Rating: 
Summary: MacDonald's BEST "Travis McGee" Mystery Novel?
Review: It wouldn't take much of an argument to convince me that CINNAMON SKIN is the best -- or at least one of the best few -- of the fine "color-titled" Travis McGee mystery novel series by prolific John D. MacDonald (author of CAPE FEAR, etc.). This actually is at least two novels in one, as Trav and best-friend Meyer first travel America (mostly the Texas-area Southwest) ferreting out the murderous past of a serial killer -- then track him to his current lair in the Cancun-Yucatan area of Mexico and lay a dangerous jungle trap for him there. VERY highly recommended for fascinating characters (good and bad), local color, and tense action. Of course, as with all JDM's work and especially the McGee series, CINNAMON is well-crafted and written. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: cinnimon skin rules but...
Review: it's certainly not the last of the oh so great Travis McGee series. "The Lonely Silver Rain" was the ultimate McGee book.
Rating:
Summary: "Did Somebody Say MacDonald?"
Review: John D. MacDonald's 20th Travis McGee book "Cinnamon Skin" reads as well today as it did when published in 1982. It is one of the very few books I have ever re-read and it was refreshing to find that it is just as exciting, just as relevant today as it was when I first read it. In "Cinnamon Skin," we find Meyer's newly-wed niece Norma and her husband being murdered aboard Meyer's boat "The John Maynard Keynes"--and, of course, the circumstances are suspicious. Was the explosion at sea revenge for a drug deal gone wrong? Did it have something to do with Meyer's own past (after all, he'd been in Chile a few years earlier)? Regardless, it is greatly disturbing to Meyer who enlists his friend Travis to help. Meyer's loss is Travis', after all, Travis is rough and tough but philosophic,and the ensuing McGee adventure takes the two on a convulted odyssey from Ft. Lauderdale to Texas to Mexico. MacDonald holds us spellbound with his plot revelations, but he is also a master at capturing the local color (especially noteworthy here is his interesting "history" of Cancun), and of sparking his suspense with daubs of humor. MacDonald's works frequently touch on socially significant issues, such as the environment, and especially on the damages that developers have been plying on the Florida coast, from shabby construction to irresponsible waste disposal. He likes to remind us that we are, after all, in the 20th century. "Soon the bosses of the microcomputer revolution will sell us preprogrammed units for each household which (will provide for everything). It will be the biggest revolution of all, bigger than the wheel, bigger than Franklin's kite, bigger than paper towels." In his many books, sometimes MacDonald seems to assume the role of Cassandra outside the gates of Thebes, crying out his revelations and prophesies, yet he is doomed not to be believed. Tis a pity. "Cinnamon Skin" carries, brilliantly, the MacDonald/McGee mystique, and while the series is over thirty years old, the colors in the titles have not faded; Travis is as relevant today as he has always been. MacDonald's prose--if nothing else-- will transport the reader on a magical, mystical, enthusiastic ride, well worth the fare. Take a trip to Lauderdale--it'll be a treat.
Rating:
Summary: a good mystery
Review: John D. MacDonald's 20th Travis McGee book "Cinnamon Skin" reads as well today as it did when published in 1982. It is one of the very few books I have ever re-read and it was refreshing to find that it is just as exciting, just as relevant today as it was when I first read it. In "Cinnamon Skin," we find Meyer's newly-wed niece Norma and her husband being murdered aboard Meyer's boat "The John Maynard Keynes"--and, of course, the circumstances are suspicious. Was the explosion at sea revenge for a drug deal gone wrong? Did it have something to do with Meyer's own past (after all, he'd been in Chile a few years earlier)? Regardless, it is greatly disturbing to Meyer who enlists his friend Travis to help. Meyer's loss is Travis', after all, Travis is rough and tough but philosophic,and the ensuing McGee adventure takes the two on a convulted odyssey from Ft. Lauderdale to Texas to Mexico. MacDonald holds us spellbound with his plot revelations, but he is also a master at capturing the local color (especially noteworthy here is his interesting "history" of Cancun), and of sparking his suspense with daubs of humor. MacDonald's works frequently touch on socially significant issues, such as the environment, and especially on the damages that developers have been plying on the Florida coast, from shabby construction to irresponsible waste disposal. He likes to remind us that we are, after all, in the 20th century. "Soon the bosses of the microcomputer revolution will sell us preprogrammed units for each household which (will provide for everything). It will be the biggest revolution of all, bigger than the wheel, bigger than Franklin's kite, bigger than paper towels." In his many books, sometimes MacDonald seems to assume the role of Cassandra outside the gates of Thebes, crying out his revelations and prophesies, yet he is doomed not to be believed. Tis a pity. "Cinnamon Skin" carries, brilliantly, the MacDonald/McGee mystique, and while the series is over thirty years old, the colors in the titles have not faded; Travis is as relevant today as he has always been. MacDonald's prose--if nothing else-- will transport the reader on a magical, mystical, enthusiastic ride, well worth the fare. Take a trip to Lauderdale--it'll be a treat.
