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erickibler4's review against another edition
4.0
So far, I haven’t done wrong in choosing a Travis McGee book to read, and now I’m up to #7. Travis is a good-natured lug who lives on his houseboat in Fort Lauderdale, and occasionally takes on “salvage work” to finance his permanent semi-retired Jimmy Buffett lifestyle. His salvage work basically works like this: someone has been bilked out of a large some of money and will never get it back without Travis’s help. Travis recovers the money, but his fee is half the sum recovered.
In this one, Travis and his buddy Meyer happen to be fishing under a bridge when a woman is thrown off the bridge wired to a hunk of concrete. Travis saves her life and uncovers a theft/murder ring who operate on cruise ships.
Meyer has a bigger role in this one than in previous installments, and I hope this continues.
The Travis McGee books all contain quite a bit of Travis’s homemade philosophy, which nowadays would be considered dated and chauvinistic, but at the time would have been fairly progressive. It’s pretty similar to Robert Heinlein’s socially libertarian homilies found in such books as Stranger in a Strange Land, but without the near-fascism that you have to put up with in some other Heinlein books.
At the end of the day, Travis is a tarnished knight who frets about the morality of his actions, and ultimately does the right thing. A good guy in constant doubt that he is one.
In this one, Travis and his buddy Meyer happen to be fishing under a bridge when a woman is thrown off the bridge wired to a hunk of concrete. Travis saves her life and uncovers a theft/murder ring who operate on cruise ships.
Meyer has a bigger role in this one than in previous installments, and I hope this continues.
The Travis McGee books all contain quite a bit of Travis’s homemade philosophy, which nowadays would be considered dated and chauvinistic, but at the time would have been fairly progressive. It’s pretty similar to Robert Heinlein’s socially libertarian homilies found in such books as Stranger in a Strange Land, but without the near-fascism that you have to put up with in some other Heinlein books.
At the end of the day, Travis is a tarnished knight who frets about the morality of his actions, and ultimately does the right thing. A good guy in constant doubt that he is one.
jsalowe's review against another edition
3.0
Better than most. Trav's disquisitions on "the Negro problem" unintentionally enlightening. Also he defends his homophobia in the most homophobic terms ever minted. And ye gods please with the comparisons of women and their body parts to machinery, animals, and architecture. Yet still I fall for the shambling grey-eyed retiree with his supposedly quick reflexes (though at this point I think he's lost more "broads" than he's saved). Need more Al-Anon meetings, stat.
topdragon's review against another edition
5.0
The 7th novel in John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series finds our rough-around-the edges “salvage collector” and his best friend Meyer fishing for snook late at night beneath a bridge in the Florida Keys. Suddenly from above them comes a squeal of tires followed shortly by the body of a woman plunging past them into the water, her feet bound and wired to a cement block. After Travis manages to rescue the unconscious woman from certain drowning, they return with her to the Busted Flush and get her story. Turns out she is a hooker, (with the titular "darker than amber eyes") working as part of a gang of homicidal grifters who targeted minor marks by luring them onto Caribbean cruises and set them up in a scam before dumping their bodies overboard.
I won’t go further so as not to spoil the plot but suffice it to say, Travis and Meyer find themselves not only chasing the money but also attempting to run their own con to put an end to the grifter gang. This novel marks a new phase of the Travis McGee series in that it elevates the character of Meyer from an occasional contributor to a full on side-kick. And a welcome change it is too. Meyer is the perfect foil for Travis, managing to round out McGee’s rough edges a little bit, keep him aimed correctly, and perhaps be a sort of Jiminy Cricket conscience for him. At the same time, he’s also smart, observant, and is utterly hilarious. Quite simply, he elevates Travis’ game and he will remain an important co-character for the remaining 14 books in the series.
