This book is everything a psychological thriller/mystery should be! The author created characters that are well developed and a plot that moves along quickly! I found myself completely immersed in this one! Highly recommend!

When They Come for You is an excellent fast-paced mystery written by author James W. Hall. This is the first book in the Harper McDaniel series. I'm looking forward to reading more. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advance copy.

"You ever realize chocolate is a hundred-billion-dollar industry?”

Harper McDaniel is a black-and-white photographer, learning her skills from following in the footsteps of her famous mother. She also has other hidden skills she has kept secret even from her investigative reporter husband.

Her life goes up in flames when her husband and infant son are murdered and their house torched around them.

And the only things on Harper's mind are revenge - and the last few words her husband spoke to her about the story he's working on about the chocolate industry.

This is the start of a new series featuring Harper McDaniel. This was an auspicious beginning. I enjoyed the characters - good guys and bad guys. It was fast-paced and quite the thriller. It starts off in Florida, heads to the Ivory Coast, and on to Switzerland by way of Belgium.

I could definitely see this being made into a movie.

And I learned a lot about the chocolate industry. I'd never thought about just how BIG that industry is.

I received this book from Thomas & Mercer through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

A very good read. Enthralling enough to keep the pages turning till the very end.

Usually I enjoy this author's work. His plots are pretty reliably over the top but inventive and full of intriguing researched detail about some issue or other. His evocative language was what drew me in initially and I stayed for the well-rounded characters. This book disappointed me because the female protagonist seemed assembled from attractive female action hero parts (beautiful! Young! Genius! Trained by the CIA so able to do parkour while slaying bad guys with her bare hands!) which is a shame because he's written really solid female leads before. I also missed the lush environmental descriptions. The scenes in Africa also contributed to my less-than-enthusiastic reading experience. I'm allergic to the "let's go to Africa (or Haiti or an inner-city neighborhood or any other place where people with dark skin have been screwed over by colonization) for some truly horrific cruelty because dark continents, exotic dark doings, extreme cruelty, extra entertainment value." Possibly unfair to be so prickly about such settings, but I have plenty of dents in my walls to show for it.

This action packed thriller seems to be the first in a series featuring photographer and former agent Harper McDaniel.
The plot revolves around the murder of Harper's husband and baby and her plan to find out what happened and ultimatey seek revenge. With the help of her brother Nick and her retired Mafia Grandfather Sal, Harper starts to investigate her late husband's life, in particular the last story he was working on as a journalist and this leads her into some very dark places and into extreme danger.
I liked the main character who is a real kick ass heroine, an expert in martial arts with a keen brain.
The pace of the book was fast moving which made it quick to read in order to find out who was behind Harper's difficulties.
My only criticism would be that there were a lot of characters, particularly amongst the bad guys so it was sometimes difficult to work out who they were and what motivated them to act as they did.
Harper's Grandfather, Sal was interesting as although he appeared to be a retired gangster he was very endearing and couldn't do enough to help his granddaughter. I couldn't really picture him in his former life as he seemed far too nice!
The main crux of the story about cacao plantations in the Ivory Coast and the way the beans are harvested means that I will be not look at the chocolate I eat in the same way again. Who has been exploited so that the cacao beans can be exported and turned into the sweets we all enjoy? This was well researched by the author and really made me think.
The last few pages of the book seemed to almost lead into the next novel so I shall be looking out for this when it is published in the future.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Photographer Harper McDaniel has nothing left to live for when her journalist husband and infant son are executed in a house fire. The local police fail to seriously investigate the arson. So Harper, teamed up with her financier brother and mobster grandfather, vow to settle the score. Harper discovers her husband was doing more than writing a piece on the history of chocolate and its billion-dollar industry; he was investigating mysterious deaths at a cacao plantation. The manhunt goes global; Harper travels well beyond their Florida home to Africa, Zurich and more.

