Flash of Green

Rating:
Summary: Pre-McGee
Review: John D. MacDonald has always had the incredible knack for putting character development before plot. A FLASH OF GREEN is the precursor to the Travis McGee books, but MacDonald's gift for characters was already shining. Newspaperman Jimmy Wing, on the trail of a story which may ruin a small Florida ecosystem for development (what else is new?) decides to stick around for the ride, to see who's doing what. Chief among the perpetrators is Elmo Bliss--what a great name! And what a great character! I had just as much fun watching him than I did the narrator. Strangely, I felt I knew more about what made him tick, as opposed to Jimmy. (Then again Jimmy is terribly stand-offish). As the plot unwound, I felt that the pacing did, too. But what held this together, as I said, is the characters, and that's a big plus in my book!

Rating:
Summary: All Fall Down
Review: This is a strangely muted, yet exquisitely crafted , story from the creator of the Travis McGee detective novels. Local wheeler-dealers in a West Florida town devise a residential development that involves filling in a beautiful bay, to the dismay of the town's conservationists. Jimmy Wing, newspaperman, professes to help both camps, but is really in it only for the chance the view the "mechanism" of the conflict at close quarters. In the end, everyone emerges a loser; and Wing finds he has won a pyrrhic victory over his detachment from humanity. In this book, MacDonald probably brushes uncomfortably close to his real persona.

Rating:
Summary: Color of Money
Review: This is pre-Travis, early MacDonald. Jimmy Wing, a reporter for a small Florida daily has foreknowledge that beautiful Grassy Bay is about to be dredged by developers into a commercial/housing development. It just needs to be passed by the Board of Commissioners. This battle has been fought two years ago and defeated by the altruistic Save Our Bay organization. But this time, it isn't a wicked outside developers; it is a local consortium, and things look bleak for the S.O.B. contingent.

Jimmy spills the beans to young widow Kat Hubble who is all things demure and honorable. Just exactly why Jimmy does this or why he has a serious case of the lusts for this lady is unclear. Jimmy is sucked into spying for the local power structure headed by delightful old rascal, Elmo Bliss. I was so taken with Elmo; I was almost rooting for him in spite of his very non-correct environmental stance. Elmo was one of the few whose motives were pure; he wanted power and went after it. Maybe he went a mite overboard, but you always knew what he was about. The Save Our Bay people were persecuted, blackmailed and put to rout. Those left standing were sadder and wiser.

The story is a slow starter, and creaks here and there, but MacDonald puts in a lot of work on the characterizations, particularly Jimmy. I saw a few stirrings of a pre-Travis McGee in Jimmy particularly in the latter chapters. Motivation was seriously lacking. Much of the time, the characters were not acting in their own best interests, but we are never satisfactorily told why. MacDonald does shade the opposing groups well; they all have their share of vices as well as some virtues. My biggest problem was I could not work up enough enthusiasm to care very much about the outcome. Grade C.

Rating:
Summary: Color of Money
Review: This is pre-Travis, early MacDonald. Jimmy Wing, a reporter for a small Florida daily has foreknowledge that beautiful Grassy Bay is about to be dredged by developers into a commercial/housing development. It just needs to be passed by the Board of Commissioners. This battle has been fought two years ago and defeated by the altruistic Save Our Bay organization. But this time, it isn't a wicked outside developers; it is a local consortium, and things look bleak for the S.O.B. contingent.

Jimmy spills the beans to young widow Kat Hubble who is all things demure and honorable. Just exactly why Jimmy does this or why he has a serious case of the lusts for this lady is unclear. Jimmy is sucked into spying for the local power structure headed by delightful old rascal, Elmo Bliss. I was so taken with Elmo; I was almost rooting for him in spite of his very non-correct environmental stance. Elmo was one of the few whose motives were pure; he wanted power and went after it. Maybe he went a mite overboard, but you always knew what he was about. The Save Our Bay people were persecuted, blackmailed and put to rout. Those left standing were sadder and wiser.

The story is a slow starter, and creaks here and there, but MacDonald puts in a lot of work on the characterizations, particularly Jimmy. I saw a few stirrings of a pre-Travis McGee in Jimmy particularly in the latter chapters. Motivation was seriously lacking. Much of the time, the characters were not acting in their own best interests, but we are never satisfactorily told why. MacDonald does shade the opposing groups well; they all have their share of vices as well as some virtues. My biggest problem was I could not work up enough enthusiasm to care very much about the outcome. Grade C.