Randy Wayne White

This should have been titled: Ford Needlessly Gets a Bunch More People Killed Volume 17.

For whatever reason this book was all about Doc overthinking everything every millisecond of the entire book, and 85% or more of the words were related to Doc overthinking. He's figuring and surmising and remembering and deliberating and speculating and cogitating and pondering... and he's mostly wrong about Every. Single. Thing. I mean, he could have just stopped, looked around, figured out the quickest show more way to keep things from spiraling out of control, but nope, Ford just figured the best plan of action was to sit there figuring and then engineer a situation that repeatedly goes from bad to worse to much, much worse etc.

Towards the end of the book is this line (page 290 out of 315): "But it was something I couldn’t think about now." Huh? Why not? That's all you’ve been doing the entire book, thinking and mulling nonessential matters. The entire story takes place over 12 or 18 hours, and it didn't have to be horrible except it was because it all took place up inside Doc’s head.

The story is like one of those kids movies where the preteen juvenile delinquent outfoxes and runs circles around the adult. I lost track of how many times Ford got himself captured and killed solely because he was being a dumbass. show less

Haunted (2014) is more than 10 years old, but it is the first I have read in the Hannah Smith series. As much as I enjoy the "Doc" Ford novels, I was hesitant to pick this one up. I am also a fan of John Sandford so any Lucas Davenport or Virgil Flowers is an easy sell. But I am not sure that I am ready – or desperate enough yet – for the Letty Davenport series, the third generation of Minnesota crimefighter. Despite having Hannah pop up in the Ford stories, I wasn't sure she was ready show more for "prime time," as a stand-alone.

Anyway, I was put off fairly straightaway. It is vintage Randy Wayne White. He writes a good story. White's style or narrative is that his characters cannot not find themselves in deep trouble, and the story unfolds thereafter. Hannah can do that in spades, find herself in DEEP, she's an evil-doer magnet.

Haunted was fast reading, but not super interesting and all the characters were suspect. Hannah's friend "Birdy" Tupplemeyer, a deputy sheriff, didn't feel like a cop; hardheaded in a weird way, but not really LE like. The dialogues were not superb. The story was actually a bit silly: Age old mysteries and treasure combine so that a numerous number of strange characters just happen to descend on a remote, wild spot in the middle of Florida, all at the same time; that was a tough buy-in all around. Then the way the remainder of the story played out was a real stretch of the imagination.

Hannah is not the sharpest tool in the shed. She spends most of the book waving around an invaluable 150-year-old journal that is not in the best condition to begin with. That she does so in sight of a whole slew of questionable characters adds to the mystery of just what the F- she is trying to accomplish.

Oooh, I fell overboard in shark infested waters and I can see the great whites circling. Danger! Better get back in the boat. Oh, wait, a thought just occurred to me. Let me pause for a few minutes and read a few more pages of my great-uncles journal. WT actual F.

Suffice to say that no parts of the story thrilled me. And sometimes it went the other way and annoyed me. As for both White and Hannah, as a Florida native she may have thought twice before unleashing a Noah's Ark of dangerous nonnative critters into the swamps. I know that this is only fiction, but JFC, I need to retain some sanity; Florida has decimated the environment with virtually every non-native species on the planet from parrots and parakeets to monkeys. Monkeys for goddsake! Trying to hang with the story for the duration was a bit more work that I like.

Add to that, Hannah, the main character, has no self-awareness. And she is the queen of making bad choices. It's like when she doesn't even need to make any choices, she does for the sole purpose of making bad ones. Ridiculous. For me, that’s not an endearing main character trait. But I guess without, there would be no book. show less

This was my first Randy Wayne White novel. I'd been hearing about him for years. My family visits the Sanibel area on a regular basis, and Doc Ford's (his restaurant) is one of our absolute favorite places to eat. Just before our last trip to Sanibel, I was in the library looking for beach reads and decided to check out a Randy Wayne White mystery. What could be better than reading a book that takes place exactly where you are, right? Deceived caught my eye because of the female protagonist. show more Something about it appealed to me, so I took it home. I sure am glad I did! I couldn't put it down! I have to admit, Hannah Smith is not the cuddliest of characters. If I met her in person, I doubt we'd be friends. However, the storyline itself kept me flipping pages. Hannah's mother's best friend disappears suddenly. When Hannah stops by her house to check on her, she has a run in with an axe-wielding stranger. It only gets better from there. Throw in bogus charity schemes that prey on the elderly, destruction of state artifacts, a twenty- year- old unsolved murder from the early days of Florida's drug smuggling...plus a love affair with Doc Ford, the hero of Whites other mystery series...and you have a book that is hard to put down. (My husband is reading it now.) I loved this book and can't wait for the next. I'll probably go back and read the first in the Hannah Smith series as well. This corner of Southwest Florida is stunning, and White's knowledge and love of the area are evident. I enjoyed reading my copy under an umbrella just down from Bowman's beach. Pick your favorite spot and try it out. :) show less

This is one of Randy Wayne White’s books from the transitional period between sharp, lively stories and lusterless, slow death stories. This one has some life. And it’s a good Florida story, with all of the elements that make it one: water, sun, boats, weather both extreme and sublime, greed, corrupt and insane politicians and their wealthy fathers; general mayhem.

White, long before he tried writing the same book every year and became a restauranteur, was a master of the Gulf Coast show more updated John D. McDonald story. He has strong characters in Doc Ford and his friend Tomlinson and knows what makes Florida special and also what makes it so craven. At his best White can make you love the state and abhor those who ruin it in the name of greed. This is actually one of those books. show less