Book Description
While driving along a darkened stretch of Florida road, Travis McGee and friend Meyer encounter a young girl wearing little more than a frightened look as she leaps out from the shadows directly in line with their headlights.A skillful swerve saves the girl but finds McGee and friend upside down in ten feet of swamp water.Not two minutes later they are dodging bullets fired from a speeding pickup. McGee reports these unusual events to the local sheriff and finds himself arrested for murder! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Travis hits the swamps
Travis McGee and his friend Meyer are driving home on an abandoned road when a nude young woman races in front of their car.McGee and Meyer end up going off the road and rolling the car, but that's just the beginning of their troubles.Before long, they're shot at by someone in a beat-up pickup truck.As a final welcome to the area, they're arrested for murder and accused of being involved in a robbery some years earlier.Needless to say, McGee digs in and tries to get to the bottom of things.

Travis is loved by a legion of fans and he's at his best here.The supporting cast is interesting as we meet characters like Betsy Kapp, a waitress turned part-time call girl.King Sturnevan is a former boxing contender who is now a sheriff's deputy and befriends Travis.And Lilo Perris is a psycho who mixes freakish strength, extreme sadism, and raw sexuality to keep McGee on his toes.These few and more form a rich stew for Travis to work with as he tries to unravel the mystery of robbery and murder.

The mystery is interesting, and certainly had me guessing for a good while.My only complaint is that it dragged on for a bit too long.There is a climactic scene 50 pages before the book ends where MacDonald could have easily wrapped up the story.Instead, he went for another twist and the actual ending felt a bit anti-climactic and stretched out.It's not like it completely ruined the book, but it does keep it from being as tight as it might have been.

The Long Lavender Look is a solid entry in the Travis McGee series.Long time fans will probably appreciate that the story is a bit of a change of pace from the norm since it doesn't involve McGee performing one of his standard "salvage" operations for a reward.It's not a bad choice for first time readers either.While I did think the ending was a bit sub par, the book is certainly an entertaining read overall.

"Often when you are the most hopeful, nothing works."
Before reading The Long Lavender Look, I would have argued that Bright Orange for the Shroud was the best Travis McGee book. After careful consideration, I have to admit that The Long Lavender Look steals the crown, even though they both remain extremely entertaining. Since MacDonald sets a high standard for hard-boiled detection, this should tell you that I liked this book very much indeed.

McGee swerves to avoid a nearly naked girl running across the road, and ends up in a swamp of more than one kind. In order to clear his name, he has to find his way to the center of a secret at the heart of a small town Florida police department.

Smart. Fair. Entertaining. Easy to find at used book stores for a small bit of change. What's not to like?

The Long Lavender Look
Master "helper" Travis keeps coming up with frightened damsels. And thankfully, Meyer is frequently there to offer advice and consent.

A long, lovely read for McGee
While I still find "Flash of Green" to be my favorite John D. MacDonald book, there's something so appealing about the Travis McGee series that it keeps me coming back to them. And "The Long Lavender Look" is just another addition to the spectrum of colors that his novels get their titles from. Also "The Long Lavender Look" has such a gripping opening sequence of events, and such an array of fascinating characters, that you cannot put this mystery down.

And while I know that MacDonald enjoyed popularity in his time, it seems that his popularity is running out of gas. I hope I am wrong because he is horribly overlooked.

Cool mystery
John D. MacDonald's mysteries are as tasty as the hamburgers of the same name! I love all the Magee books! ... Read more

Book Description
Another bestseller starring Travis McGee, a real American hero--and maybe the star of a new movie franchise! Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Timeless good read
I really enjoyed this more classic McDonald book.I had just finished 'Dress Her in Indigo' and was very disturbed by that book.It was too dark for me, too mean, violent and too much senseless descriptive sex and musings thereof.Also, too many characters to keep track of most of them left you wondering at the end what their pertinence was, but I digress, this is a review of 'Bright Orange for the Shroud'.With the name of this book I couldn't imagine what it would be about and was completely surprised with the book and when the meaning of what it meant was revealed.It was all pretty sad.

This book took me back to the days of the "land deal" when you went to Florida in those days you were sure to be sharked by someone hustling you off to some "free" steak dinner to then con you into a purchase of a lot in one of these phony developments.Looking back on it I can't understand why nothing was done about it and why Florida was allowed to be raped by so many con artists.It was in a way a bad place, a taken advantage of place seems to be so to this day.It's all rather depressing which I think is what drove McD to write and muse about it and it colored his whole life and thoughts.To see such destruction so fast, so close up and to be there when poverty, ambivalence, shock, disbelief and naïvety prevented much being done about anything by the locals, was pretty sad indeed.

So anyway, it was a really good book and one this time I could relate more to the characters.One thing about Travis is that he seems attracted to sleazy women, they disappoint him, turn him off in the end and this keeps him free and clear of commitment...clever.One other observation is that Trav claims to have a "Calvinistic" conscience that keeps him from letting himself go too long out of shape physically but doesn't seem to apply to having a steady job with same work ethic.Pretty funny!

Very dark
A friend of Travis McGee has been fleeced of all his money by a group of con artists. McGee promises to try and recover the pilfered money. Originally his plan is to con the cons, but he soon realizes that one of the gang is capable of murder.

This is a very good entry in the Travis McGee series (the sixth, I believe). In `Bright Orange for the Shroud' McGee faces one of the most brutal and memorable antagonists in Boone Waxwell, a local Floridian who is familiar with all the swampways, and is rumoured to have buried a few bodies there. The result is one of the darker and more violent of the McGee novels I have read.

One of MacDonald's darkest
I've read almost every title in the McGee series, and this is surely one of McGee's more disturbing adventures. As in 'A Fearful Yellow Eye', one of the villains is a rapist, so the reader should be prepared to read about that particular evil. (But it is just one aspect to the story, though.)
I concur with other reviewers -- the plot is straightforward. And the characters -- particularly the protagonists -- are easy to identify with and enjoy.
One thing was missing, however: MacDonald, through the worldview of McGee, usually works in a few mini-essays into the narrative. These insightful asides are usually about people, politics, or life in general. I don't recall any from this particular McGee mystery.

Perhaps the best, surely the most intense, McGee story
I have read the entire McGee series and am now working my way through the unabridged audiobooks which were published by books on tape.

This is perhaps the simplest plot of the entire series.The fewest characters.No visit from Meyer, the economist.

Just three good guys, some medium bad guys, and one really memorable, but believable, super bad guy.

John MacDonald demonstrates that a uncomplicated and realistic plot with great and convincing characterizations is a much better read than a complicated, hard to believe plot. When you finish, you will muse that this could have been true, and suspect the author heard the germ of this story over a few beers in South Florida 50 years ago.

MacDonald hits his stride...
Bright Orange for the Shroud, the fifth in his Travis McGee series, John D. MacDonald has really hits his stride.I have been reading this series in order, and each book gets better and better.

