Product 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 (6)

Travis McGee's world is dreadful
My first book by John MacDonald, this one "the Dreadful Lemon Sky" is listed as one of America's Best Detective stories.

Travis McGee is a very tough man, with his own moral code. His world is a seamy one, filled with greedy, shallow people having low expectations of themselves in almost every sense you can think of - except for the lethal ones, who are caricatures of slimy vanity. Casual sex is typical and nonchalant in his world - every attractive woman is somebody's potential bed partner. Thankfully, not too many details are given. McGee's best friend (Meyer) is the philosopher/poet type, which says yet something else about McGee, contributing to his interesting descriptions of landscapes and illustrations of the human condition.

I found Mr. MacDonald's story with its multiple violent arms to be depressing with nothing but McGee's friendship with Meyer to be uplifting. Not my cup of tea.

John D and Travis McGee!
Like all of John D's Travis books, I would give them 5 stars!Had read then all years ago and have been buying them lately for my husband.He has enjoyed every one he has read - and, thats just about all of them!This review goes for all the McGee books I have purchased.

Readable paperback PI novel
This was supposed to be one of the best of the series.I saw it listed on some mystery sites as a must read for this genre.

I liked it generally speaking and gave it an OK rating.It isn't a classic by any means but it has a good story, with good twists, believable characters, some action, good detective work.I dont' care for the authors frequent editorializing on issues that he deemed imporatant, but then again quite a few authors do this so I just accept it as their "thing".

In all I found that it was a good, cheap, PI novel.That's what the guy wrote.Readable and I would recommend it if you want a quick, throwaway read.

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. ... Read more

Product Description
Martin Rhode, a distinguished soldier of one of Earth’s warring states, has been unwittingly captured by aliens after innocently exploring a hole caused by what was perceived to be enemy warfare. As it turns out, the aliens are being pursued by natives of an enemy planet and they have sought refuge on Earth. They do not plan on staying long, however, but actually intend to lure their rivals in so that they may all be destroyed along with everyone else on the planet, by a special weapon they are at that moment creating. Martin Rhode appeals to the aliens, and they allow him to send a warning to all Earth people that it will soon be the end of the world.

At first disbelieving, warring states and individuals afterwards realize their mistakes and immediately reconcile with each other, and make plans on solving the imminent problem that they face—that of expelling the alien presence in their midst!
Also includes the stories: ALL OUR YESTERDAYS, DELUSION DRIVE, THE GREAT STONE DEATH, MINION OF CHAOS, COMMON DENOMINATOR, THE MINIATURE
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

apprentice before master
After WWII JDM paid the bills writing for the pulp magazines. He wrote under various names and tried different genres. These are some scifi stories. The interesting things are what comes up in the stories. Major city with Islamic influences. A force field not unlike Stephen King's "Dome". I wonder if Mr King was aware of this early story by his good friend. It's always interesting to look at early work. There are glimpses of the future writer, waiting to be refined and honed to a writer who would influence generations of others. ... Read more

Product Description
Welcome to Golden Sands, the dream condominium built on a weak foundation and a thousand dirty secrets.

Here is a panoramic look at the shocking facts of life in a Sun Belt community -- the real estate swindles and political payoffs, the maintenance charges that run up and the health benefits that run cut...the crackups and marital breakdowns...the disaster that awaits those who play in the path of the hurricane... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Was this book written 30 years ago, or 3?
My God, reading this book you can't tell whether it is 1977 (which is when it was written) or 2009.And, I'm reading it as two hurricanes are churning across the Atlantic.Condo boom in Florida?Check.Unsustainable home values?Check.Corrupt builders/bankers/politicians?Check.Shoddy construction?Check.People looking to fulfill a dream and being severely disappointed?Check.I can't speak for the all the marriage infidelity but I'm sure that's happening too.The book was extremely funny until it was extremely sad.But, you might say many of them got what they deserved.Nature (and life in general) has an uncanny way of turning things around.

Wet and Wild Perdition
Of perhaps half a dozen MacDonald books I've read, this one stands out a mile. I only wonder what kind of life he had, that drove him to create so many utterly despicable characters.The few likable ones are viciously scarred by tragedy even before the book starts--and things only get worse.The old folks here are mostly busy dying even before trouble comes, and the young ones are too busy jumping each other's bones to care if the old even die with any dignity.the righteous and the unrighteous alike mostly end up at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker, and none will be lamented--though many are unforgettable, even in their nastiness.I can't see the printed edition, so I don't know if MacDonald intended the characters Mcginity and Brenhamer in particular to use thedialect employed by the narrator in the audio edition.This is so much better than the Travis Mcgee series that it could have been written by a different man.

