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4.0 out of 5 stars
Cinematic McGee, July 18 2004
Maybe it's because of the Hollywood commentary in this mcGee outing (Trav helps a vain movie star track down photos of her, taken during a drunken beach house sex party) but this jaunt seems like one of the most vivid, cinematic of the books.Carefully detailed, pleasantly sordid and joltingly violent, "Quick Red Fox" is easy to imagine, on my mental movie screen, as directed by a period late noir helmsman like Robert Rossen ("The Hustler") or Robert Aldrich ("Kiss Me Deadly"), in crisp black-and-white Cinemascope with Paul Newman or Steve McQueen in the lead. It's not as big in scale as some of the books, but it bobs and weaves in odd directions. Trav's confrontations with a prissy ski instructor; a pair of menacing, trailer park lesbians; and a spookily rendered German trophy wife may not be politically correct but they typify what's best and occasionally worst about MacDonald's style. McGee's warnings about women who kick for the crotch chafe against political correctness but make for one hilarious scene. The first time I read it, I was pleased at how aburptly MacDonald wraps this one up. On a second reading, I thought perhaps it was a little anticlimactic but, in re-evaluating it, "Fox" ends economically and with a surpirsing level of sad tenderness. A good starting point for the uninitiated.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Solving Blackmail, Aug 29 2002
Travis McGee is quick to come to the rescue of damsels in distress and doesn't need much coaxing this time when actress Lysa Dean cries out for help. Lysa is being blackmailed over some photos that were taken during a 4 day drunken party, catching her in some pretty explicit scenes. She has already paid off the blackmailers once, but it would seem that the photos still exist and the blackmailers are coming back for another bite of the cherry. Travis is given a list of 10 people who knew about the party and so uses it to begin his investigation into which one of them organised to have the photos taken.To help him during his investigation, Lysa supplies Travis with her own personal secretary Dana Holtzer, a highly organised, very professional and of course , strikingly beautiful woman. She also has some personal secrets that makes her cold and aloof, particularly when it comes to men. Travis, being the diligent investigator that he is, goes about unlocking the secrets to Dana's heart while he's unlocking the identity of the blackmailer. This is a lively mystery which turns out to be more of a mystery than it appears at first glance. The solving of one part leads us onto the next, leading Travis and Dana across the country and forcing them closer and closer together. It's an entertaining entry in the Travis McGee series.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
A Warning, April 11 2002
Here's a quick heads-up to anyone thinking of checking out this book: as per usual, MacDonald indulges his sexist attitudes towards women by having his hero, Travis McGee, meet up with a physically attractive, sexually repressed female whom he subsequently restores to mental good health by way of the bedroom. Anyone who's read this far in the series will not be surprised by that particular plot development. However, the book also indulges, in one brief but potently worded scene, some seriously homophobic sentiments. This, of course, fits in nicely with McGee's habit of handily pigeonholing virtually everyone he meets. Like the previous three McGee books (which are all I've yet read), the attitudes may be outdated, and to some degree offensive--but the writing's good stylistically, plot and pacing are tight. If you're looking for a light but suspensive read (or if you're sexist and homophobic), McGee's your man.
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by John D. MacDonald
by John D. MacDonald
by John D. MacDonald
by John D. MacDonald
by John D. MacDonald