As always, McGee jumps in to help a friend who was swindled of his $250,000 inheritance (we're talking 1960's here).Arthur Wilkinson was scammed in a land deal by a crooked lawyer, a slick salesman, a brutal hoodlum, and even his own wife.McGee, Wilkinson and Chookie (Wilkinson's former girlfriend) combine forces to discover how the scam operated and to try and recover some of the money.Early on, we learn the identity of the bad guys, so there's no mystery here.But how McGee infiltrates this group to investigate their modus operandi is MacDonald at his best.When the situation suddenly goes out of control, you can't turn the pages fast enough.

Bright Orange for the Shroud doesn't follow the formulae of his previous books in that McGee doesn't develop a love interest.Also, there is less mayhem and murder, and more of the good guys are still alive at the end.In some of MacDonald's books, McGee travels the country, but McGee is best when keeping to his native Florida.His base of operation for this book is his own houseboat, The Busted Flush.

I can't believe this series was never turned into a television series or a movie. With the resurgence of interest in MacDonald, perhaps it's not too late.
... Read more

Book Description
"The professional's professional of suspense writers."

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Travis McGee has been offered easy money by a longtime lady friend. But when she gets killed, McGee's got a boatload of mystery. Navigating his boat into troubled waters, he heads for the seamier side of Florida--where drug dealing, twisted sex, and corruption are easy to find--but murderous riddles are hard to solve.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Trav the Avenger
Travis McGee is visited late one night by a girl he knew years ago. She appears concerned for here safety, not allowing McGee to turn any lights on and continually checking over her shoulder as if someone might be following her. It turns out she is carrying a large sum of money that she asks McGee to hide for her. She adds to the intrigue by instructing him that should anything happen to her, he was to get in touch with her sister and give the money to her.

Inevitably she is killed a week later prompting McGee to take The Busted Flush and his neighbour and regular party fiend, Meyer south to Bayside to try to find out what happened to her.

What he and Meyer stumble into is an amateur marijuana smuggling racket that is starting to get out of hand. While McGee is stirring the hornets nest bodies begin to pile up at an alarming rate. He plays the avenging white knight to perfection here without becoming overly sentimental or judgemental; he simply does what he has to do, taking his bruises in the process.

The inclusion of his fellow Lauderdale resident and party buddy on this particular caper adds a nice balance to Travis' usual introspection. They each bounce their deep philosophies off the other keeping both each other and us amused. A fast moving Travis McGee is a good Travis McGee and this one certainly zips by with alacrity.

Lucky 13th for Travis
"Dreadful Lemon Sky," MacDonald's 13th in the Travis McGee series, is vintage McGee.I would put it right up there with the best of them, "Green Ripper" and "Bright Orange Shroud."It boggles my mind that MacDonald could write the abominable loser "Turquoise Lament" in 1973, and turn around and write this sparkling gem in 1974.

Carrie, a blast from the past, pays McGee a surprise visit aboard the Busted Flush with a suitcase full of suspicious money.She asks him to keep it safe for her, keep a $10,000 "fee," and if she does not return for it in two weeks, send it to her sister.Two weeks later and no Carrie; McGee goes out to earn his fee.Carrie has died in a car "accident." McGee mounts his white horse and vows vengeance for the lady.He finds drugs, danger, more action than even he bargained for, and meets a load of fascinating (if not righteous) characters.He discovers an all too happy singles only apartment complex apparently fueled by marijuana and presided over by a Big Daddy who is the benevolent landlord.A mysterious newly widowed Cindy Birdsong plays his Bond girl role, if somewhat diffidently.The locale is all Florida, purely Florida.

"Dreadful Lemon Sky" is superbly plotted with a surprising number of twists and turns for a MacDonald book.The character vignettes are sharp and right on the money.This is a Travis McGee not to be missed.

A great introduction to the legendary Travis McGee series.
This happened to be the first novel of the Travis McGee series I read, back in the 80's, and I was instantly hooked.I grew up in Florida, and McDonald, as every reader familiar with Florida notices, knew the stateintimately and paints that strange place with a master's touch.TravisMcGee is probably the most perfectly realized character in series fiction,but what really grabbed me about this novel was the ultra-frighteningvillain.In fact, I think McDonald's greatest talent was the invention anddevelopment of his horrifying bad guys. ... Read more

Book Description
"One of the most enduring and unusual heroes in detective fiction."

THE BALTIMORE SUN

Now that Linda "Pidge" Lewellen is grown up, she tells Travis McGee, once her girlhood idol, that either she's going crazy or Howie, her affable ex-jock of a husband is trying to kill her. McGee checks things out, and gives Pidge the all clear. But when Pidge and Howie sail away to kiss and make up, McGee has second thoughts. If only he can get to Pidge before he has time for any more thinking.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

My Favorite McGee (so far)
After reading about 11 JDM McGee series books I have to say that this is one of my very favorites.The characters interesting, the musings on target with today's worries and complaints and the story very entertaining.I was at Hilton Head and read this in a couple of days on the beach.Excellent beach read.Not too dark like some of the other McGee books.Satisfying ending. Loved the dated accounts of flying, lol.

JDM should have gotten a Pulitzer just for his creativity in naming his books.

Turquoise Lament
MacDonald aka Travis had a serious intrigue in this one. Yet, somehow and remarkably, John D. worked out a decent ending.

Interest male angst
Had Travis McGee been in a science fiction novel, we would have had books like THE PHILOSOPHY OF MCGEE, similar to THE NOTEBOOKS OF LAZARUS LONG, dedicated to the wit and wisdom of this, MacDonald's best known and best loved character.Perhaps it is for the best.While not quite given to epigrams as Heinlein, MacDonald definitely had a consistent vision of who this latter day Don Quixote was.Long before Robert Parker investigated male angst in the Spenser books, MacDonald had mined the entire territory.

In The Turquoise Lament, McGee must face doubt, guilt, and faith as the grown daughter of a deceased salvage friend is afraid that her newlywed husband is attempting to kill her.Culminating in a fight scene with a cable car that today's Hollywood would go nuts for--in fact, that gets me to wondering why we have never seen McGee on film.Maybe we have, and I just don't know about it?Sure, some of the dialogue might not work on the screen, but the mystery, adventure, and spectacular fights would surely fit today's current vehicles for male stars.Today's directors would probably make a mish-mash of it, though; MacDonald probably better fits a director like Hitchcock than Paul Rudhoven or James Cameron.

Vacation in paradise, McGee style
Travis McGee once again takes on the torch of righteousness as he saves the daughter of an old friend.She thinks she's losing her mind, which is exactly what somebody wants her to think.But McGee sees through the charade, and undercovers a shady past that explains why he's willing to travel halfway around the world to provide justice.The last 50 pages are stunning in this thriller.Like all MacDonald books, you will get a heavy dose of philosophy from a sophisticated author.Enjoy this classic.

Travis McGee or Andy Rooney?
"Turquoise Lament" is a poorly told tale of missing buried treasure documents, damsel in distress and some interesting locales:Pago Pago and Hawaii.

