#42 from macdonald for me...just finished The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper...don't know if that is #8...this one is #9 and I've read 8 or 9 travis mcgee stories now. i have not found any spoiler type thingies from one story to another...although there is some merit to the idea of reading these in line...trace the evolution if any of our hero mcgee.1 jun 15finished. good story. there's a curious quote before story begins, title page, perhaps no one can be really a good appreciating pagan who has not once been a bad puritan. --bournewhat to say about this one? this one and i think the last, too...thought it curious, the amount of time the "bad man" has on stage. much of the story is travis and for awhile, puss, unraveling the mystery of the death of tush. puss leaves after a time and travis teams up with meyer...just when i thought the meyer on the list below would only be a mention, meyer is needed, puss is gone, and the game is afoot. anyway, an entertaining story. good read.story beginsthe next to the last time i saw tush bannon alive was the very same day i had that new little boat running the way i wanted it to run, after about six weeks of futzing around with it.so on the test run i demonstrated one of our contemporary maladies: you can't just go out and ride around in car, boat, or airplane--you have to have a final destination.then you feel purposeful.time place scene setting* bahia mar fort lauderdale, the munequita (little doll), and in this story the reader learns how travis acquired this smaller boat, from an estate sale of a texan named kayd* boynton inlet into lake worth* shawana river...bannon's boatel* tush & janine's motel on the shawana river* story opens in october...moves through time back and forth...forth through christmas, back to a time when tush bannon was alive* beach marine* the busted flush, travis' barge-like houseboat* a number of bars, lounges* to-co groves, frostproof, florida, home of connie alverez, friend of janine* sunnydale* a number of cars from one place to another* old shawana river hotel, dining room* ingledine's funeral home* a bank, offices within the bank, bank president's office* broward beach* motel dune-away & the annex* miss agnes, travis 30s model rolls royce, converted to a truck...other stories she is painted blue, named after a teacher of travis' from gradeschool* time moves forward...through the end of the year, beginning of the new year...to the last day of january...to valentine's day and the story ends not too long after that date* gary santo's offices, miami, santo enterprises, n.e. 26th terrace*the out-island room, sultana hotel, miami beach* lafrance's real estate office, a converted store on central street...in that town...what was it? sunnydale i think* sands key...islamoradamajor characters* travis mcgee, our hero, 1st person narrator* brantley b. "tush" bannon, football-playing-days friend of travis* janine bannon, tush's wife, previously janine sorrensen* puss killian, who is travis' partner in this one* preston lafrance, mover/shaker, money man...one of several moving on tush & janine property* d.j. carbee...swamp rat, owns a big chunk of land others want, making offers on* connie alvarez, friend of janine, owns a grove, husband deceased* freddie hazzard, nephew of preston lafrance, sheriff's deputy, and one of the villians in the story* gary santo, miami, mover-shaker, one of the villains herein* meyer, receives a mention, travis' economist friend...and then he plays a larger role midway into the storyminor characters, characters w/no name, setting characters...and this story, maybe more so than others, has a number of theortetical characters...nameless sometimes faceless folk who people the world* irv deibert, friend of travis* johnny dow, another* pigmy figures...seen from afar* wynne & bertram & those people* quarterback...wingback (past, football story)* defensive center, same* happy smiling five commissioners* dealer, service people (car)* three kids of tush & janine...jimmy is one two-year-old, johnny another 4 1/2, joey at 6* phil hill...famous? "making better time than phil hill"* mick coseen, friend of travis...cinema-photographer* barni baker, pan-am stewardess friend of mick coseen* nervous little men* the man said 995* passengers* harold the bartender on top of miami international airport terminal* two men customers* a still-faced girl...with tush at airport, is a representative of a mover/shaker, gary santos, and her name is mary smith, elizabeth* county bureau of services* a couple of sheriff's deputies* little group of meyer's irregulars and partisans* the alabama tiger...neighbor of travis' at bahia mar...don't see much of him, ever...but he has an on-going houseboat party* little ole peggy...this is one of the hypothetical people, wife of* marilee...one of barni's and puss's female friends* phone man...at the motel of tush/janine* janine's folk in milwaukee, wisconsin* sheriff hadley "bunny" burgoon* kip schroeder, football days friend of tush and travis* his