Rating: 
Summary: We all miss John
Review: A classic McGee. Which is to say . . . THE BEST
Rating:
Summary: We all miss John
Review: A classic McGee. Which is to say . . . THE BEST
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly The Worst In The Series
Review: Even though I truly enjoy the Travis McGee series this was the only one that I feel is not up to the standard of entertainment as the others. It wasn't as riviting and many times I just wanted to skip to the end. This is the only one in the series that I think should be avoided.
Rating: 
Summary: Second installment in the Travis McGee series
Review: I once dated a guy who was always quoting Travis McGee. It's not often that a genre fiction hero is a source of quotes. But it is the philosophical aspect of McGee that keeps this series from being a totally dated antiquity. Travis loves women. Travis is a chauvanist, but a thoughtful one. This is only my second McGee novel (trying to read them in order) but I find myself most entertained by his musings on women, loyalty to friends, work and - in this book - the role of New York in the downfall of humanity.The plot is described only too well in other reviews. Suffice it to say that most of the action takes place in the third quarter of the book with a medical scenario that would make Robin Cook proud. It's all a bit far-fetched but the pages turn easily enough. I'd give it 3 and 1/2 stars overall if the system allowed.
Rating:
Summary: Second installment in the Travis McGee series
Review: I once dated a guy who was always quoting Travis McGee. It's not often that a genre fiction hero is a source of quotes. But it is the philosophical aspect of McGee that keeps this series from being a totally dated antiquity. Travis loves women. Travis is a chauvanist, but a thoughtful one. This is only my second McGee novel (trying to read them in order) but I find myself most entertained by his musings on women, loyalty to friends, work and - in this book - the role of New York in the downfall of humanity. The plot is described only too well in other reviews. Suffice it to say that most of the action takes place in the third quarter of the book with a medical scenario that would make Robin Cook proud. It's all a bit far-fetched but the pages turn easily enough. I'd give it 3 and 1/2 stars overall if the system allowed.
Rating:
Summary: Spooky, and probably the craziest episode in the series....
Review: John D. MacDonald's salvage consultant goes to New York City to help out the kid sister of an old friend. She's a babe, of course, and McGee helps her unravel a complicated financial scam while curing what ails her with some of his own, patented expert hay rolling. Along the way, he makes a major error and winds up trapped in a crooked mental hospital straight out of "Shock Corridor" but with nurses delivering doses of refried LSD and brain melting sedatives. This is a creepy installment. An early rant by MacDonald, about how one day a minor altercation on the streets of New York will lead to a riot that will wipe out the city, sets the tone; things get really nasty when Trav slips and falls into the clutches of the scheming Dr. Varn -- I don't think MacDonald was much of a recreational drug user but his descriptions of the wrong kind of hallucinations do a good of depicting a bad trip. Before McGee escapes, some pretty terrible things happen to him; he also has to resort to some seriously dirty tricks and, by the end, he's a basket case. This being only the second outing by McGee, it's odd to think that MacDonald would bang up his tough guy hero so badly, so early. Which makes "Nightmare in Pink" a great, chilling read but probably not the best place for a new reader to begin.
Rating: 
Summary: Edge of your seat riveting...
Review: Nightmare in Pink is my second Travis McGee (and the second in the series), and it is even more riveting than the first.
McGee gets a call from an old war buddy who is in a VA hospital. Mike Gibson is blind and disabled, and when he asks McGee to check something out for him, McGee acquiesces-mostly out of guilt. Mike's beautiful and younger sister, Nina, is engaged to be married when her fiancé is mysteriously killed in a mugging. While cleaning out his things, Nina discovered $10,000 (we're talking 1960's here) and thinks he was in on something shady. The police haven't been able to solve the mugging and they haven't been told about the money, so McGee agrees to snoop around. Unfortunately, the case is in New York City and this Florida boat-bum is literally a fish out of water.
Mike and Nina quickly join forces (in more ways than one) and uncover a complicated financial scam to rob the fiancé's former boss of millions. Of course, the closer they get to solving the crime, the more they expose themselves to danger. At one point, McGee is even drugged, kidnapped, and held against his will in a mental hospital, where he is subjected to experimental hallucinogens. How he escapes will have you on the edge of your seat.
McGee again continues with many profound observations. One that I especially liked is "A good listener is far more rare than an adequate lover."
Nightmare in Pink had only two drawbacks that I could see. As with The Deep Blue Good-By, this book is a bit light at 143 pages. Also, while the plot was riveting, it was also unbelievable in spots. But John D. MacDonald has a new fan, and I have A Purple Place for Dying up next.
Rating:
Summary: Pink Elephant Time
Review: This 2nd of the Travis McGee series takes place in New York City where Travis fits about as well as Crocodile Dundee. John D. has not quite found his way with Travis yet, and it shows. Travis is enjoined to look out for a buddy�s little sister in the big bad city. Little sister is a babe (surprise!) and has her share of troubles. Her fiancé has just been murdered, and she has found a stash of $10,000 that she fears he scammed. Nina is distressingly a �will you respect me in the morning� type of young lady that rings no truer now than it did in the early �60s, and Travis� famous philosophizing is really put to the test, however enchanted he is. �Nightmare in Pink� is worth the price of admission just for the middle third of the book where Travis is captured in a private mental hospital and loaded with psychedelic drugs. His hallucinatory terrors are brilliantly and horrifyingly described, and the after-effects linger through the entire book. The plot is a convoluted financial scam that MacDonald loves, but doesn�t suit Travis too well (Meyer is not yet on the scene). Also cold, urban settings are not kind to a knight errant beach bum. Grade C-
Rating:
Summary: Pink Elephant Time
Review: This 2nd of the Travis McGee series takes place in New York City where Travis fits about as well as Crocodile Dundee. John D. has not quite found his way with Travis yet, and it shows. Travis is enjoined to look out for a buddy's little sister in the big bad city. Little sister is a babe (surprise!) and has her share of troubles. Her fiancé has just been murdered, and she has found a stash of $10,000 that she fears he scammed. Nina is distressingly a 'will you respect me in the morning' type of young lady that rings no truer now than it did in the early '60s, and Travis' famous philosophizing is really put to the test, however enchanted he is. 'Nightmare in Pink' is worth the price of admission just for the middle third of the book where Travis is captured in a private mental hospital and loaded with psychedelic drugs. His hallucinatory terrors are brilliantly and horrifyingly described, and the after-effects linger through the entire book. The plot is a convoluted financial scam that MacDonald loves, but doesn't suit Travis too well (Meyer is not yet on the scene). Also cold, urban settings are not kind to a knight errant beach bum. Grade C-
Rating:
Summary: Not the best in the series, but still great.
Review: This is a bit slow in the beginning, but gets better as it goes along. The ending is great, too.
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