The positives were an extremely well drawn character Howie Brindle.We have all known the type, but he is elusive as a wisp of smoke.MacDonald does a great job of nailing him down.The descriptive scenery was interesting and set forth in a very reader-friendly way.

Travis did not behave well and showed some monstrous poor judgment.Perhaps this made MacDonald grumpy.Travis's voice was lost through the incessant monologues by the author.We expect a certain amount of authorly philosophizing in a McGee novel, but this one went so far over the line as to be mere self-indulgence.Just when things are getting exciting, we get a three-page diversion about the inner-workings of a sand filter.

Travis has a few affairs too many, falls in lust with a girl called "Pidge" who has all the charm of a juvenile hysteric, and is so irresistible himself that merely his voice on the phone causes ladies' hearts to beat faster and pour out their innermost secrets to him.We really can't blame Travis for getting out of line; his author deserted him. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Selection
Of the 21 novels in the Travis McGee series, this collection is an excellent representation.The five books are from MacDonald's "middle period" and two of the five are among his best:"The Green Ripper," a dark and violent story of revenge against a supposed cult religious group, and "The Dreadful Lemon Sky," a skillfully crafted Floridian tale of follow-the-money.

The remaining three:"A Tan and Sandy Silence," "The Empty Copper Sea," and "Freefall in Crimson" are all solid contenders and may be a favorite.I particularly enjoyed all the visual imagery of "Freefall in Crimson."Travis gets involved with hot air balloons, takes his first ride and falls in love with the experience.You know someone is eventually going to fall, be tossed or otherwise have something particularly bad happen to him/her up in the air; but this just lends spice to the proceedings."The Empty Copper Sea" features intricate plotting and fine character development.To my way of thinking, "The Tan and Sandy Silence meanders a bit and Travis broods overmuch, but some folks count it as their favorite McGee.

I am subtracting a star from the otherwise great collection because it is full of typos, far more so than the originals.This is not a major deterrent for me, but some readers find it very irritating.The book is well bound with an attractive dust jacket and a good table of contents.A bonus is the left hand page always is entitled with the current story making it much easier to find your place.This would make a good gift for a MacDonald fan.

Fun in the sun
Over the years I've read hundreds of novels in a variety of genres, but for pure fun and enjoyment it's hard to beat Travis McGee. Some of the books are better than others, but they're nearly all worth a couple of lazy summer days. They are the ultimate summer time, quick-read beach books. At their core, they're good mysteries. But Travis McGee is such a great character, with such a wry outlook on life, that often the mystery seems secondary to McGee's views on whatever topic author John D. McDonald has selected for his soap box. Most of them take place in Florida, (a Florida no one will ever see again given they were written mostly in the 60s and 70s) and all have a color in the title. Don't take them too seriously, just have fun in the sun.

Goota Love That T. Mcgee
Having been a T. Mcgee fan for many years, I can say that having these 5 fine examples in one place has been great.I think I have gone through these 5 at least 3 times over the years, and I love them all -- especiallythe green ripper, which brings out a new, darker, side of Travis. ... Read more

Book Description
With an introduction by CARL HIAASEN

JOHN D. MacDONALD

"...the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller."
--STEPHEN KING

"...a master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer."
--MARY HIGGINS CLARK

"...a dominant influence on writers crafting the continuing series character."
--SUE GRAFTON

"...my favorite novelist of all time."
--DEAN KOONTZ

"...the consummate pro, a master storyteller and witty observer."
--JONATHAN KELLERMAN

"...remains one of my idols."
--DONALD WESTLAKE

THE TRAVIS McGEE SERIES

"...one of the great sagas in American fiction."
--ROBERT B. PARKER

"...what a joy that these timeless and treasured novels are available again."
--ED McBAIN ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The great MacDonald
While I still find "Flash of Green" to be my favorite MacDonald book, there's something so appealing about the Travis McGee series that keeps me coming back to them. And "Pale Gray for Guilt" has such an engaging opening sequence of events, and such an array of fascinating characters, that you cannot put this mystery down. I just hope that MacDonald continues to gain in popularity, as I feel he is horribly overlooked.

don't mess with travis
...and whatever you do, read this one before reading "The Lonely Silver Rain". "Pale Gray" is vintage McGee, and a very fascinating exploration of the Big Con. There must be something more entertaining than these books, but I can't imagine what it would be.

Conning the Con Men
Tush Bannon, friend of Travis, a good and gentle man is killed horrifically by an anvil crushing his face and chest.First declared suicide-admittedly a peculiar way to do the deed--- later changed to murder.Tush owned a small marina whose acreage was a valuable parcel to the big bad business interests, and he was being squeezed out.He left a shocked and bereft wife and three young sons.Gallant Knight Travis rides to the rescue.

"Pale Gray for Guilt" was the 8th novel in the Travis McGee series, and I judge it as medium-good McGee.Published in 1968, it has an excellent contemporary flavor about it that captures the late `60s very well.The major flaw in the novel is the extraordinarily complicated sting set up by Meyer and Travis as revenge for Tush's demise.The big businessmen are set up to take a financial bath, and there are pages and pages devoted to capital gains, covering margins, selling short, etc.This has the effect of confining John Wayne to Wall St., not a happy or even very interesting state of affairs.However, Travis does get to expound, and wow his usual lusty women. (this one named Puss Killian-would such a name even be allowed today?)MacDonald allows Travis his special brand of sentimentality, "-went into the master bedroom and slipped out of the robe and into the giant bed and wished I wasn't too old to cry myself to sleep."No other tough private eye would ever be permited to think that way in print.

By the time this book was written, MacDonald had found his groove, though it was too bad he had to foist his interest in the stock market on Travis who, as we all well know, cares nothing about such things.It never happened again.

An intricate con game played for revenge.
John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series was one of the first truly successful "hard boiled detective" genre series to make it big at the mass market level of sales.Written mostly in the 1960's and early 1970's the books could come across as somewhat dated time period pieces except that MacDonald was a suspense writer of the highest order whose gritty, hard edged characters come to life on the page just as readily today as they did back when written.

In point of fact, these really aren't "detective" books at all; they are generally better classified as suspense novels.However, the formula utilized in the books, as well as the realistic, hard hitting writing style they displayed, set the stage for many a fictional detective series to follow.

McGee advertises himself as a "salvage" specialist.He's more a high-end repo man.If you've lost something of extraordinary value that you do not want the police involved in recovering, he'll do it for you-for 50% of the fair market value of the lost valuables.Once he's made a big score he reverts to being a beach Bum in ft. Lauderdale Florida where he lives on the beach in a houseboat won in a card game.

The Travis McGee novels break down basically into two types of story either (A) a "recovery" tale and (B) a revenge tale.The former is the far more common format.

Pale Gray for Guilt is one of the latter.Tush Bannon, one of Travis' old high school buddies, is killed by developers who want his land for a project, Travis swears revenge.Along with his sidekick, Dr. Meyer, a nationally known economist and fellow beach bum, McGee sets in motion a complicated and dangerous scam to entrap and bankrupt the killers.

