What did someone say? The only thing better than reading John D. Macdonald is reading John D. Macdonald again...It has been fun. My dad turned me on to these stories a long time ago. This is maybe the third time I have read these...enough time has passed been to forget the stories but remember what a great writer he is. Our reoccurring hero is Travis McGee. Our knight in tarnished armor... a Korean War Vet... the good vs. evil story lines with some fog in-between and commentary on the times that still resonates with today ... interesting plot twists and good writing... Travis says ' I get this crazy feeling, every once in a while I get it. I get this feeling that this is the last time in history when the offbeats like me will have a chance to live free in the nooks and crannies of the huge and rigid structure of an increasingly codified society. Fifty years from now I would be hunted down on the street. They would drill little holes in my skull and make me sensible and reliable and adjusted.' Well this was written in 1964...44 years ago...there still is the drive to make everyone vanilla... how he writes about San Francisco... and the accurate foreshadowing of the growth that would happen in Arizona... his descriptions of development in California and Florida…he is a spot on writer gone to soon… ( )

This summer I've been re-reading two authors whose work I haven't read for almost 30 years: John D. MacDonald and A.A. Fair (a pseudonym of Erle Stanley Gardner). It's provided a nice change of pace from a steady diet of scifi and fantasy. For the most part I find that I like the same things about these books that I liked as a teen.

Just when I was starting to feel that the Travis McGee books (which I am not reading in anything like publication order) were getting rather formulaic, this one offered a bit of a change up on several levels. The bad guys are considerably less frightening, the good guys considerably less sympathetic, the romance considerably less tragic.

Overall, I'd say that it's not the most compelling of the series, but still an entertaining read. As always, McGee is an intriguing character, with plenty of things to say about the world he lives in (some of which ring true). ( )

The Quick Red Fox is an excellent entry in John MacDonald’s lengthy Travis McGee private eye/caper series.

In this installment, McGee is hired by a Hollywood actress who’s been photographed surreptitiously in, ah, a seriously compromising situation. He joins forces with the actress’s personal assistant, the competent but smoldering Nora Holzer, tracking down the sorry people who also appeared in the photos. There’s much here to admire – sharp dialog, crisp description, surprisingly passionate romantic scenes – but it’s McGee himself who’s got top billing. He’s one of the great crime fiction creations – big, tough, canny, cruel, but also idealistic, emotionally perceptive and overall highly believable.

Highly recommended. ( )

Two characters come into their own in this, number four in the travis mcgee series. Lysa Dean is a rich bitch of old Hollywood, whose love life in her dotage consists of various dildoes and her own movies. Meyer, Travis's longtime friend, is introduced in this story. Remember that the first three books were all written when the "Deep Blue Goodby" came out. This is the more like the second plotting of Travis. ( )

Travis McGee investigates a wild party with a movie star gone wrong. ( )