wife, alice...they are in new jersey* bald bartender* bernie cohn, sports, wbro* a delivery man* a past case, old man with stamps* an agent insured* the old man's wife died, he remarried...the stamp man* hotel beachboy* a cop friend of travis...a fence* maria...at to-co groves* rufus wallington, retired judge...helps janine/travis/connie/puss* mr whitt sanders, president of shawana river national bank and trust company* his receptionist* a waitress...janie* mr farris, junior...and his father run the ingledine funeral home* a waxy pink and white old man (corpse)* two old women sat on a couch* county medical examiner* mr. lee, attorney for the bank* county clerk, assessor* his driver, the judge's* mexicans* a couple of governors ago* contractors, engineers, inspectors, state employees* hefty salvation army lassies* steve besseker, a young attorney hired by tush to discover/help...but he was driven away by the movers/shakers* linda, his wife...2 kids...her father has the buick agency* p.k. hazzard, county commissioner, brother-in-law of preston lafrance* hero, stud-pumpkin, hangs out at bahia mar, the ladies are all a-twitter over him...or, some of the ladies are, not all, how thoughtless and inconsiderate of me* tom windhorn, sheriff's deputy* willie, another deputy, i think, you'd think i'd take better notes, alas* g. ludweg meyer, ph.d. executive vice president of barker, epstein and wilks, inc management engineering services...one of meyer's persona* gary santo, mary smith, colonel dud burns, mrs halda von kroeder...gary and team meet with travis* a lackey with a face like a romanian werewolf* a waiter* a nasal woman at a random number travis calls* regulars, junebug...at bahia mar and she is in at least one other story...styles...one of the regulars* king-sized beach bunny...in contest with junebug, dancing till one or the other drops* rufus wellington's elderly secretary* desk personal, communications clerk* miss mary...apparently in corrections...name used for what is implied to be womens' correction facility* walker and englert and terry...sheriff's deputies* five of the kids from the blossom group in jacksonville...kinda like the rainbow people of today, druggies...roger and arlene's friends* harry, hotel manager, to do with the envelope of money, ticket in three pieces, part of the con* charlie...one of janine's boys says he will ride on the tractor with charlie* two girls in beach togs...hero's conquests* marguarita...connie's friend...help with kids* a nameless woman that freddie killed..."he" ran into the bush* an old couple freddie tied up, took their car* mr d.c. spartan, one of santo's lawyers* mrs roger denn, arlene or "arlie"...two renters of a houseboat at tush & janine's place on the river...arlene provides evidence against travis, retracts...both are space cadets, drug users, tuning "in" and tuning "out"...use words like "square" and "love", pretty much like the folk of today who have things backasswardsreal people, famous, fictional famous, so forth so on*mickey mouse*howard johnson*brubeck doing cole porter*desmond, joe morello*christ*mr hertz, mr avis, mr national*buddha*god*george van eps, guitar*modern jazz quartet on blues...at carnegie hall*heffner*santa claus*sancho panza*frank lloyd wright*lincoln-douglas*disney's seven dwarfs*king tut*lothario*phil hill? some sort of race car driver perhaps?*jayne mansfield*daddy, mommy, rudolph*bob & ray? (bob newhart? ray? not sure)*churchill*john meynard keyes...meyer's boat is called the j.m.k.*poo bear*will rogers*cinderella*lord jesus god almighty*daks (gray pants)*herter's (two-point woodsman's shoes)*eskimo*julian bream, classical guitar*porky & pogo*louise nevelson (art forms)*joe heller...not sure if the catch-22 author is meant, but i believe so*snoopy the dog*sir hillary (mount everest)
Pretend for a moment that it's 1968 and you're a shady, amoral, would-be land developer in some scraggly-ass county in the Middle of Nowhere, Florida. Assume further that you own a couple of hundred acres of land near a waterway and that a big company is looking to acquire the land to build a major plant.Assume further that there's a guy who owns a small marina on ten acres of land between you and the waterway that is critical to the plans of the big company. You make the marina operator an offer for his land, but he turns it down. He's working on his own version of the American Dream, which centers on developing his marina and a small motel.Fortunately, you're well-connected with the local banker and politicians while the marina owner is a relative newcomer. So you pull some strings and get your pals to put pressure on the guy. Before he knows it, his loans are coming due; his business has dried up and his dream has turned to crap. But the stubborn clown still won't sell and then one afternoon he turns up dead. It could have been an accident; the sheriff rules it a suicide, and who the hell really knows? The good thing about it, though, is that the guy's wife is really up against it now, giving you the chance