On the whole I like the recovery novels better than the revenge novels, but this is one of the better of the latter sort.The plan is ingenious, the characters, as usual, well developed and the con victim so loathsome one is fully engaged in the effort to get the SOB.

This is probably not the best book to start out with McGee but, once hooked, this will make a very pleasant read.

A final note:MavDonald wrote many novels other than the McGee series-however, all McGee novels have a color in the title.If you're browsing for McGee, just select any novel with a color in the title, and there Travis will be.

Very poor McGee
I'm sorry, but I completely disagree with the other reviewers.I found this book to be shockingly bad.While other McGee books sparkle with Travis' commentaries on social trends and peripheral characters, and possess intricate plots, this book was a straightforward revenge story, with McGee and his sidekick Meyer confidently and flawlessly triumphing over the evildoers.There is no suspense, and the book is written in a rather haughty style, glorifying the abilities and righteousness of McGee.I was nauseated by the final third, just trying to finish it up, shaking my head at the lack of suspense and the wooden tone.I think one has to have a simplistic devotion to the series and/or character to see this installment as among the best of the series, because it comes off as sort of a love letter from MacDonald to McGee.Try "Long Lavender Look" for a McGee with all this series has to offer, and don't read this one until you're thoroughly immersed in the series. ... Read more

Book Description
Travis McGee is the strikingly handsome and ever resourceful invention of John D. MacDonald.Born in the author's imagination in 1964, McGee drifted into the world on a 52-foot diesel-powered houseboat, the Busted Flush, which he has used as a base of operations through many adventures.

In A TAN AND SANDY SILENCE, news of a former girlfriend's mysterious disappearance leads McGee to the West Indian island of Grenada.There he takes on a whirlwind plot of double-dealing, shady financing and shifting identities.

"MacDonald is the thinking mystery lovers' answer to Ian Fleming and Mickey Spillane."(San Francisco Chronicle) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A low for McDonald
This was about my 13th McGee novel and it was a disappointment. I'm hip to the Trav legacy, and aware that the author's condescension toward women, rock music and men with long hair was part of the McDonald DNA (sign of the times, probably). But this book just has too much of that. The villain's level of sadism is over the top and we are treated to a particularly vicious drowning murder of a woman. The land development scheme is baffling Trav accomplishes a physical feat in the ocean that is flat impossible and his rescue is an outrageous coincidence. Finally, the villain's comeuppance is out of a James Bond novel. Be warned.

Still, I'll probably get around to more McGee adventures. BTW, ever notice these common traits shared by McGee women: They're in glowing health, when they sit on a couch they tuck their legs under, when they concentrate they put the tip of their tongue in the corner of their mouth, when they eat they lick their fingers, when they sleep they snore softly and they yawn a lot. Man, do they yawn.

As to men, if they're fat and pale -- can't be trusted. If they're fat and hairy (like Meyer) -- salt of the earth.

Read this one last, or near the end
I do not wish to write a review that says too much, spoiling it for a future reader.I just wanted to say that this one was a disappointment for me. This one was predictable, had Travis doing things that unpleasantly surprised me, and the ending was something cheap and quick. I never felt like I was "there" with him as I have in other books.

As far as being a tired effort from the end of MacDonald's career, "The Lonely Silver Rain" was written in 1985 and was much better in my mind. I would just save "A Tan and Sandy Silence" for later or last. Go through the ones that are just gold first.

from the Jimmy Buffett school of detective fiction
A colleague of mine left this book on my desk one day.Reading it made me wish he had left the hardbound version, since that way it would have hurt more when I threw it back at him!

It's a detective story, you see, featuring the inimitable Travis McGee, the beach bum cum gumshoe who appears in over a dozen MacDonald outings.

What can I say about this book?In one stroke, MacDonald has managed to outstrip Flaubert, Dostoevsky, and Joyce, making them all look like mewling infants.

Here's just a sample of MacDonald's deathless prose:

"And I suppose you had an affair with her."
"Gee, honey.I'd have to look it up."
I caught her fist about five inches from my eye."You bahstid," she said. [p. 32]

Of course, MacDonald cannot be accused of being a superficial writer!Consider these penetrating philosophical musings:

"I own some Sears electric clippers with plastic gadgets of various shapes which fit on the clippers to keep you from accidentally peeling your hair off down to the sukull.I find that long hair is a damned nuisance on boats, on the beach, and in the water.So when it gets long enough to start to make me aware of it, I clipper it off, doing the sides in the mirror and the back by feel.The sun bleaches my hair and burns it and dries it out.And the salt water makes it feel stiff and look like some kind of Dynel.Were I going to keep it long, I would have to take care of it.That would mean tonics and lotions and special shampoos.That would mean brushing it and combing it a lot more than I do and somehow fastening it out of the way in a stiff breeze." [pp. 123-124]

But perhaps Travis, our hero, is at his most debonair when he's beating the snot out of recalicrant women:

"I smiled at her, pulling her a half-step closer and said, 'If you get loud and say nasty things, dear, if you get on my nerves, I can hold you like this, and I can take this free hand and make a big fist like this, and I can give you one little pop right here that will give you a nose three inches wide and a quarter inch high.'
'Please,' she said in a rusty little voice.
'You can get a job as a clown.Or you can see if you can find a surgeon willing to try to rebuild it.'" [p. 136]

In sum, if you're in the mood for sappy, incoherent, misogynistic, and, well, all-around cruddy fiction, you can't go wrong with the peerless Travis McGee!

(The author, John MacDonald, died in 1986, and therefore -- it tickles me to announce -- will not be inflicting any more of these books on us!God be praised!)

I just can't stop reading these things
Another Travis McGee book. This one seemed to take forever to get going, to set up the problem, and then as soon as you understood the problem, MacDonald popped you a good one, and the rest of the book was a catch-up from that moment. But that's the simple "mystery" of this McGee novel, and as such is never that special. The attraction of McGee, at least in these later books, are MacDonald's comments within them on the human condition, both specifically with regard to the Quixotish nature of McGee, as well as a general feeling of malaise which centers around money and violence. The McGee novels are as much about philosophy--ethics, particularly--as they are about mystery. Or maybe the point is that the philosophy is the mystery, and as we get to know McGee better, we understand more about his philosophy. I seem to remember the Spenser novels of Robert Parker to be similar to this as well. Are there other mystery series in which the character growth is as important, if not more so, than the particular story of the time?

