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Title: Deadly Shade of Gold by John D. Macdonald ISBN: 0-449-22442-2 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 20 February, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Extreme McGee
Comment: "A Deadly Shade of Gold," the 5th in the Travis McGee series is bawdy and brutal; a bloody chase novel taking McGee from Florida to Mexico to LA. MacDonald has a wondrous sense of place and you can feel the sensuous breezes and see the spectacular sunsets he creates for you. There are a few creaky spots: Nora, Travis's love interest, is so '50's lady-like, you expect her to be white gloved and hatted even in the shower; -- all characters are super sun worshippers while the reader uneasily thinks about skin cancer. Be that as it may, it's a fine rousing tale with careful characterizations and Travis's philosophies served up painlessly.
Old buddy Sam Taggart, a three-year missing person, contacts Travis in dire need of his services as a salvage consultant. The deal sounds shady at best as Sam claims he is the rightful owner of 28 crude golden idols dating from pre-Colombian times. The hitch is 27 of the 28 have been stolen from him, and he wants them back. Sam is down on his luck and appears to be on the run. When he took off three years ago without a word, he left the beauteous Nora high and dry. Now he is back to redeem himself. Before Trav can get Sam and Nora together, or even decide whether he wants to accept Sam's offer, Sam is brutally murdered. Nora hires Trav to find the killer, but insists on accompanying him (natch) when the trail leads to Mexico. The action is fierce, retribution is swift and oh-so-well-described, and Trav and Nora find something more in common than Sam.
"A Deadly Shade of Gold" at 434 pages is long for a Travis McGee novel, but moves swiftly. MacDonald takes great care in setting up his locales, which makes for lovely reading. Though Sam exits early, he is with us throughout the book, and gradually an entirely different Sam emerges posthumously. This is handled cleverly by friend's ruminations, and we are allowed to derive our own conclusions. Travis is not yet fully formed; he's still pretty rough around the edges, but this novel sets the course for the future.
Rating: 3
Summary: A bit dated
Comment: A Deadly Shade of Gold was my first John MacDonald novel. It was written in the mid - 1960's, and read like it. The dialogue, metaphors and characters were terribly dated - think Sam Spade meets Jimmy Buffet in 1965 Ft Lauderdale and you've got the picture: the chauvinism, the Hemingwayesque machismo, the budding "youth culture" and of course the tropical south Florida sunshine. With that said, however, the book was a remarkably entertaining read. The plot twists kept me rivited to the story line (in spite of the by-now cliched characters). The occasional diatibes against the development of south Florida and the damage to the eco-system also made for entertaining asides - as well as a haunting foreshadowing of what was to come. But I think this will be my last John MacDonald novel. For my money, Randy Wayne White's south Florida sleuth "Doc Ford" is better. If you enjoy John MacDonald, you are sure to love Randy Wayne White.
Rating: 5
Summary: Thrilled to Find Travis McGee!
Comment: "A Deadly Shade of Gold" is my first John D. MacDonald, and it won't be my last. I love the tough-as-nails-and-oh-so-smart Travis McGee. I love MacDonald's funny philosophical rants about society and the environment. And I love the 60's flavor of this book. I can't believe a movie hasn't been made of this yet, because it certainly is a visual tale. (And not a bad mystery, either!)
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Title: Quick Red Fox by John D. Macdonald ISBN: 0449224406 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 27 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Purple Place for Dying by John D. Macdonald ISBN: 0449224384 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 27 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. Macdonald ISBN: 0449224449 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 28 February, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Darker Than Amber by John D. Macdonald ISBN: 0449224465 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 27 February, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Nightmare in Pink by John D. Macdonald ISBN: 0449224147 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 30 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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