JAMES W. HALL

What do Michael Corleone, Jack Ryan, and Scout Finch have in common? Creative writing professor and thriller writer James W. Hall knows. Now, in this entertaining, revelatory book, he reveals how bestsellers work, using twelve twentieth-century blockbusters as case studiesincluding The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Jaws. From tempting glimpses inside secret societies, such as submariners in The Hunt for Red October, and Opus Dei in The Da Vinci Code, to vivid representations of the American Dream and its oppositethe American Nightmarein novels like The Firm and The Dead Zone, Hall identifies the common features of mega-bestsellers. Including fascinating and little-known facts about some of the most beloved books of the last century, Hit Lit is a must-read for fiction lovers and aspiring writers alike, and makes us think anew about why we love the books we love.

One womans quest for revenge, a dangerous international conspiracy, and ruthless corporations intertwine in this page-turner from bestselling author James W. Hall.Despite Harper McDaniels best efforts, the man responsible for the murder of her husband and son was exonerated thanks to some slick legal wrangling. This blatant injustice has only made Harper more determined than ever to bring down the culprit. Her ammunition? Incriminating information about his olive oil operations in Italy. But the clues that she follows are leading her into the depths of a corrupt plot that is more poisonous and far-reaching than she realizes. And more dangerous, too, because her enemy is prepared for her pursuit.Accompanied by her brother and mobster grandfather, Harper treks across Spain from Seville to a medieval castle, home to a successful olive farmer who is one of Harpers closest allies. Shadowed every step of the way by a ruthless assassin, Harper is moving ever deeper into enemy territoryand questioning whom she can really trust on this personal path of justice and revenge.

DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF WHAT MAKES A MEGA-BESTSELLER IN THIS ENTERTAINING, REVELATORY GUIDE What do Michael Corleone, Jack Ryan, and Scout Finch have in common? Creative writing professor and thriller writer James W. Hall knows. Now, in this entertaining, revelatory book, he reveals how bestsellers work, using twelve twentieth-century blockbusters as case studiesincluding The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Jaws. From tempting glimpses inside secret societies, such as submariners in The Hunt for Red October, andOpus Dei in The Da Vinci Code, to vivid representations of the American Dream and its oppositethe American Nightmarein novels like The Firm and The Dead Zone, Hall identifies the common features of mega-bestsellers. Including fascinating and little-known facts about some of the most beloved books of the last century, Hit Lit is a must-read for fiction lovers and aspiring writers alike, and makes us think anew about why we love the books we love.

A simple black and white photograph taken during the 1964 Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston fight on Miami Beach may hold the key to a horrific, politically-motivated crime forty-two years earlier. After it mysteriously reappears, the photo is burned in an act of arson that sets off a modern-day killing spree reaching from the quiet neighborhoods of Miami to the back corridors of the White House. What the killer did not know is that a copy of the photograph still remains. When it falls into Thorns hands, he and everyone he close to himincluding his beloved Alexandrabecome the targets of madmen and trained hitmen, each of whom has a powerful motive to see the photograph destroyedand will go to murderous lengths to make it disappear forever.