Fun in the sun
Over the years I've read hundreds of novels in a variety of genres, but for pure fun and enjoyment it's hard to beat Travis McGee. Some of the books are better than others, but they're nearly all worth a couple of lazy summer days. They are the ultimate summer time, quick-read beach books. At their core, they're good mysteries. But Travis McGee is such a great character, with such a wry outlook on life, that often the mystery seems secondary to McGee's views on whatever topic author John D. McDonald has selected for his soap box. Most of them take place in Florida, (a Florida no one will ever see again given they were written mostly in the 60s and 70s) and all have a color in the title. Don't take them too seriously, just have fun in the sun. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From Back Cover
Her name was Cindy, and she was his neighbor's wife - the woman next door in kind of cuburbia that didn't make headlines. No cheep scandals here - no wife-swapping, no key games. These were real people, nice people like Cindy and Carl who fought with the desperation of damned to keep from wanting each other. ... Read more

Book Description
Cathy Kerr is innocence turned helpless desperation--all because of the smiling freckle-faced stranger named Junior Allen. Cathy has nowhere to turn--except to another stranger, that man named Travis McGee--who is a walking pillar of cold rage as he follows the depraved wreckage of Junior Allen's trail. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Good start to a good series
After consistently seeing John D. MacDonald plugged as an influence and inspiration by so many present-day authors (particularly one of my favorites, Randy Wayne White), I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about.(Sidenote:I even caught an interview with Karl Rove of all people in which he said that both he and George W. Bush were big fans of the Travis McGee books.)

THE DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY is the first in MacDonald's extensive Travis McGee series.McGee is a war veteran and beach bum who lives in Ft. Lauderdale aboard a houseboat ('The Busted Flush') that he won in a poker game.When he needs money he takes on jobs helping people retrieve things that have been lost or stolen, and in return he takes a cut, sort of like a PI but a little less legal.(Kind of reminds me of F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack.)DEEP BLUE is a first-person narrative, tough-guy-with-a-good-heart-helping-damsels-in-distress story.

I particularly liked MacDonald's use of setting.I grew up in South Florida a little bit later than the time in which this book is set, so it was neat to read a story set there in the early Sixties and see how it has and hasn't changed.Also, I enjoyed McGee's internal monologues, particularly the ones about Florida and how it can be such a strange place.

On the down side, I found the story a bit on the formulaic and predictable side -- if you've read a lot of Spillane, Hammet, Chandler, Ross MacDonald, etc, you'll probably think so, too.Also, I thought the dialogue sounded dated (even taking into account this story was written forty years ago), like dialogue in 1930s and '40s movies.It just didn't sound natural, didn't sound like how real people talk, to my ears, and I read lots of old books and watch lots of old movies.The dialogue sometimes made the characters into caricatures.

Still and all, worth reading if you like crime thrillers, or if you like Florida fiction -- definitely any fan of Carl Hiaasen or Randy Wayne White needs to read some John D. MacDonald if they haven't already, if nothing else to see where these authors got some of their inspiration.

A new Travis McGee fan?
I recently overheard someone saying how much they enjoyed the Travis McGee books so I searched out the first-in-the-series at my local library. The copy I ended up reading was about the most worn out, dog-eared, common pocket book you can imagine. Some how it was quit fitting. The Travis McGee character is unique and appealing to probably both men and women readers. Kind of a Han Solo guy but wiser and more mellow. The author's writing style is more inventive and engaging than typical; the pace varies from silky-smooth to rapid Rainman word association. Creative with word combinations. Maybe not always grammatically correct (?) but the intended feeling and description shines through every paragraph. Interesting plot. A unique villain easy to despise... you can't wait for him to get his comeuppance. You'll have to read it to see how it unfolds.

Not Free SF Reader
Fifty percent is better than nothing.


At least that is what you are desperate enough to take if you hire Travis McGee as a 'Salvage Consultant', to recover something lost that may just be of dubious legality. (Not sure what he will do if it is a racehorse, woman, or parrot, however).

Here, a friend asks him to help out another friend, both of whom are female dancers, and he reluctantly agrees, ending up in a sordid plot involving some treasure recovered in a now-jailed husband's army days, and a violent man (think rape and murder) trying to get his hands on it. Along the way, there is plenty of seedy Florida, broken women, and biffo.

If you like this sort of adventurer with booze and broads style of thing, not much doubt you will find this enjoyable. Good stuff.

Deep Blue Goodbye
It's a shame that ol' John D. had to pass away. His writing is still as good as it was during his lifetime.

Classic Travis McGee tale (as are they all) with lessons and language for the ages
For some reason there's a gap in my reading history for John D. MacDonald's fine fiction, especially the hugely popular Travis McGee mystery crime novels. So you can't call me an expert witness in this case, but a friendly one on this his first in the Travis McGee series.

I had read something in the series before--I think it was the Pale Gray one (the Travis McGee titles always contain a color)--but did not remember what an astute judge of character ol' Trav is... and how he teeters so on the edge of cynicism when it comes to sociological observations.

For example, after Travis assesses his soon-to-be client--"The world had done its best to subdue and humble her, but the edge of her good tough spirit showed through."--he launches into a broad internal diatribe on the world as he knows it:

"I am wary of a lot of other things, such as plastic credit cards, payroll deductions, insurance programs, retirement benefits, savings accounts, Green Stamps, time clocks, newspapers, mortgages, sermons, miracle fabrics, deodorants, check lists, time payments, political parties, lending libraries, television actresses, junior chambers of commerce, pageants, progress, and manifest destiny."

With MacDonald I feel in the presence of greatness, and I'm thrilled to have 20 more Travis McGee books to read for the first time.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007
... Read more

Book Description
"To diggers a thousand years from now...the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen."

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

A wealthy old man laid up in the hospital is desperate to understand the last months of his daughter's life before she was killed in a car crash in Mexico. It was puzzling. She'd cleaned out her considerable bank account, left Miami and hadn't been heard from again. Travis McGee ventures into the steep hills and strange backwoods of Oaxaca through a bizarre world of dropouts, drug freaks, and kinky rich people--and begins to suspect the beautiful girl's death was no accident.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not the best but still McGee
As another reviewer stated, too much violence. Must have wanted to do a bit of hippie bashing(also a bit too sensational grabbing). Still it is McGee and not a totally bad read. Green Ripper is the best one I've read.

Troubling times gone by
I have read several of the McGee series with my favorites the ones that aren't so erotic or violent.This one seems to have a lot of both in it and I'm not sure why.I guess as time went by for McD it seemed more necessary or maybe it was a reflection of the times that the vlolence and sex became more diviant, cruel and prominant.I much prefer the earlier books when there was more of a campy necessary point to the violence and more of a visual behind closed doors than a full out play by play bedroom scene.This book was awfully heavy on that stuff and took up many pages. It's sort of depressing.But I did find this book very intriguing especially as McD really paints a scene and you feel as though you can not only imagine the sights but hear the background noise of the busy city.I lived this era although on the younger side of when this was written compared to the characters I am glad that era is over.I really did not like the hippie era and was sorry that it was my generation's contribution.I felt scared in my own time of all the drugs and strange opinions running counter to all that had been safe and secure in society.They didn't really have an answer just wanted to "drop out" but made nothing any better by doing so.It's interesting to note this era was followed by the yuppie and preppy eras, lol.

I did feel that there may have been too many characters in this book and that the problems of the "girl" the story centers around were never really made clear.Why was she the way she was and to the extent?Many people have tragedy in life but don't resort to such self destruction.All in all a good book a little out of character for JDM in some of the more graphic areas.