Dullest MacDonald book ever
I've liked the 10 or so Travis McGee books I've read quite a lot.

With those in mind I picked up 'Condominium'. Wow, what a vast disappointment.

MacDonald is a great writer, and he puts all his talent to waste with this detailed, lengthy book about absolutely nothing. Literally dozens of boring characters compete to be the least interesting, while the overall 'plot' (if you can call it that) finally emerges in the last section of the book to be about as exciting as your local weatherman harping about hurricane swells.

Do yourself a favor and skip this totally forgettable travesty.

Whew, I differ from the other reviewers here,
First of all, let me say that I was for years, a zealous John D. MacDonald fan.....I have all the Travis McGee books, and had at one time read virtually everything he had put down on paper.I lived in Southern California for over twenty years and saw orange grove after beach land disappear,,,then I moved to the desert and was utterly dismayed to see it happen there also. So, the message of Condominium is something I feel strongly about. But I thought this book had entirely too many characters to keep track of.I found it confusing, as if I needed to make a chart to follow the action.And I found it predictable.

very relavent today
I read this book many years ago and I have told many people about it.I am going to purchase it now to give to my children to read.It is perfectly true even by today's standards. They actually made a mini-series of it back in the day when those were all the rage.I would be interested in seeing that again as well.Just as an aside--he also wrote a very astute book about all the tele-evangelists and this was BEFORE the Jimmy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals.He was a true visionary.I love the whole Travis McGee series as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BEFORE TRAVIS MCGEE & COLORIZED TITLES, THERE WAS PULP FICTION.
Five Stars!! John D. Macdonald could have gone in several directions in life (Wharton School of Finance and Harvard MBA graduate) and in literature ("Ballroom of the Skies" was great SciFi). But he followed up on this mystery direction, writing many "noir"-ish stories that became pulp fiction (Dime Detective magazine, Night Watch magazine, Detective Tales..) to hone his already considerable skills as shown in this 1985 paperbook. These 13 murder/mystery stories are excellent and not dated very much. And they are riveting because we can see elements of Travis McGee all over the place. Not a one refers to any colors in it's title, but the titles are grand: "Death Writes The Answer", "Breathe No More", "From Some Hidden Grave". But not as grand as the original titles "The Lady is a Corpse" and "This One Will Kill You". Noir all the way. But JDM acknowledges that he got a break that his pulp fiction brethren didn't get.Thank Goodness!!

My personal copy of this paperback is dog-eared to the extent that no dog would chew on it, but it's readable with a good spine. And I keep it around like a fine old wine, reading and re-reading a few stories at a time over long periods and putting it back on the shelf for another time, usually following a great, brisk Travis McGee novel. My favorite, "Murder in Mind", with not one but two McGee prototypes in the same story. I love this stuff and that's why I bought it and keep it. Five Big "Tarantino" Stars for the JDM version of Pulp Fiction!

(Note: there is another anthology called "More Good Old Stuff". Also there are over 20 Travis McGee novels with colorized titles like my favorite title, "The Dreadful Lemon Sky," and some really nifty ladies conjured up by JDM, but they really need to bring back the unusual pre-McGee novel "On The Run" with some truly memorable characters and situations.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating look at "advice sharing" between famous friends
Even the famous need a sounding board..a friend who will listen and sometimes advise. Rowan, the popular straight-man of the 60's hit TV show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In"finds his attentive "ear" via correspondence with novelist John D. Macdonald. Their letters, gathered by MacDonald, aptly describe Rowan's fight with fame, his partner, and success. True Travis McGee followers will want this volume in their collection simply because, on occassion, MacDonald quotes Meyer--McGee's intellectual friend--when offering advice and wisdom to Rowan. A hard to find book, but one worth looking for. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A tale to read when you get hurricane warnings
This is John D. MacDonald's take on the Bridge over San Luis Rey.It concerns five different groups of characters who try to out run a hurricane.They seek refuge in an old house only to have the forces of nature settle their internal and external conflicts. MacDonald likes to use familiar landscapes.In this case, western central Florida.Some of the descriptions are a little dated - the book was published originally in the mid to late 1950's but the character development is excellent.The storm itself becomes a character and MacDonald bases the storm and its path on an actual hurricane that hit that part in the late 1940's. It's a shame this book is difficult to find.I think anyone who is interested in a fast paced mystery with good characters and a hurricane is missing a good time.I read this book everytime hurrican e season starts here in Florida just to get the feel of the wind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

No Barrier to Greed
BARRIER ISLAND was the last book written by John D. MacDonald and it makes you wish he was still writing today. Each character is so finely drawn you catch yourself looking around to see if there is someone you know standing in the room.
MacDonald's women characters were always weak as if he didn't dare make to acute observations of them that he did of the male characters.
This is a murder mystery without the usual resolution, but you will follow his trails over the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists HAINTS and WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS.