One of the great writing lessons I learned is that less is best. As a copyeditor, I can appreciate attention to detail. But as a reader, too much detail and unnecessary verbiage distracts from the story itself. Because of this, I lost interest in the book fairly quickly. Too many far out actions and way too many characters with side details that clouded the main mystery. There is a such thing as too many layers. Such a disappointment for a bomb book cover. It just wasn't thrilling for me. However, it is an Amazon Charts bestseller.

🤷🏽‍♀️ For those still interested, When They Come For You is now available.

LiteraryMarie

This action-packed thriller is filled with some surprisingly true facts. While reading this book I couldn’t help but feel that the author was getting some of the information from current events, so I looked it up. In a way, this book while exciting and hard to put down is sadly informative and tells of the child labor, and even abductions of children, that are used to keep prices low harvesting chocolate in Africa.

The author did an excellent job of describing scenes so vividly that I felt as if I was there. The characters actions ring true for the situations they are in. For example, I could feel Harper’s pain when her family is killed because the author did such a good job of showing the reader through her actions and conversations. It was easy to get caught up in her desire to find out why they were targeted since the details of her relationship with her husband and son showed an extremely caring, young family.

What I didn’t like: cursing. Why do authors feel a need to bring God into their curse words? This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Just say damn if you “have” to. I personally don’t know anyone who uses curse words; however, if you read the latest fiction, you’d think 90% of the population must talk like this. Not so.

Warning: some sex although the scenes aren’t filled with graphic details.

This is a tense, action packed thriller set in Florida, the Ivory Coast and Switzerland. Photographer Harper McDaniel is shell shocked when her journalist husband, Ross and baby Leon are murdered and her home set on fire. The only thing that pulls her out of her mind numbing grief and anguish is her determination to find out what happened and why. With Ross's final words to her about chocolate, Harper begins to peel back the layers that lead to the heinous actions of the Albion Corporation and their activities in Africa. Harper is helped by her beloved adopted brother, Nick, who works for the World Bank. Harper was prevented from getting to know her grandfather, Sal, by her famous celebrity photographer mother, Deena. Now retired, Sal was a significant figure in the Mob, and shunned by his daughter. Sal and Harper meet and get to know each other and agree to hunt down the killers as partners.

Harper has her own secrets, and she has to rediscover her latent martial arts skills as she comes up against dangerous men and further death and destruction. As Harper digs deep, she discovers a side to Ross she didn't know about, a tough and courageous man, chasing a story because he believed in it. In Africa, Harper looks for information on the Albion Cacao Plantation, only to encounter street thugs, guerrillas, and corrupt politicians. Over the border in Burkino Faso, she finds evidence of the massacre of an entire village called Soko. Only just making it out of the Ivory Coast by the skin of her teeth, Harper goes to Zurich, Switzerland, where the headquarters of Albion are located. In a story that has Harper investigating senior figures at the company, she uncovers some family secrets about her identity. Despite facing ruthless forces, nothing is going to stop Harper getting to the bottom of who destroyed her family.

This is a well written and structured crime thriller from the author. It has all the ingredients that go into a gripping thriller and packed with plenty of action. However, not all the ends are tied up and it looks as if Harper McDaniels is set to return in a sequel. Harper makes an exciting central character, with hidden skills and secrets, a notoriously famous mother, and a grandfather who brings the vast resources and contacts from the Mafia. A thriller that I definitely enjoyed reading! Many thanks to Thomas and Mercer for an ARC.

Since Harper McDaniel’s husband and son were killed in an arson fire at their home, she’s lived for only one thing – getting even with the people who took everything away from her. The cops won’t believe the fire was arson, so Harper begins her own investigation. one that leads all the way to Africa, and the company her husband was investigating. With her Family (literally the mob) helping out, Harper tracks down a global chocolate conglomerate willing to kill to keep their dirty secrets from seeing the light of day. Hall takes on the seedy side of the worldwide chocolate business – I’ll never look at my candy bar the same way!