McGee still going strong.
If there is a weak link in the chain of Travis McGee novels, I have yet to find it. MacDonald's "Dress Her In Indigo" is yet another great tale in the long list of books of the McGee cycle, and I have read more than a dozen of them. This one has the same driving pace, magnetic and realistic characters, and acerbic wit as any other in the series.

Vintage MacDonald
It really doesn't matter which Travis McGee book you are reading becausethey are all so pleasureable that it is like slipping into a warm bath. They possess great narrative drive and a character that is at once biggerthan life, self-deprecating, philosophical and all too human.

TravisMcgee is a great figure in literature.Over the 20 years or so thatMacDonald wrote these 21 novels(all with a color in the title and all withthe title somewhere in the novel), McGee aged by about a year for everythree that MacDonald wrote.His insights grew sharper, his cynicism andself loathing battled with his heroic life and his incredible pleasures. His reliance on his physical dexterity and strength diminished as hiscunning increased.

The books were written between approximately 1964 to1984.This particular book was written in 1969.Relatively early in thesaga, and one of a handful taking place in Mexico.Most took place inSouth Florida where he lived on a houseboat.Where else could he live?

He went to Mexico to find out what happened to a friend's daughter. Traveling with his frequent companion, Meyer, he uncovers some sinisterplot and we are introduced to some great memorable characters, and alwaysfabulous women including Elena from Guadalahara and Becky, a sexualmachine.Since it is the late 60's, you get to see the hippies in Mexicoand McGee's relation to them.

The wonder and greatness of these bookslies in the writing and the creation of a world and a being that you arelucky to tag along with during your time together.

McGee and Meyer tour pre-Cancun Mexico
A classic commentary on the 60s counterculture by John McD. A group of flower children are scattered across Mexico and have information concerning Bix Bowie's last days. As Meyer and McGee unravel the story, the gang starts dropping like flies. Several neat twists and a jawdropping finale. Reading this book brought back memories of old Dragnet and Adam-12 shows featuring the degenerate hippies. Trav gets more work in the bedroom than in any other I've read.Along the way he gets to pummel a homosexual ANDa lesbian(not that there's anything OK with that,they just had it comin' to them). ... Read more

Book Description
An insane criminal threatens to destroy a family, and the police are powerless to protect them.
For fourteen years convicted rapist Max Cady nursed his hatred for Sam Bowden into an insane passion for revenge. He lived only for the day he would be free -- free to track down and destroy the man who had put him behind bars.
Murder was merciful compared to what Cady had in mind -- and what Cady had in mind was Bowden's innocent and lovely teenaged daughter . . . .
"A powerful and frightening story." -- The New York Times ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Enjoyable, but Minor
CAPE FEAR is an entertaining novel written by John MacDonald in 1957.It's essentially a story about a civilized man whose family is being threatened by a murderous psychopath.The central theme of the book is how far the man will go to protect himself and the ones he loves.

MacDonald is certainly a highly skilled and intelligent writer, but CAPE FEAR left me somewhat cold.It's not very suspenseful or gripping, and I didn't feel the characters (especially the main character's children) were very well developed.A lot of the dialogue is pretty stilted.It's an interesting book on a thematic level, but I wasn't very engaged by it.

In short, CAPE FEAR is an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, but I wouldn't recommend it to a modern reader looking for fast-paced thrills.

Enjoyable Read
This is a good read and MacDonald has an easy to read prose style. This is an enjoyable but not gripping book. I liked it but it is not a grab you by the shirt collar suspense book.

"I'm Gonna Give You The Word, Lieutenant."
CAPE FEAR (formerly THE EXECUTIONERS, which was somewhat of a spoiler title and better changed) is one of prolific author John D. MacDonald's many classic thrillers. MacDonald, who brought the world Travis McGee, has written a short, taut frightening tale of a homicidal stalker.

In 1943 while overseas, JAG Lieutenant Sam Bowden stopped the rape of an Aussie Sheila and helped to convict one Sergeant Max Cady, sending him up for life at Leavenworth. But now it's 1957, Bowden is comfortably practicing law in the Hudson Valley and environs, and Max Cady's sentence has been commuted. Cady smashes Bowden's idyllic Eisenhower-era life to bits by beginning the slow and deliberate hunt of his wife and children, while Sam's beloved legal system is paralyzed by its own sense of fairness.

Aphenomenally frightening book which was made into 1962's terrifying film CAPE FEAR starring Gregory Peck (as Bowden) and Robert Mitchum (as Cady), and 1991's remake starring Nick Nolte and Robert DeNiro, CAPE FEAR is one of those rare books that makes you shiver---and the Peck/Mitchum version particularly is even more effective, one of the best book-to-film translations ever. Well worth reading (and/or seeing) CAPE FEAR lives all the way up to its name.

Great Book
Cape Fear is a great book.I think it is the best I've ever written.In this story, convicted rapist Max Cady is released from prison and goes after the star witness against him, a lawyer, Sam Bowden. Bowden has to defend his family from Cady before he kills them all.I would reccommend this book to anyone.

Nice, smooth read
Cape Fear is a quick book to read, and it's fun. The plot is based on the Bowden family: Sam, the father, Carol, his wife, and the three kids, Nancy, who will turn fifteen soon, and the younger Jamie and Bucky.During World War II, some thirteen years before, Sam Bowden prevented Max Cady, a young private, from raping an australian girl in Melbourne. Cady was tried, convicted and sent to prison in a forced-labour camp for life. Unfortunatelly for Bowden, he was released and has come after him and his family back in the US. Although the book is quite short, MacDonald is able to develop two of the main characters. The story is focused only in the Bowden family, which means Max Cady only appears when he interacts with them. And that's too bad, cause Cady could have been more active, allowing the reader to get to know him better. So, he's kind of a evil presence hanging over the story, and even if it's bad for the reader's personal taste, it's good for the plot. What we do know is that he is a total psycho, and his only intent in life is to end the Bowdens'lives.Sam Bowden is the lawyer who lives his life the way he makes his living: in complete accordance to the laws. His life turns upside down when he realises his only chance against Cady is getting harm done to him, which goes against his conscience. And Carol is the most interesting character of all, like a Scarlett O'Hara, she doesn't mind what things she must do in order to achieve her objectives.I think the story could be a little longer, making more explicit the relationship between Cady and the Bowdens, the way it was in the movie featuring De Niro. Also, Cady is too good a character to be spent the way he was in the plot.All in all, a good book, just too short. ... Read more

Book Description
Although John D. MacDonald published seventy novels and more than five hundred short stories in his lifetime, he is remembered best for his Travis McGee series. He introduced McGee in 1964 with The Deep Blue Goodbye. With Travis McGee, MacDonald changed the pattern of the hardboiled private detectives who preceeded him. McGee has a social conscience, holds thoughtful conversations with his retired economist buddy Meyer, and worries about corporate greed, racism and the Florida ecolgoy in a long series whose brand recognition for the series the author cleverly advanced by inserting a color in every title. Merrill carefully builds a picture of a man who in unexpected ways epitomized the Horatio Alger sagas that comprised his strict father's secular bible. From a financially struggling childhood and a succession of drab nine-to-five occupations, MacDonald settled down to writing for a living (a lifestyle that would have horrified his father). He worked very hard and was rewarded with a more than decent livelihood. But unlike Alger's heroes, MacDonald had a lot of fun doing it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Life and Times and We miss you JDM!
Good book, enjoyable read.I am a author myself and I enjoy books about the great ones of our times.I would have liked more insight into the inner world of John D, but this is a still a must for fans of his work.

rather bland and superficial
I am a long time MacDonald fan, and have read most everything he wrote. I once made the pilgrimage to Bahia Mar to see the `Busted Flush' plaque mounted there.