A thoroughly believable tale featuring richly drawn characters.
Who would have guessed that the world of Mississippi real estate could be so dicey?Tuck Loomis is a compulsive womanizer who makes his living as a land developer.He has purchased one of the barrier islands off the Mississippi gulfcoast ostensibly to develope it as an exclusive enclave consisting of million dollar homes.But his real plan is to sell the island to the U.S. Parks Department at an overly inflated price, thereby making a killing without having to really do much of anything.

Wade Rowley is a realtor with a finely honed sense of right and wrong.When Wade figures out what Tuck Loomis is up to, he sets out to thwart the deal.Imagine Wade's reaction when he discovers that all the right people have been bribed, making Tuck's scheme unstoppable.

Barrier Island by John D. MacDonald is a very strongly written work of fiction featuring several interesting subplots and a diverse cast of characters all of whom are well fleshed out and completely believable.Moreover, the book's considerable appeal is enhanced by MacDonald's vividly evocative prose and his gently voiced message of environmental sanity.

This is a masterfully crafted work notable for great plotting, superbly drawn characters and wonderfully detailed descriptions.Highly recommended.

Native experience
I have a biased review of this book not only because I'm a John MacDonald fan but also because I am from and reside on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I visit our barrier islands frequently (you can only get there by boat)and really appreciate the detailed description of our islands by Mr MacDonald. To me, this book was not a difficult read and if you are truly a fan of Travis Magee and mysteries, you will not be dissapointed.

Even the best of authors has a dull thudder every once and a while
Mr. John D Macdonald has a slew of fine reads under his belt. I have passed many a long afternoon reading one of his paperbacks and have only rarely been let down. However, Barrier Island is by far the least enjoyable work of MacDonalds that I have yet come across. It reads more like a spread sheet than a riviting thriller.

Pass this book by. MacDonald is a good writer. Find another of his books. That is my advice. Or if you have read dozens of MacDonalds and are looking for something new. Try a Lawrence Block 'Matthew Scudder' mystery.

Splendid analysis
The look of the money always makes the deal.A man is willing to sell his office to maintain a relative in a nursing home.The subject at hand is the condemnation of Bernard Island.Tucker Loomis is a developer.Helen Yoder, Tuck's friend, works for a real estate agency headed by Wade Rowley and Bern Gibbs.Wade Rowley is beginning to think that the development of Bernard Island is dicey and he doesn't like his agency being involved.Loomis proves he is a man of substance by having a large and successful residential development, Parklands.Loomis is not immediately accepted because he is an outlander, a man from Ohio.

Wade Rowley's concern is that his firm has handled the deeds and some other work on Bernard Island.It is possible to acquire marginal land, propose developing it, sell some lots, and use the information in a condemnation hearing, in this instance an action brought by the National Park Service, to obtain a better valuation of the land.Wade encounters an old friend, a newpaperman, who has questions about the Bernard Island matter.He thinks, too, that Tucker Loomis is performing a charade about developing the island in order to bilk the government.

MacDonald had an MBA and he understood very well schemes of white collar crime.He also evidenced knowledge of the perils of overdevelopment in environmentally fragile areas.Wade explains to his wife how twenty years earlier there was a local power structure deriving from locally owned banks, newspapers, and the like.The change, or nationalization of institutions, say, has resulted in a situation where developers are some of the biggest frogs in the pond.Developers and construction firms don't have continuity.Local government is the biggest growth industry and it operates without restraint.Now there is a kind of anarchy.There is splendid analysis embedded in the fiction.

Rowley investigates ownership of the lots to see if the holders of the lots are legitimate owners.He discovers that at least four of the transactions are fraudulent.He meets with a Park Service official, where the ecology of the Mississippi Sound is discussed, to turn over the information he collected for use against Tucker Loomis in the law suit.Unfortunately, since Loomis has an inside man, he learns that someone from the real estate agency has provided the federal government with adverse information.

