Rating: 
Summary: Chemical Warfare
Review: This is the official 'second' in John D. MacDonald's series about Travis McGee, the slightly tarnished knight from Lauderdale, whose chosen steed is a 52 foot houseboat. Second also in setting the general pattern of McGee books - a friend convinces McGee to take the case of another friend, usually a beautiful woman, and McGee grudgingly comes to the rescue - sometimes out of a sense of honor, and sometimes just for the money.This time the 'asker' is Mike Gibson, a war buddy of McGee's who now lives as a permanent resident of the veteran's hospital. The 'fixee' is Nina, Mike's sister - distraught when her boyfriend (Howard Plummer) dies in a mugging. Nina finds a large bundle of money in a closet and becomes convinced that Howard was up to no good. Now Mike wants to help her out of her depression, even if she is unwilling. McGee, as usual, to the rescue. As you might expect, Plummer's death was not what it seemed, and McGee finds himself enmeshed in a spectacular fraud that is bilking a company of millions while sending its victims to a mental ward. Which is where McGee winds up as well, in a nightmarish twist that plays like 'On Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' Dropped into a hole from which there is no way to escape, McGee must fight for survival against a medical staff determined to steal his mind from him. Perhaps the beauty of this story, other than MacDonald's powerful writing, is that it turns the 'tough-guy detective' genre on it's ear for a bit as McGee struggles with induced insanity, falls in love, and barely survives by the skin of his teeth. This is a tough-guy with plenty of weaknesses and soft spots. McGee, who serves as narrator, doesn't try to explain away his moments, good and bad, but reports them with a straightforward touch that makes him and easy favorite. While this may not be the best of the series, for some reason it rings true and is one of my favorites. It predicts many of the themes and tricks that will go on to be imitated time and again. But never with quite the élan than MacDonlad has.
Rating:
Summary: Chemical Warfare
Review: This is the official 'second' in John D. MacDonald's series about Travis McGee, the slightly tarnished knight from Lauderdale, whose chosen steed is a 52 foot houseboat. Second also in setting the general pattern of McGee books - a friend convinces McGee to take the case of another friend, usually a beautiful woman, and McGee grudgingly comes to the rescue - sometimes out of a sense of honor, and sometimes just for the money. This time the 'asker' is Mike Gibson, a war buddy of McGee's who now lives as a permanent resident of the veteran's hospital. The 'fixee' is Nina, Mike's sister - distraught when her boyfriend (Howard Plummer) dies in a mugging. Nina finds a large bundle of money in a closet and becomes convinced that Howard was up to no good. Now Mike wants to help her out of her depression, even if she is unwilling. McGee, as usual, to the rescue. As you might expect, Plummer's death was not what it seemed, and McGee finds himself enmeshed in a spectacular fraud that is bilking a company of millions while sending its victims to a mental ward. Which is where McGee winds up as well, in a nightmarish twist that plays like 'On Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' Dropped into a hole from which there is no way to escape, McGee must fight for survival against a medical staff determined to steal his mind from him. Perhaps the beauty of this story, other than MacDonald's powerful writing, is that it turns the 'tough-guy detective' genre on it's ear for a bit as McGee struggles with induced insanity, falls in love, and barely survives by the skin of his teeth. This is a tough-guy with plenty of weaknesses and soft spots. McGee, who serves as narrator, doesn't try to explain away his moments, good and bad, but reports them with a straightforward touch that makes him and easy favorite. While this may not be the best of the series, for some reason it rings true and is one of my favorites. It predicts many of the themes and tricks that will go on to be imitated time and again. But never with quite the élan than MacDonlad has.
Rating:
Summary: Slow start, but what an ending!
Review: Trav is in New York to track down another scam. This time somebody is keeping a millionaire business man on ice in a mental home in order to consolidate their hold on his empire. Although it starts off slower than usual, the climax with McGee on hallucinogens trapped in the hospital is a vivid account of a waking nightmare as he struggles to maintain his sanity,escape the evil doctor, save the girl and foil the villains. Great summer reading!
Rating: 
Summary: enjoyable artifact
Review: Travis McGee lives aboard the Busted Flush, his 52 foot custom houseboat, in Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Lauderdale. He is "purely McGee, that pale-eyed, wire-haired girl-finder, that big shambling brown boat-bum who walks beaches, slays small fierce fish, busts minor icons, argues, smiles and disbelieves, that knuckly scar-tissued reject from structured society, who waits until money gets low, and then goes out and takes it from the taker, keeps half, and gives the rest back to the innocent." When McGee's old war buddy Mike Gibson asks him to go help his little sister Nina, he heads to Manhattan. Nina's fiance, Howard Plummer, was killed in what appears to have been a simple mugging, but then Nina found ten thousand dollars hidden in her apartment. Since Howard worked for Charles McKewn Armister IV, helping to manage his $60 million, Nina fears he may have been skimming money. McGee starts looking around & becomes suspicious when he finds out that Armister had a nervous breakdown recently & has undergone drastic personality changes since then. Soon he uncovers a scam by Armister's attorney, Baynard Mulligan, and his personal secretary, Bonita Hersch, who have been siphoning off money from Armister's accounts. But just as he's getting close to breaking the case, McGee is slipped a mickey & wakes up in Toll Valley Hospital, the same mental institution where Armister was taken. There the malevolent Dr. Varn subjects him to a slew of psychoactive drugs & McGee is soon fighting to maintain his sanity & save his own life. At some point, probably right after college, I read all 21 Travis McGee books. Like Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), Brett Halliday (Mike Shayne), Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), etc., John D. MacDonald created a unique hero, set him down within the hard-boiled genre & cranked out million selling adventures. The Travis McGee books never rise above the genre, a la Chandler or Ross MacDonald, but they are an enjoyable artifact. GRADE: C+
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable artifact
Review: Travis McGee lives aboard the Busted Flush, his 52 foot custom houseboat, in Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Lauderdale. He is "purely McGee, that pale-eyed, wire-haired girl-finder, that big shambling brown boat-bum who walks beaches, slays small fierce fish, busts minor icons, argues, smiles and disbelieves, that knuckly scar-tissued reject from structured society, who waits until money gets low, and then goes out and takes it from the taker, keeps half, and gives the rest back to the innocent." When McGee's old war buddy Mike Gibson asks him to go help his little sister Nina, he heads to Manhattan. Nina's fiance, Howard Plummer, was killed in what appears to have been a simple mugging, but then Nina found ten thousand dollars hidden in her apartment. Since Howard worked for Charles McKewn Armister IV, helping to manage his $60 million, Nina fears he may have been skimming money. McGee starts looking around & becomes suspicious when he finds out that Armister had a nervous breakdown recently & has undergone drastic personality changes since then. Soon he uncovers a scam by Armister's attorney, Baynard Mulligan, and his personal secretary, Bonita Hersch, who have been siphoning off money from Armister's accounts. But just as he's getting close to breaking the case, McGee is slipped a mickey & wakes up in Toll Valley Hospital, the same mental institution where Armister was taken. There the malevolent Dr. Varn subjects him to a slew of psychoactive drugs & McGee is soon fighting to maintain his sanity & save his own life. At some point, probably right after college, I read all 21 Travis McGee books. Like Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), Brett Halliday (Mike Shayne), Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), etc., John D. MacDonald created a unique hero, set him down within the hard-boiled genre & cranked out million selling adventures. The Travis McGee books never rise above the genre, a la Chandler or Ross MacDonald, but they are an enjoyable artifact. GRADE: C+
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