I was delighted when I learned of Hugh Merrill's biography, and curious to know more about MacDonald, the man who created Travis McGee, and wrote so eloquently about the Florida environment.

The Red Hot Typewriter is a disappointment.

It is worth reading if you are a die-hard fan.It includes bits of interesting trivia. What was McGee's first name and why was it changed to Travis?Why the reference to a color in the Magee mystery series?

However, you finish the book feeling as if you don't know John D. MacDonald much better than you did when you began.The author obviously did a lot of research.Unfortunately he presents it in a rather bland and superficial manner.It's as if the author's primary reference source was MacDonald's correspondence, and he didn't go much beyond that. The thoughts and personal anecdotes of friends and family are, for the most part, missing.

What really surprises and disappoints me is that this book has no photographs, none, nada, zero.Pictures would have saved this book for me.I am at a loss to understand why any publisher would produce a biography without including pictures that complement the prose.One of many examples was Hugh Merrill's description of MacDonald's visit to the set where a Travis McGee mystery was being made into a movie.Surely, Warner Brothers publicity took pictures, but you won't find them in this biography.

Phone it in next time...
How do you write a biography of a man and not talk to anyone who knew him, not visit anyplace he lived, and not include any photographs of the man or his family? It's easy: you write brief introductions to letters and passages from the writer's books, and call it a biography.The Red Hot Typewriter isn't red or hot.It is a color-by-numbers biography that is in the end colorless.A massive disappointment if you're a John D. fan, or a fan of good biography.

Educational and entertaining.
Having grown up reading the Travis McGee series and more recently reading the rest of the vast library of John D. MacDonald, I found this book personalized the late pulp master for me, as I hoped and expected.You get a feel for the intellect of both John D. and his wife; the influence of his romance and relationship with his wife comes through in his life's work.My only complaint about the book is that I wanted more...but, then again, that is the feeling that I have as I re-read all of John D. MacDonald's books.

Informative, but incomplete
As a diehard John D. MacDonald fan, I felt the book left much to bedesired. MacDonald's pre-Travis McGee work, from l950-1960 most notably,was barely mentioned, or dismissed as unimportant. The author never tookthe time to interview the many people who worked with or knew MacDonald,relying only on correspondance. Overall, the book was a disappointment. ... Read more

Product Description
Step by step, Dwight McAran built a wall of vicious hate around himself. It was easy. He was a man who could slap one woman to death because she loved him, and hum a love song to another while he raped her. Sure, he did some time in jail. He sat in a cell and simmered for five long years until his hate hardened to a core of white-hot evil, a core of stark, steaming evil designed to explode in a fury of vengeance. Revenge was all he craved - and a plan was what he had - a plan just crazy enough to work.... ... Read more

Book Description
Nina--a career girl living alone in Manhattan--offers Travis McGee companionship and the first loose thread in the elaborate fabric of a gigantic swindle. Now, she's leading McGee on a wild and tortuous chase into the decadent world of high society, the ruthless world of big money, and the weird world of hallucinatory drugs. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not as good as others in the series
I recently started reading the Travis McGee books for the first time (and in order.)DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY was a good, taught, lean -- if imperfect -- thriller.It was intruing enough, and McGee & his setting seemed to hold enough potential, that I was fired up to read NIGHTMARE IN PINK, thinking that the series, like many another recurring-hero series, would actually improve in sequence due to the author getting more and more comfortable with the character, setting, & style.Unfortunately, this book let me down.

First, it was set in New York City, which, while not neccessarily a bad thing in and of itself, does detract from a lot of the attractiveness of the McGee series -- to me, a big part of the selling point is that in other McGee books, the setting is South Florida (where I was born & raised) in the mid-1960s (over a decade before I was born.)New York seemed a much more generic setting -- I mean, how many books (and movies!) are set there?It's been covered already!

Also, the dialogue -- something I had a problem with in DEEP BLUE was that the dialogue seemed to be dated, even by the standards of four decades ago (I'm basing this on having read a lot of books & seen a lot of movies from back then.)The dialogue reads like 1930s and '40s movies, when the actors still hadn't yet realized that they were no longer on stage and so could talk more like normal people.Some of the dialogue is outright caricature.(How many times in one conversation can a character start and/or end a sentence with the word "Darling" before it starts to get annoying?)It's like MacDonald was trying to write hip dialogue and ended up with dialogue that WAS hip -- when he was a young man, ie before World War II.

The McGee series does, however, have enough of a good reputation that I'll assume this one is just a lemon that MacDonald, like all good writers, produce from time to time, and I'll at least give book #3 a chance to redeem the series for me.

MustRead...
I plan on reading every book in this series (already finiished five).It's that good.

Remarkable counter-culture hero
Four decades ago, Travis McGee disdains the modern world, yet builds an honorable life for himself in the midst of it. How? By becoming a beach bum in Florida! Not truly a bum, more an independent contractor who takes a job when money from the previous job starts waning. His deal is ever the same: "I recover what was taken from you--conveniently, the yous are mostly damsels in distress--and I keep half."

In Nightmare, "Trav" is paying a debt to an old war buddy who lies paralyzed and suspects his sister's fiancé died under circumstances that suggest foul play. He wants Travis to travel to New York and get to know his sister, provide some comfort and assistance, then "poke around" and see what he can find out.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

Nightmare In Pink
Aw come on, Travis, you can do it! Poor fellow has to pull out all the stops in order to salvage the poor young thing.

Survivor's guilt
Fort Lauderdale, the Busted Flush, this is a Travis McGee mystery.Mike Gibson had a service injury and Travis did not, and so Travis is willing to leave Florida to go to NYC to see Mike's sister, Nina, who has recently lost her fiance.The fiance, Howard Plummer, was the victim of a mugging-- assailant unknown.Howard had worked for Armister-Hawes, an investment bank.He had complained to others that he had not been able to see Charles Armister to talk with him, and that the bank was undergoing divestment without any strategy evident to make up for the lack of holding a growth portfolio.

Travis's former client, Connie Thatcher, informs him that she knows the sister-in-law of Charles Armister, Terry Drummond.He discovers that Terry Drummond hasn't been able to see Charles, either, and she would like to do this to encourage him to return to living with her sister.At the present it seems that Charles is living with his secretary and his lawyer.It is feared that he is somehow under their thumb.Travis McGee certainly does find himself in the midst of a nightmare as he undergoes a stay at a mental hospital where Charles Armister was treated.