The story continues as interesting and violent events unfold.Even at the end, everything is not resolved, as is the case in real life.This is a very good example of the craftsmanship of John D. MacDonald. ... Read more

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

Customer Reviews (18)

One of the best
I have read and re-read all of the Travis McGee novels.This is one of the best.The introductory fishing scene is the best opening of all the books.While I enjoy all of the Travis McGee novels the ones written in the 60s are better than the later novels. Travis is relaxed in his own carefree lifestyle not worrying about what lies ahead and has less of the self-contempt that dominates the later books as he ages and looks into his future as an "aging beach bum". MacDonald has a good narrative style and a his plotting while a little loose is better that many such books.These books give you a true appreciation of someone writing from the first person perspective.This perspective also allows MacDonald to dot his novels with some of his own personal perspective about life which he attributes to Travis.I believe the best thing about MacDonald's writing is that he respects the fact that he is a paperback novelist and appears unconcerned whether or not his books are considered "literature" but fiercely determined to be a really good paperback novelist which brings his work closer to literature than writers with more pretentious aspirations.I also like the fact that he works on a small canvas like Hammett and Chandler.None of these authors' protagonists are trying to save (or even change) the world, they are just clean up their little piece of it.Grab yourself a Plymouth on the rocks with a twist of lime and have a good time.

A fascinating and compelling read.
In Darker Than Amber, installment seven in the Travis McGee series, McGee and Meyer do some first rate detective work as they bring down the perpetrators of a confidence racket.These are not run of the mill con artists, mind you, these are souless sociopaths who routinely kill their victims after fleecing them.Despite the fact dozens have died, no one suspects a thing.

The narrative starts off with a lapel grabbing flourish as McGee rescues a woman from drowning after he and Meyer witness her being thrown from a bridge, fully conscious with a concrete block secured to her ankles. After first insisting she be called Jane Doe, the woman tells McGee, Meyer and the reader her name is Vangie Bellemer and proceeds to drop hints she is a professional call girl involved in a dangerous, sinister scheme that has claimed many victims.

Darker Than Amber is a sensational example of crime writing, brilliantly crafted to capture and hold reader interest.Contributing greatly to the book's substantial appeal is the presence of several well fleshed out, fascinating characters. This is a real page turner of a novel.Highly recommended.

Classic!
Ask bestselling authors as various as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton, Mary Higgins Clark, Jonathan Kellerman, Donald Westlake, Robert B. Parker, Ed McBain, Joseph Wambaugh, John Saul and Carl Hiaasen who their main influences are and one name keeps coming up, that of John D. MacDonald.

MacDonald wrote 70 novels including 21 in his famous Travis McGee series. Many of his books were bestsellers in the `60s, `70s and `80s. They were made into nine movies, one of the best known of which was the 1962 Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum thriller Cape Fear, remade by Martin Scorsese with Robert DeNiro in 1991.

Although MacDonald died at the height of his fame in 1986, he endures as an iconic figure for writers who revere him for his ability to create characters so believable that you wish you could sit down and have a beer with them. Or better yet, sit topside on McGee's Busted Flush houseboat - his winnings from a poker game - and sip a Plymouth on the rocks with the boat bum himself.

Travis McGee calls himself a salvage consultant, a euphemism for his periodic work finding and retrieving money or other valuables that were wrongfully taken from people who, for a variety of reasons, can't obtain justice through the legal system. If Travis is successful in returning something lost in a scam, he takes 50% as his cut. He admits that it is a large fee, but as he points out, half of something is better than nothing. After he earns a chunk of money, he pauses work once again and takes another installment of his retirement as a beach bum with a deep-water tan and a penchant for saving the broken birds of the feminine half of our species.

Like so many writers, I also owe a huge debt to MacDonald's writing, and I periodically revisit his novels for both their entertainment value and their example of superlative craft. Pick up any Travis novel and you will be amazed at how his storytelling endures decades later.

For example, here's the first sentence from Darker Than Amber: "We were about to give up and call it a night when somebody dropped the girl off the bridge."

Thus begins a tale that sucks you in as Travis and his economist sidekick Meyer save a young woman who's thrown into the ocean from a bridge in the Florida Keys, her feet wired to a concrete block. Yet when Travis dives down and brings up the girl, who is coughing water and gasping for a second chance at life, she is curiously unappreciative. When they ask her who tried to kill her she says, "What's to tell? I tried to kill myself and it didn't work."

The story follows Travis and Meyer's efforts to learn what she is covering up and how she got involved with some deadly con artists who emptied the pockets of their victims and killed everyone who got in the way.

As McGee learns more about the girl's sordid past, he discovers a seemingly fool-proof racket where young call girls serve as bait to draw in moneyed men who have come to Florida to escape their dreary lives in the colder states.