I won’t go further so as not to spoil the plot but suffice it to say, Travis and Meyer find themselves not only chasing the money but also attempting to run their own con to put an end to the grifter gang. This novel marks a new phase of the Travis McGee series in that it elevates the character of Meyer from an occasional contributor to a full on side-kick. And a welcome change it is too. Meyer is the perfect foil for Travis, managing to round out McGee’s rough edges a little bit, keep him aimed correctly, and perhaps be a sort of Jiminy Cricket conscience for him. At the same time, he’s also smart, observant, and is utterly hilarious. Quite simply, he elevates Travis’ game and he will remain an important co-character for the remaining 14 books in the series.
angelabeth995's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lauraborkpower's review against another edition
3.0
My bus driver loaned me this book because of a polite and surfacy inquiry I'd made into the MacDonald novel he was reading, and I wouldn't have even started it had it not been for the Vonnegut blurb on the back, which touted MacDonald's storytelling ability. And, not surprisingly, Vonnegut was right. This is a fun, tight little crime fiction novel starring one Travis McGee, who is apparently the star of a series of MacDonald's books. The pace and characters reminded me very much of Elmore Leonard's fiction, which I adore. Other than some of the unnecessarily sexist descriptions of women (it was written about fifty years ago, which is no excuse but gives it context), it was a really fun read.
jeverett15's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
feloniousfunk's review
1.0
Came across this at a used bookstore and figured I'd read it before watching the Robert Clouse-directed adaptation. I like crime novels, I've been looking forward to seeing the movie, this is a breezy 180ish pages, what could go wrong?
Well.
Maybe it's a question of the changing times. For all I know this book was very progressive and even-handed in its treatment of the sex trade, women, and people of color. Perhaps the sexualization of every woman that shows up, the incredibly uncomfortable descriptions of everyone who isn't white, the slurs, the devaluing of sex workers, all were incredibly tame compared to other crime novels of the era.
Reading today though, it's a chore to get through. I can't remember a time where I felt more disgusted while reading a book; it's why it took me two weeks to read something i could have finished in two days. The characters express some absolutely putrid views about the world, and women in particular, and they're held up as virtuous. You get the impression that John MacDonald absolutely considered himself "one of the good ones", even as he happily types up a scene where a black character proves how smart she is by not using AAVE and dismissing the idea of integration.
Even putting the moral objections aside - a tall order - the prose is tough to read. There are many long passages going to minute detail about things that have no direct or indirect influence on the story, and do little to give shading to the character of Travis McGhee. Long paragraphs with no breaks are used to describe the action. What's meant to be read as poetic comes off as faux-intellectual. I constantly found myself gliding over huge chunks of text.
The second i read the last word, i threw the book across the room. Truly hated this. Hope the movie excises the worst aspects and... well, invents some good ones, because they won't be from here.
Well.
Maybe it's a question of the changing times. For all I know this book was very progressive and even-handed in its treatment of the sex trade, women, and people of color. Perhaps the sexualization of every woman that shows up, the incredibly uncomfortable descriptions of everyone who isn't white, the slurs, the devaluing of sex workers, all were incredibly tame compared to other crime novels of the era.
Reading today though, it's a chore to get through. I can't remember a time where I felt more disgusted while reading a book; it's why it took me two weeks to read something i could have finished in two days. The characters express some absolutely putrid views about the world, and women in particular, and they're held up as virtuous. You get the impression that John MacDonald absolutely considered himself "one of the good ones", even as he happily types up a scene where a black character proves how smart she is by not using AAVE and dismissing the idea of integration.
Even putting the moral objections aside - a tall order - the prose is tough to read. There are many long passages going to minute detail about things that have no direct or indirect influence on the story, and do little to give shading to the character of Travis McGhee. Long paragraphs with no breaks are used to describe the action. What's meant to be read as poetic comes off as faux-intellectual. I constantly found myself gliding over huge chunks of text.
The second i read the last word, i threw the book across the room. Truly hated this. Hope the movie excises the worst aspects and... well, invents some good ones, because they won't be from here.
atarbett's review
3.0
Okay, setting aside the casual racism and sexism (which you kind of have to... it was first published in the 60's), the mystery or crime or con or whatever you want to call it just fell flat for me. It was far too easy and they were never in any real danger or had any unexpected complications.
I hate when things come together that easily.
And the sexism in this one really bothered me. So it's not my favorite of these books.
I hate when things come together that easily.
And the sexism in this one really bothered me. So it's not my favorite of these books.
markfeltskog's review
I liked this book, but I like all of the thoughtful and passionate reviews it has animated in this forum even more than the novel itself.