Rating:
Summary: "Did Somebody Say MacDonald?"
Review: John D. MacDonald's 20th Travis McGee book "Cinnamon Skin" reads as well today as it did when published in 1982. It is one of the very few books I have ever re-read and it was refreshing to find that it is just as exciting, just as relevant today as it was when I first read it. In "Cinnamon Skin," we find Meyer's newly-wed niece Norma and her husband being murdered aboard Meyer's boat "The John Maynard Keynes"--and, of course, the circumstances are suspicious. Was the explosion at sea revenge for a drug deal gone wrong? Did it have something to do with Meyer's own past (after all, he'd been in Chile a few years earlier)? Regardless, it is greatly disturbing to Meyer who enlists his friend Travis to help. Meyer's loss is Travis', after all, Travis is rough and tough but philosophic,and the ensuing McGee adventure takes the two on a convulted odyssey from Ft. Lauderdale to Texas to Mexico. MacDonald holds us spellbound with his plot revelations, but he is also a master at capturing the local color (especially noteworthy here is his interesting "history" of Cancun), and of sparking his suspense with daubs of humor. MacDonald's works frequently touch on socially significant issues, such as the environment, and especially on the damages that developers have been plying on the Florida coast, from shabby construction to irresponsible waste disposal. He likes to remind us that we are, after all, in the 20th century. "Soon the bosses of the microcomputer revolution will sell us preprogrammed units for each household which (will provide for everything). It will be the biggest revolution of all, bigger than the wheel, bigger than Franklin's kite, bigger than paper towels." In his many books, sometimes MacDonald seems to assume the role of Cassandra outside the gates of Thebes, crying out his revelations and prophesies, yet he is doomed not to be believed. Tis a pity. "Cinnamon Skin" carries, brilliantly, the MacDonald/McGee mystique, and while the series is over thirty years old, the colors in the titles have not faded; Travis is as relevant today as he has always been. MacDonald's prose--if nothing else-- will transport the reader on a magical, mystical, enthusiastic ride, well worth the fare. Take a trip to Lauderdale--it'll be a treat.
Rating:
Summary: The last book in the Travis McGee series.
Review: This is the last book in the Travis McGee series written shortly before McDonald died. Although it has all the classic elements of earlier works in the series, it lacks the emotional punch which made many of the earlier books stand out from the detective genre crowd. McGee and Meyer travel to the Yucatan in pursuit of a typically malevolent villian who has wronged a beautiful woman with "cinnamon skin". The character development is up to McDonald's usual high standards, complete with the requisite philosophical flights of Travis' balanced against Meyer's earth-rooted reasoning. In an unusual twist, it is actually Meyer who overcomes the bad guy in the final scene which takes place deep in the Mexican jungle. If you have been a fan of the McGee series, all of which contained a color in their titles, this story will not disappoint you. In fact, reading it alongside one of the early (1950's) Travis McGee books offers some fascinating insights into McDonald's personal development as his hero acquires the politically correct attitudes of the decade. It has been rumored for years that there was a final McGee novel with the color black in the title in which the aging hero dies. Some have even speculated that "Spenser" author Robert B. Parker was working to complete the unfinished McDonald manuscript. True McGee (and McDonald) fans will be glad neither has materialized. Closing with this book, and never being heard from again, is a far more appropriate ending to a pair of long and storied careers
Rating: 
Summary: A light read, more character study than mystery
Review: Travis and Meyer set out to unravel the accidental death of Meyer's niece and new nephew-in-law, and quickly discover it is more insidious than accidental. MacDonald's book is a fairly engaging read, more a character study of the criminal than a mystery. However, the investigators engage in a little too much pop psychology too early in the book, which accounts for the pace of the story slowing down somewhat in the last 1/3 of the book., MacDonald is enough of a skilled storyteller, though, that for the most part, the book is a fairly fast and engaging read.
|