When the girl they saved from drowning becomes a victim of the men who are running the racket, McGee and Meyer decide to take the men down. They conceive of an elaborate scheme that will out-con the con men. Of course, the plan does not go off smoothly, and the complications make for good tension.

Literary pundits and grad students writing their dissertations on American Detective Fiction will tell you that the Travis series set a new standard for the fictional detective archetype, one that explores an existential world where you can ultimately only rely on yourself, and the only meaning in life is what you make for yourself. In contrast with the experts, ordinary readers will tell you that the Travis McGee series is simply the best-written fiction in the genre.

Although the first books in the series are over 40 years old and the last ones are more than 20 years old, the only aspect of the series that reveals its age is Travis's objectification of women as special creatures who embody a range of feminine characteristics completely distinct from those of men. Yet even there, each book eventually reveals that Travis takes women very seriously, dealing with them as intellectually and emotionally-complete people first, and as women, second.

If you haven't read any of the Travis McGee novels, you will be delighted to find a captivating series that, decades after they were written, is still the high-water mark of American detective fiction. And if you read them years ago, you will delight in re-entering the world of South Florida waterways aboard the Busted Flush.

Like all of the Travis McGee novels, Darker Than Amber uncovers the vicious thieves of South Florida, predators who sometimes seem to outnumber their prey. And like the rest of the series, the ending is violent but never excessively graphic, satisfying but not sentimental. While Travis's code of ethics isn't the same as the code of law, it is just and fair and when done you will close the book with a single thought in mind: Which of the 21 books in the series should you read next?

That's a mystery to me...

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 Vangie's financial stash to the solving of the main puzzle.

"Time for one game?"
"If you promise if you get white not to open with that infuriating queen's gambit."
- McGee and Meyer ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A John D. MacDonald book about cats?
It is!MacDonald's first words in his forward: "This is not a luvums-divums-itsyboo book, about pooty-tats."

And it isn't.I've never been a fan of MacDonald mystery-thrillers.But the author demonstrates in this book that he's a multi-faceted human being. Of the hundreds of books available about house cats this one is among the best I've ever read.I sincerely hope someone brings it back into print.If you love cats and books about human attachments to animals you'll love this book.

JOHN DANN AT HIS BEST
"THE HOUSE GUESTS" LEAVES NO QUESTION WHY JOHN D. MacDONALD RECIEVED SEVERAL HONORARY PhDs IN LITERATURE. IT IS AN EXCELLENT READ, WHETHER ONE LIKES CATS OR NOT.

Lucky find for a T. McGee fan.
I had always been a Travis McGee fan and enjoyed other MacDonald books as well.Then I stumbled on "The House Guests" in the library.A nonfiction look at John D. Macdonald's life with pets over the years, I found this book a compelling look inside the life of the creator of T. McGee.I just enjoy the way this man writes, whether it be pulp fiction of this warm tale of domesticity.I love knowing that the creator of the perennially unattached T. Mcgee was a loyal husband and family man.And animal lover.So sad that we lost this talented writer way too soon.

Read this book, it's great!
If you are a cat person, you'll love this book.If you are a mystery fan, you'll love this book.I discovered this title after reading and re-reading all of John D.s Travis McGee series, and his same high-qualitywriting WITH wonderful descriptions of antic animals can be found here.

If you like cats, read this book.
John D. MacDonald'swork has been compared favorably with thebest writers America has produced.And I agree. There are stories in the House Guests about Mr. MacDonald's two cats that will make you laugh out loud and bring a tear to your eye.The House Guests is as close to a biography of John D. as I can find. Itis not a work of Fiction ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Miss him!
I think I've thoroughly enjoyed ALL of John MacDonald's books and I'm sorry I have no more to read!

Free Fall in Crimson - Audiocassette
Another excellent Travis McGee Novel narrated by the great Darren McGavin, and this one is sure to please as well . . .

Free Fall in Crimson: A Travis McGee Novel (Audiocassette)
Darren McGavin's marvelous reading of this Travis McGee caper brings each character into brilliant relief; I highly recommend this one for fans of the genre . . .

Subpar for MacDonald.
First, the positive aspects of Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald.The storyline as narrated by protagonist Travis McGee isstraightforward and therefore highly readable.McGee's well known tendency to wax philosophic is sufficiently subdued so that it doesn't become annoying. (As it does in some other entries in the Travis McGee series.)
On the negative side:The plot is a bit too simplistic and unevenly paced to satisfy most mystery fans.And unlike the author's best novels, the supporting cast generally lacks the nuance that make them believable, three dimensional characters capable of reaching out and touching the reader.
Bottom line: Free Fall in Crimson is an effortless read by virtue of its straightforward storyline. Unfortunately, it does not rise to anywhere near the level of John D. MacDonald's best fiction.

