The seductive daughter of a dead war buddy calls marine biologist Doc Ford in need of help--her mother has vanished without a trace in South America. Doc's efforts to find her take him from the jungles of Colombia to the streets of Panama--and onto the trail of the most vile nemesis he has ever come up against...
Amazon.com Review
Randy White's mysteries are tailor-made for fans who've exhausted the novels of the late John D. MacDonald. White's series hero, Doc Ford, a marine biologist whose résumé includes a Vietnam-era stint with the Special Forces, is a somewhat cynical philosopher whose toughness masks a tender heart; he's a worthy successor to Travis McGee. In this fast-paced, well-written thriller, a nearly forgotten promise to a long-dead comrade gets Doc involved in a daughter's search for her mother. Gail Richardson's house is empty, and so are her bank accounts. Her daughter Amanda is sure that Gail's being held against her will by her would-be protector, Jackie Merlot, a mysterious man whose connections reach deep into Central and South America. The trail leads from Florida to Colombia and then to Panama, site of a private, heavily guarded retreat catering to the perverse tastes of the wealthy and powerful. Getting in takes all Doc's skill and cunning. Getting out is another matter entirely, as he learns with the help of a few of Bobby Richardson's old Vietnam buddies who turn up in the proverbial nick of time. The denouement is full of surprises, including one that even the most discerning reader won't see coming. The writing is swift, deft, and full of the crunchy nuggets of world-weary wisdom that admirers of the MacDonald genre loved and that White's growing number of devoted readers have come to expect. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
An awkward plot mars the latest entry (after North of Havana, 1997) in White's widely appealing Gulf coast of Florida series starring Doc Ford, marine biologist, former spook and reluctant detective. In the first chapter, Ford finds the body of Frank Calloway on the kitchen floor of the real estate baron's beach house. Eleven chapters later, readers return to Calloway's house to follow Ford, who decides that he'll look for the folder he'd come to see before he calls the police. The intervening chapters explain that Calloway had married?and later divorced?Gail Richardson, the widow of Ford's best friend, Bobby, who had been killed in Cambodia doing top-secret dirty work 20 years earlier. Gail and Bobby's daughter Amanda has asked Ford to find Gail, who is somewhere in South America with a man named Jackie Merlot. Ford learns that Merlot, a gross and depraved villain, has conned Gail into joining him in a rank business venture in the Canal Zone. Merlot is an arresting figure, but most of the action involving him happens so far offstage that his menace is largely wasted. And White's extended flashbacks are filled with pretentious ponderings about the human condition. From a writer whose work is usually marked by tight construction and wry dialogue, this fizzy tale is a misfire. Editor, Neil Nyren; agent Renee Wayne Golden. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
The seductive daughter of a dead war buddy calls marine biologist Doc Ford in need of help--her mother has vanished without a trace in South America. Doc's efforts to find her take him from the jungles of Colombia to the streets of Panama--and onto the trail of the most vile nemesis he has ever come up against...
Amazon.com Review
Randy White's mysteries are tailor-made for fans who've exhausted the novels of the late John D. MacDonald. White's series hero, Doc Ford, a marine biologist whose résumé includes a Vietnam-era stint with the Special Forces, is a somewhat cynical philosopher whose toughness masks a tender heart; he's a worthy successor to Travis McGee. In this fast-paced, well-written thriller, a nearly forgotten promise to a long-dead comrade gets Doc involved in a daughter's search for her mother. Gail Richardson's house is empty, and so are her bank accounts. Her daughter Amanda is sure that Gail's being held against her will by her would-be protector, Jackie Merlot, a mysterious man whose connections reach deep into Central and South America. The trail leads from Florida to Colombia and then to Panama, site of a private, heavily guarded retreat catering to the perverse tastes of the wealthy and powerful. Getting in takes all Doc's skill and cunning. Getting out is another matter entirely, as he learns with the help of a few of Bobby Richardson's old Vietnam buddies who turn up in the proverbial nick of time. The denouement is full of surprises, including one that even the most discerning reader won't see coming. The writing is swift, deft, and full of the crunchy nuggets of world-weary wisdom that admirers of the MacDonald genre loved and that White's growing number of devoted readers have come to expect. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
An awkward plot mars the latest entry (after North of Havana, 1997) in White's widely appealing Gulf coast of Florida series starring Doc Ford, marine biologist, former spook and reluctant detective. In the first chapter, Ford finds the body of Frank Calloway on the kitchen floor of the real estate baron's beach house. Eleven chapters later, readers return to Calloway's house to follow Ford, who decides that he'll look for the folder he'd come to see before he calls the police. The intervening chapters explain that Calloway had married?and later divorced?Gail Richardson, the widow of Ford's best friend, Bobby, who had been killed in Cambodia doing top-secret dirty work 20 years earlier. Gail and Bobby's daughter Amanda has asked Ford to find Gail, who is somewhere in South America with a man named Jackie Merlot. Ford learns that Merlot, a gross and depraved villain, has conned Gail into joining him in a rank business venture in the Canal Zone. Merlot is an arresting figure, but most of the action involving him happens so far offstage that his menace is largely wasted. And White's extended flashbacks are filled with pretentious ponderings about the human condition. From a writer whose work is usually marked by tight construction and wry dialogue, this fizzy tale is a misfire. Editor, Neil Nyren; agent Renee Wayne Golden.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.