A review by mindsplinters
La dorada sombra de la muerte by John D. MacDonald

2.0

Push it to 2.5ish really because I liked quite a few aspects of it and it tied its messy self up quite nicely and satisfactorily. It was vivid and lush and dramatic and complicated and I can see how it appealed to so many people (including one of my favorite authors). The layers of McGee and his thought processes are certainly intriguing. However, he sometimes got a bit precious in his self image so I feel he's at his best when he is kept busy. It's good for his soul. The book is also a strange balance of conscience and liberalism and morality (McGee shows a remarkably advanced outlook on conservation and what people do the planet for a book published in 1965 - and a character who is a cross between beach bum and freelance mercenary) and debauchery and cheapness and sexism (McGee goes about respecting women, admiring their strength, etc... and then casually sleeps with any number of them and sometimes thinking horrible derogatory things about them). Certain bits, shall we say, don't age well. On the other hand, some things are downright prophetic. "This is the heart of contemporary propaganda, amigo, to strengthen ignorant terrible men who believe themselves to be perfect patriots."