Older was better
Mystery fiction, I've noticed, took a turn for the worse beginning around the mid 60s.I guess the breakdown of so-called barriers let entertainment, including detective fiction,as well as movies, use lazy sniggling references to dope and sex as deep thought and plot devices.Nothing really raunchy, more of a prurient PG-13 view of the world that looks and reads pathetically dated.

This book, despite a publication date of 1981, falls into the category.The collection of short stories I just read by MacDonald, Good Old Stuff: 13 Early Stories, from the mid-50's were much much better.

Very thin plot, cardboard characters, that polyester culture background, it all adds up to a Waste of Time. ... Read more

Product Description
When Lloyd Westcott was hired to build and run the Green Oasis casino he didn't ask about the owner or where the backing came from. He didn't care, as long as the place was legit and he could run it clean as a whistle. But then the Big Man moved in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

unappreciated classic
I want to recommend this long-forgotton, out-of-print book to anyone interested in jd macdonald. I've read dozens of his novels, the good and the bad (just a few of those), but this is a personal favorite. If you want plot-driven, suspenseful, escapist fare combined with a profound point of view, this is it. ... Read more

Product Description
Stephen King called John MacDonald ""the" great entertainer of our age". Now, Fawcett is proud to introduce to a new generation a character endowed with the values of a hero. The values of a hero never change--and neither does Travis McGee. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

John D. MacDonald, Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper
Having recently discovered Travis McGee and MacDonald, I am more than impressed with his writing style and the character of Travis McGee.Having completed the Shell Scott series by Richard Prather I needed to find something to replace it with.McGee was the perfect replacement, perhaps even better.

Essential reading for mystery buffs
Surely you've read one or another of John MacDonald's "Travis McGee" novels. If you haven't, you might want to start with the very first, "The Deep Blue Goodbye." But you can also read them out of order, as I did, and "The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper" isn't a bad way to start. It's vintage MacDonald / McGee, a page turner worth every minute you choose to invest in it.

MacDonald was a master, a creator of characters, images, story lines, and profound concepts that you never really forget. A creator of prose that at times is unbelievably beautiful: elegant, deceptively simple, and often just perfectly constructed. He's the sort of writer other writers dream of being (exemplified by Stephen King's many heartfelt tributes to MacDonald).

This isn't really a review of the specific novel. I honestly don't see the point: the summary here at Amazon tells all you really need to know about the specific story. What you REALLY need to know is that -- with rare exceptions -- you simply can't go wrong with a MacDonald book. Every story is unique, and sturdy, and will leave you permanently affected.

Web of crime.
The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper finds Travis McGee visiting Fort Courtney, FL at the deathbed request of a former lover, Helena Pearson.Helena's daughter Maureen has, for unknown reasons, recently made multiple suicide attempts.As McGee goes about the task of learning about Maureen, her husband and their circle of acquaintances, he uncovers a sordid web of fraud, infidelity, blackmail and worse.Local law enforcement is largely clueless so it is left to McGee to unravel the layers of hidden deceit and see that justice gets its due.

First the positive aspects of The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper.John D. MacDonald knew how to write.Many of the characters are well fleshed out and believable.Also, many individual scenes are quite effective in moving the narrative forward.As always, there's plenty of Travis McGee's patented pontificating on a host of subjects, from the trivial to the most significant.Many reader's will find this to be thoroughly delightful while others may see it as tiresome and annoying.

On the distinctly negative side is the fact that the plotting is way too convoluted and based on a series of increasingly unlikely circumstances.Perhaps the weakest aspect of The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper is the plot device of using made-up medical treatments to explain away some obvious holes in the plot.The treatments in question would ordinarily only be found in works of science fiction.Bad ones.
Bottom line:Not one of the better installments in the Travis McGee series.

Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper
Travis really has his work cut out for him this time. Happily, he finally handles the dangerous situation perfectly.

Like meeting an old friend
I do not even remember when I first read this book, it is only that I like Mr.McGee's style of meetig the world face-on so much that I bought the book again. I liked it like before. It was like joining the gang on the Busted Flush for an easy evening of music and laughter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great writer; okay Sci Fi
I think MacDonald is one of the finest suspense writers of the 20th century. His Travis McGee series alone is one of a kind fiction. There are not great McGee novels and poorly written ones. He maintains a high level of skill and drama. Of course, he was also prolific. I'm not sure exactly how many titles he wrote, but it has to be over thirty. Now, to his science fiction. He didn't write a great deal of sci fi. Perhaps it was only a phase. This book includes his three works and I read them all---so they kept my interest. However, they did not leave me awestruck or terribly impressed. I thought he would integrate his famous philosophy-of-life excerpts into the novels but he includes very little. If you like MacDonald and want a flavor of all his stuff, then pick up this book. Otherwise, it's not his finest work.