The plotting of the mystery is very tight, very good. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Wonderful characters!
I will admit I am not done reading this little book yet, but so far it is wonderful! The best mix of characters I have come across in a long time. There is not one in the whole group who I am not enjoying!
Each story gives a different and quite real, though funny portrayal of people as they are!
Since this is the first time I have read any of Macdonald's books I am happy there are so many more to choose from!

Not your usual McDonald
I've read this 20 years ago so my facts may be a bit off but the story involves a summer art school in Mexico which attracts a bunch of varied and interesting people. A few are still vivid in my mind. The main thing I remember about this novel is what a great pleasure it was to read. No crime, no killings, just an absorbing story that makes you cheer for the characters to make it. Please Write for Details refers to the magazine ads that describe the school.

It's 'la vida loca' for MacDonald's characters!
Known world-wide for his Travis McGee detective series, author John D. MacDonald has written many more books that don't feature this "knight in tarnished armor."

In "Please Write for Details," the MacDonaldwit comes to fore as he journeys south of the Border and sets his tale ofAmerican expatriates in a Mexican art colony known as the Cuernavaca SummerWorkshop.

Indeed, the author has collected about the weirdestassortment of odd balls and thrown in even more zany "adventures" as wefind him showing a terrific sense of humor.While, of course, this book isnot a comedy, it does have its moments. Instead of "ars longa," it's morelike "ars erotica" as these crazy Americans romp in and out of differenttypes of "positions."There really is no basic character, but the entireworkshop and a number of the locals feature heavily in this tale.

It's agreat read, as much as to see MacDonald in another mode as anything.Hisgreat writing style is still there and basically nothing has changed in theauthor's literary swirl.It's one of the very few books I have ever readmore than twice,and it's still a pleasurableread!

Billyjhobbs@tyler.net

One of the funniest novels you'll ever read, period.
This should be back in print.MacDonald's sly tale of the goings-on at a Summer art school in Mexico is utterly hysterical.I remember laughing until I cried the first time I read it, not once but several times.MacDonald showed he could write an extremely perceptive comic novel. Perfect timing throughout and quite different from his usual proceduralcrime thriller.This is what you might characterize as"middle-period" MacDonald, and as such there are the occasionalinfelicities of character development and dialog, but it's still amasterful outing.You'll love it.

To all film producers:this wouldmake a truly hilarious movie!

One of the funniest novels you'll ever read, period.
This should be back in print.MacDonald's sly tale of the goings-on at a Summer art school in Mexico is utterly hysterical.I remember laughing until I cried the first time I read it, not once but several times.MacDonald showed he could write an extremely perceptive comic novel. Perfect timing throughout and quite different from his usual proceduralcrime thriller.This is what you might characterize as"middle-period" MacDonald, and as such there are the occasionalinfelicities of character development and dialog, but it's still amasterful outing.You'll love it.

To all film producers:this wouldmake a truly hilarious movie! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It doesn't get any better than this
I read anything I can find from Mr. Macdonald. This book exceeds his other works! The raw emotion and power is breathtaking! Even some of the villians are remarkable. ... Read more

Book Description
John D. MacDonald is best known as the creator of that famous adventure and folk hero, Travis McGee.In DARKER THAN AMBER McGee and his philosophical cohort Meyer rescue a beautiful Eurasian woman from her "friends."

Her eyes, "just a little darker than amber," pull them into a crisis that nearly finishes them.As the mystery unfolds, McGee follows to its end the trail of a band of murderous profiters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Darker Than Amber
Ahh! What a delightful read! Travis sure does get himself in deep doo-doo from time to time, but typically, rises above the goop to salvage the broken lady. Good work, Trav!

Introducing Meyer on a little fishing jaunt that hauls up a girl
"In that light the color of her eyes surprised me. Light shrunk the pupils small. The irises were not as dark as I had imagined. They were a strange yellow-brown, a curious shade, just a little darker than amber...She looked across at me and accepted the appraisal with the same professional disinterest with which the model looks into the camera lens while they are taking light readings."
- McGee sizing up Vangie, a very professional new acquaintance

I began reading the Travis McGee series at the wrong point - THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY - so it's a bit difficult for me to quite grasp the notion that Meyer, McGee's closest friend and a neighbour in the Bahia Mar marina, wasn't built into the series from the beginning. DARKER THAN AMBER introduces Meyer to the series as an already long-time friend, obscuring the fact that he's a new character, participating for the first time in one of McGee's cases from the moment a joint fishing jaunt turns into the rescue of a very tough pretty girl dumped off a bridge with a concrete block wired to her feet.

"I'm in the logic business, McGee. I deduce possibilities and probabilities from what I can observe. My God, man, compared to the mists and smokes of economic theory and practice, the world of actual events seems almost oversimplified. A corporate financial statement is the most nonspecific thing there is. If a man can't read the lines between the lines between the lines, he might as well stuff his money into a hollow tree."

Neither Meyer (whose preferred dealings with women are described here and seldom referred to again) nor McGee (who's just finished a short fling with a woman fleeing a bad marriage) are interested in a relationship with Vangie, but having saved her life and being impressed by her calm endurance, they'd like to help her if they could. A sometime call girl who turns out mysteriously to take frequent jaunts on cruise ships, she's been used as bait in a very complicated and profitable scheme a few too many times, and was being disposed of before her vestigial conscience could inconvenience, let alone threaten, some slick operators. Unfortunately (though perfectly in character), Vangie doesn't open up to Meyer and McGee, and McGee only begins uncovering the truth in the wake of a supposed hit-and-run, frustrated at the waste of someone he rather liked and wished well. "You feel good to do a thing like that. And then when they take what you saved and see how high they can splash it against a stone building, you get annoyed."

The first third of the book sketches in McGee's immediate past and introduces Meyer, then details their first successful rescue attempt, including a lot of analysis in passing about what type of situation Vangie must be mixed up in for such a murder attempt to occur, McGee's odd streak of prudery about women, and Meyer's coexisting cold-blooded analytic turn of mind and his ability to make friends with nearly anyone, anywhere. Investigating Vangie's place and her acquaintances turns up the only story elements that really fix it in time at 1966: a member of the housekeeping staff who's an undercover civil rights activist.

McGee's self-image as a knight in somewhat tarnished tomato-can armor fits well with this story, as the damsel in distress has been involved in the seamy side of the entertainment industry most of her life and the scam that brought about her death is *very* sleazy indeed.

Notable story elements:
- Florida's cruise ship industry is featured quite a bit, since it's integral to the scam Vangie was involved in.
- Oddly enough, Vangie's short stay on the Busted Flush isn't the point at which MacDonald brings in one of his standard sex scenes; that's done earlier in flashback as McGee reviews his recent first-aid fling with a newly separated woman.
- Interesting contrast between Noreen Walker, maid by day and civil rights activist by night, and various characters of color in THE GIRL IN THE PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER, a few books on.
- Some very clever bits of detective work, from Meyer and McGee's joint analysis of Vangie's character to McGee's location of Vangi