to grab the land for virtually nothing while leaving her saddled with the huge remaining mortgage. Clearly, this is your lucky day.Or maybe not. Because just when things are coming up roses, you slap yourself upside the head and say, "OMG; I really hope that damned marina guy wasn't one of Travis McGee's best friends!"Sadly for you (and for a lot of your pals), it turns out that he was and you are about to find yourself in a huge stinking pile of steaming stuff. McGee discovers what has happened and immediately sets out to more than even the score. As readers of the series know, McGee is a "salvage" expert who recovers things that have been taken from people who are left with no legal recourse. Normally, McGee's finder's fee is fifty percent of whatever he recovers, but this time it's personal and he's acting on behalf of his friend's widow.As usual, there will be a psychologically damaged female who can only be saved by McGee's tender attention; as usual, there will be a dangerous sociopath lurking in the background ready to strike, and as usual, McGee will spend a fair amount of time ruminating on the state of his own life and of the world around him.This is one of the better books in the series, mainly because of the very clever scheme that McGee creates with the help of his friend, Meyer. It's also not quite as cringe-inducing when it comes to McGee's treatment of women. This book, too, is certainly dated in that regard, but it's better than a number of others. All in all, a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Do You like book Pale Gray For Guilt (1996)?
Gray...this is the real Gray, not that stupid book about shades. How many ways can I say I love, love, love Travis McGee. He's tough. He can be charming. Can be a macho man who would not ever raise a hand to a woman. Travis, as anyone who knows my reading likes, knows that JDM is my favorite writer and Travis is my guy. When I read a TM book, it reminds me of the first time I read him and how astonished I was with the storyline, the character and the setting, Bahia Mar, Slip F-18, the site of the Busted Flush. I want to get real mauldin right now about Travis. Been overdue for my Travis McGee fix. I want to pick up the next in the series now, this being #9 and my third time reading. Me and Trav on CoverI'm pulling rank on that sweet, sassy and very funny Genevieve.
—Cathy DuPont
I think this is the first Travis McGee book I've read cover to cover. I listened to a few audio books a long time ago and started Deep Blue Goodbye a few times. I've always liked the concept, the salvage expert, the Busted Flush, Meyer, the ongoing retirement... there's a lot of originality mixed in with what can seem pretty boilerplate stuff these days. This one was first published in 1968 and is 9th in the series I believe. Any books or movies I've come across from the 60s show a very raw time, lot of drugs, lot of sexual predators (men and women), a direct desire to be less civilized. Some of that is in the fiction and overblown but news and real time events don't necessarily contradict it. So there's always a hint of sadness with these books, a pointlessness to the lives in them.For this specific volume, there are a lot of threads and I lost track of the money trail near the end. There were some minor annoyances that, if you weren't in it as a McGee fan, might ruin the overall book but otherwise it was another enjoyable tale on the Busted Flush.
—Greg McClay
This is number nine in the Travis McGee series, John D. MacDonald’s collection of thrillers/mysteries featuring one Travis McGee, “salvage consultant”. Just as mobsters are often euphemistically described as “waste management specialists”, McGee the salvage consultant is actually an unlicensed private eye of sorts, who helps people get things back that have been taken (or swindled) from them.This time out, Trav is called upon to help a friend (a guy named Tush - seriously) whose tiny marina business has been squeezed by an unscrupulous developer who wants the Florida coastland upon which it sits. When said friend turns up dead (supposedly, suicide by anvil- seriously), McGee seeks revenge and recompense on behalf of Tush’s widow and three kids.This leads to one of the strangest McGee resolutions that I’ve encountered so far, as the stalwart McGee recruits his good friend Meyer (a recurring character whose first name, to my knowledge, is never revealed) to help him set up an elaborate sting involving rigging stock prices through margin calls and short sales and blah blah blah blah. Author MacDonald pulls this off because sidekick Meyer is an economist, and, even though he hasn’t always had a lot to do in these books, he's a great character, and everything is explained thoroughly through him. It’s just so convoluted that it’s almost anti-climactic. And I won't tell you was does happen to her, but in another change of pace, McGee’s love interest du jour this time (her name’s Puss- seriously) doesn't wind up dead or stoned out of her gourd on LSD by the end.
—Dennis D.
