimer's. He's a great character and the interactions, both physical and emotional, between Alexandra and her dad are wonderful. Hall has a real handle on these parts of the novel, which makes comparisons with the rest of it even more difficult for the reader.

The genesis of the story lies in Alexandra's rape by a neighbor boy when she was very young. The fall out from that single event colors almost everything that happens in the book. Unfortunately, in spite of good secondary characters, and some clever twists, the story has an odd pace that is uncomfortable for the reader. Read this one at the beach in the blazing sun or on an airplane going nowhere. Hall is a good writer and some of his stories are fascinating. This one just doesn't measure up.

The reviewer is the author of

INNER PASSAGES and

A SUPERIOR MYSTERY

http://www.Minnesotacrimewave.org/

Reviewed by Carl Brookins, January 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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