‘The Deep Blue Good-bye’ is a 242 pages crime hardboiled written
by John D. MacDonald in 1964; the first of a twenty-one long series, starring
the bold womanizer Travis McGee. The series was long out of print, but has been
reprinted by Random House lately, as well has entered the digital world with a hefty
price tag of $9.99 per novel. [A 1964 paperback shouldn’t cost more than $3.99
digitally, IMHO].
Trav’s introductory novel brings us to his illustrated home:
the 52-foot house boat at Bahia Mar, Lauderdale, Florida. Trav McGee lives the
large life, the endless vacationer/retiree life, that’s interrupted by the
casual detective job. Shamelessly, he operates on the semi-legal side. He won’t
take your money firsthand; he’ll restore your lost property—that you want back
without any blue suits involved—and he’ll just split half what he gets you back.
His adventure in ‘Deep Blue Good-bye’ is put to start with
the introduction of a sinewy legged dancer who has lived meagerly for her
entire life. She doesn’t seem McGee’s proper client until she blurts her
fantastic claim: her father was a WWII warrior who was arrested on the eve of arriving
to mainland US after killing a fellow officer. He escapes to his home in Candle
Key, Florida and hides his smuggled treasure. Next day he’s arrested and deported
without telling anyone in his family about it. However, eighteen years later he
dies; a fellow prison cellmate gets out and visits Candle Key. He befriends the
war veteran’s daughter and lives with his family for some time. One morning he
disappears after ravaging their home. Next month, he reappears, shimmering wealth
and luxury.
Travis McGee’s odyssey is exciting, smart and joyous and every
drop hardboiled and adventurous. However, don’t expect to get amazed by the
ingenious plot or the breath-gasping thriller or the mindboggling mystery. It’s
what it is: a nice ride in ‘60s Florida.
John D.’s prose is terse and joyful as usual, and his
characters are as lively as you can find them. His human interlocutions and
social commentary are dispersed throughout the novel, but nothing impeding.
Recommended reading for fans of American hardboiled, and seekers
of enjoyable reads and smart prose.
And MacDonald takes chances. His descriptions of, and explanations for, the way Junior Allen makes both Cathy Kerr and Lois Atkinson essentially his willing, nymphomaniac sex slaves will make every self respecting academic feminist in the world scream in protest. And he scalds George Brell with 180 degree water to get information out of him, so surely the sadist charge is awaiting somewhere.
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