MacDonald, John D. The Deep Blue Good-By. Fawcett Gold Medal, 1964.
Reason read: Florida became a state on March 3rd, 1845.
Travis McGee lives on a 52′ barge-like houseboat docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His occupation is to recover items for people from time to time; whenever he needs the cash or is bored. Sort of like a freelance detective or repo man without structure. In a nutshell, McGee’s friend Chookie knows of a girl who needs help recovering something. She starts with the fact that her daddy went to prison for killing a man. While there David Berry divulged to his cellmate, Junior Allen, that he stole something of great worth. After David dies the cellmate is released from prison. He does the only thing a criminal fresh out of prison can do; he makes a beeline for the daughter’s residence to see if he can take possession of the stolen goods for himself. But first he has to completely traumatize a few women along the way. McGee does not know what the items are or where they might be. What he does know is that women should not be treated that way. In addition to getting the items back he wants to make the guy pay for brutalizing the fairer sex. What follows is a convoluted mix of violence, brainwashing, womanizing, and Florida sunshine. McGee is a flawed good guy who has his moments.
Quote I liked, “And I do not function on emotional motivation” (p 19).
As an aside, I would like to see his Rolls Royce that had been converted into a pickup truck.
Author fact: Macdonald wrote two books on my Challenge list: Only Girl in the Game (October 2036) and The Deep Blue Good-by.
Book trivia: Almost all of MacDonald’s books have a color in the title.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Florida Fiction” (p 89). It must be said that on the cover of MacDonald’s book the title reads, The Deep Blue Good-By. Not Goodbye.
~*LunaSea*~ 