Old school, but a nice change.
This 1979 anthology gathers three of suspense writer MacDonald's (creator of Travis McGee) science fiction novels: "Wine of the Dreamers" (1951), noted for its idea of "long-distance telepathy" (from lightyears away, to boot); "Ballroom of the Skies" (1952); and "The Girl, The Gold Watch, & Everything" (1962).Wordy, old-school male adventure fiction of the 1950's doesn't really hold up well now, but the style was a nice change from the slick and gritty prose of most contemporary novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

GREAT quality book!
This beautiful leather-bound book was the first introduction to John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee I had and it really is a quality publication. Leather-bound, gold embossed, gilt-edged pages and the cute and oh-so-handy built-in ribbon book mark - it's just a beautiful book!

The five books included are A TAN AND SANDY SILENCE (1971) (#13) / THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY (1974) (#16) / THE EMPTY COPPER SEA (1978) (#17) / THE GREEN RIPPER (1079) (#18) / FREE FALL IN CRIMSON (1981) (#19) - the numbers refer to the order in which they were written, so these are all from towards the end of the 21 book series. All five of these feature Travis' good friend Meyer, the hirsute economist, who isn't in the first several books of the series.

Okay, if you've never read any of these before, Travis McGee is sort of a beach bum who lives on a houseboat in Florida - a houseboat he won in a poker game. He calls himself a salvage consultant. If you've lost something precious to you and the police can't help, he'll get it back for you. His fee? Half of what that something is worth. After all, half of something is better than nothing, right? But he only works when he needs the money - preferring to take his retirement in installments while he's still young enough to enjoy it.

I highly recommend the Travis McGee series of books and you can usually get them cheaply in paperback, but if you really love books, you'll want to pick up one of these beautiful volumes for your collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Simply the Best: ******
I didn't know John D. MacDonald or Travis McGee when, in 1972, I found "A Deadly Shade..." in the library of an small vocational school in Kenya. Of course I didn't return the book; it marked the beginning of an addiction and of a 15-year-search for the rest of McGee's adventures. Today, almost forty years later I still (and again) consider "A Deadly Shade..." one of the finest adventures ever told and I'm glad to read that MacDonald is not anymore rated as just another writer of pulp stories. Maybe he started as one but he certainly din't end as such and "A Deadly Shade..." was the beginning of the end.

A "Golden" Mystery Novel
As a long-time fan and admirer of fellow Floridian John D.MacDonald, I agree this is one of the finest in the Travis McGee series, which means it's one of the finest mysteries in the genre. the novel is exciting, suspenseful, at times brutal, but the ending is incredibly moving without being corny or fake. MacDonald was at the peak of his abilities when he wrote this novel (then again, I don't think he ever declined much) and the tough, descriptive prose shows it. An excellent novel by an excellent writer

Deadly The gold Is....
Maybe the best of the TM books, certainly my favorite.I have been reading these books for MANY years and they stand the test of time very well.This quest for revenge (and gold) is as serious and deadly as the title suggests.I don't go for story synopsis but by the time Travis returns to his houseboat he is a sadder if not wiser man.Love, loss, violence, and the just plain dark side of human nature fill this fast moving though long story.John D was perhaps America's greatest fiction writer.Give him a read if you haven't; you'll be a lifetime fan as I am.
thanks

Good, not great.
This book is a fine action-adventure novel, and if that's all you're looking for, it will fit the bill nicely. But as a Travis McGee novel, it's a bit weak; McGee's motivations are a little murkier in this novel than in most of the other 20 Travis McGee novels, and a reader who'd read this one without reading the others wouldn't have nearly as solid a feel for the fact that McGee is one of the GOOD guys, rather than just a bloody mercenary willing to to almost anything for the money as they should. Granted, there are evidences in this book to moderate that judgement, but not nearly as many as can be found in most of the McGee novels, and the impression isn't moderated nearly as well as I'd like; the character isn't nearly as likeable in this book as in most others. And considering that what sets this series apart from any other action-adventure novel is the character of McGee, that's a serious drawback.

