When Fletch learns there are four ex-cons on the loose in his part of the county, little does he suspect that one of the scruffy and very dangerous men will claim to be the son he never knew--in fact, was never even told about. But when a muddy and bedraggled young man acosts him in his study, it doesn’t take our wily reporter and investigator long to surmise this kid might well be his son. And when Fletch meets the kid’s compatriots he wonders how either of them is going to get out of this situation unscathed.
From Publishers Weekly
Despite a couple of shaky plot turns, readers will gladly succumb to McDonald's laconic wit and smooth pacing in this 10th entry in the Fletch series. Ex-reporter Irwin Maurice Fletcher--just Fletch, please--is in semi-retirement in Tennessee where, after three marriages, he has settled in with Carrie, a plainspoken "Southern country woman." One dark and stormy night (yes!), Fletch's heretofore unknown son, Jack, arrives, accompanied by a South African killer, a kidnapper and a drug dealer who escaped from federal prison with him. Beguiled by 20-ish Jack, Fletch is soon effectively in charge of getting the escapees away from the cops and in to Alabama where a group of white supremacists have encamped to await their leader, the killer. Although in looks and manners, Jack surely has not fallen far from the paternal tree, Fletch still seeks proof of their relationship, but is soon more worried about the dangers awaiting the young man in the camp. Fletch wins the day in great style as the supremacists, cartoonish screw-ups barely capable of organizing a beer blast, mainly self-destruct. Fletch, Carrie and the enterprising Jack, however, are all fully dimensioned characters who rate readers' attention and applause. Mystery Guild alternate. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
When Fletch learns there are four ex-cons on the loose in his part of the county, little does he suspect that one of the scruffy and very dangerous men will claim to be the son he never knew--in fact, was never even told about. But when a muddy and bedraggled young man acosts him in his study, it doesn’t take our wily reporter and investigator long to surmise this kid might well be his son. And when Fletch meets the kid’s compatriots he wonders how either of them is going to get out of this situation unscathed.
From Publishers Weekly
Despite a couple of shaky plot turns, readers will gladly succumb to McDonald's laconic wit and smooth pacing in this 10th entry in the Fletch series. Ex-reporter Irwin Maurice Fletcher--just Fletch, please--is in semi-retirement in Tennessee where, after three marriages, he has settled in with Carrie, a plainspoken "Southern country woman." One dark and stormy night (yes!), Fletch's heretofore unknown son, Jack, arrives, accompanied by a South African killer, a kidnapper and a drug dealer who escaped from federal prison with him. Beguiled by 20-ish Jack, Fletch is soon effectively in charge of getting the escapees away from the cops and in to Alabama where a group of white supremacists have encamped to await their leader, the killer. Although in looks and manners, Jack surely has not fallen far from the paternal tree, Fletch still seeks proof of their relationship, but is soon more worried about the dangers awaiting the young man in the camp. Fletch wins the day in great style as the supremacists, cartoonish screw-ups barely capable of organizing a beer blast, mainly self-destruct. Fletch, Carrie and the enterprising Jack, however, are all fully dimensioned characters who rate readers' attention and applause. Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Back for his first adventure since Fletch Too (1986), the irrepressible reporter/detective comes home with his latest squeeze, Carrie, to his Tennessee homestead to find four escaped convicts in residence--one of them identifying himself as Jack Fletch Faoni, Fletch's long-lost--well, unsuspected--son. It would be too easy to just turn these guys in, so Fletch gives Jack a loaded gun, plays along with him, and lands up to his neck in an Alabama camp of white- supremacist crazies. But wait! Is Jack really Fletch, Jr.? A few of Fletch's trademark phone calls reveal that no Jack Faoni has ever served time in the federal pen, and that Crystal Faoni's son is spending the summer in Greece.... More boisterous high jinks than mystery, like a class reunion of stand-up guys resting on their r‚sum‚s. Even so: welcome back, Fletch. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.