Masterfully crafted.
A Deadly Shade of Gold, installment number 5 in the Travis McGee series, is a sensational example of mystery writing.The narrative, despite its complexity, flows smoothly as MacDonald takes McGee and the reader from one intriguing situation to the next.McGee travels to New York, Mexico and Los Angeles in what would appear to be a foolhardy attempt to locate 28 missing gold statuettes and find out who killed his old friend Sam Taggart.First published about 6 years after Fidel Castro rose to power, A Deadly Shade of Gold features a number of characters who are Cuban expatriots.
John D. MacDonald was at the top of his game when he wrote this book.The storyline contains enough interesting and sometimes shocking plot twists for two novels the size of this one.The descriptive passages are quite evocative and highly original. And the characters are masterfully fleshed out and believable.
At times, McGee's actions make him less than likable.For example, at one point he menacingly threatens to kill a young woman just to teach her a lesson.That McGee's behavior can arouse such negative emotion in the reader is in itself a tribute to author MacDonald's ability to bring realism to the page.
Don't miss A Deadly Shade of Gold.It's an artfully written work of fiction that passes the test of time and does so with flying colors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

One of John D.'s best early pulps
Of course John D. MacDonald would write a crackling good crime story while at the same time examining the politics of the early golden years of Las Vegas. Our hero is the manager of a popular Strip resort who becomes romantically involved with a female employee. Of course, she has secrets and is under the control of a not-very-nice heavy. It's your standard noir pulp plot, but the rhythm of MacDonald's dialogue and his story pacing elevate it. There are some remarkable descriptions of soul-searching in a lonely cabin in the desert outside town. There are also fascinating descriptions of the inner workings of a casino resort. Along with "Clemmie", "Please Write for Details", and "Murder in the Wind", this is one of the best non-McGee MacDonalds.

Broken Dreams.
This pre-Travis McGee John D. MacDonald novel is undeniably compelling as it describes a mob controlled Las Vegas where corruption permeates each and every aspect of the gaming and entertainment industries that together go to make up the city's life's blood.The novel's protagonist is Hugh Darren, an up and coming assistant hotel manager, through whose eyes the reader learns the harsh facts of life about Las Vegas.It's an unforgiving place that, given half a chance, will corrupt and destroy.The Only Girl in the Game is most definitely not a book the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce would want you to read.

There are a number of well fleshed out and believable characters and two major subplots both of which involve individuals close to Hugh Darren.Both subplots are hard edged and intriguing.In neither case does MacDonald pull a single punch.

The Only Girl in the Game is a viscerally engaging page turner of a novel.Highly recommended.

the best writer of the genre
Agree with above comments. This is typically plot-driven, expertly written j.d. macdonald. Most of his work is of this quality; a rare few are a little disappointing; and then there are the cream of the crop. For those interested, I most recommend, of course, the Travis McGee series. Read them in order, starting with The Deep Blue Goodbye. The Green Ripper was my favorite, and Freefall in Crimson was, for me, the weakest. Of short stories and novels, my favorites so far are The Empty Trap; April Evil; The Price of Murder; The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything (great). I thought Barrier Island took too long to get going, though. Don't miss his short stories, Good Old Stuff, etc. And a treat is his early sci-fi stories, Other Times, Other Worlds-- while he was not the writer he would become at that time, they show why he was compelled to begin writing. Also, there's a little-known novella called Linda, found in the two-novella collection Border Town Girl, that I found to be particularly good.

Typical wonderful John D. MacDonald Vegas Style
Fallen women forced to degrade themselves, scheming manipulative women, evil casino owners who go to any lengths to make sure that winners don't stay that way, their sleazy goons, lots of alcoholics, compulsive gamblers, all to the luxurious and gaudy setting of Las Vegas, not to mention of course the upright hero with revenge on his mind. Everything that makes a MacDonald paperback.

At first glance John D. MacDonald may come off as a pulp fiction writer.Indeed, the cover art and plot summary on my used copy do nothing to diminish that impression.But anybody who has read him knows that he is much more than that.His characters are always interesting and have intriguing motivations.His writing is exquisite and vivid.And the book, as all good books are, uses its story to reflect the world at large.

I found this book in a used book store.Since so many John D. MacDonald books are out of print I would recommend to anybody learning to love this author as much as I do to buy up any old MacDonald titles the next time they are in aused bookstore because you may never find them again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Classic Travis McGee
Buy it, enjoy it!!!I've recently had a friend who quit his job as a correctional officer to move to the Keys because of this book, and others in the series.Maybe it won't affect you quite as drastically, but you'll like it I'm sure.Especially if you are a Travis McGee fan. ... Read more