Black Widow (Thorndike Basic) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Randy Wayne White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2008 | Series: Thorndike Basic

A cult of death.
A weapon of apocalyptic horror.
Juan Cabrillo must stop them both.

THE ?FASCINATING?( BOOKLIST) NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Some women you love.
Some women you hate.
Some women you survive.

Doc Ford is drawn into a deadly battle when his goddaughter Shay is blackmailed. Someone filmed her at an out-of-control bachelorette party?and they want big money to keep it quiet. When Ford investigates, he finds that the woman responsible is an agent of corruption unlike any Ford has ever encountered before. And she may be the last encounter he ever has.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Ford's 15th Doc Ford thriller (after 2007's Hunter's Moon) may baffle newcomers with a backstory relating to the murder of Ford's parents. Ford, a marine biologist and covert operative who lives on Florida's Sanibel Island, is busy serving his shadowy U.S. government masters by researching the potential use by terrorists of jellyfish and other venomous sea creatures when he receives a desperate appeal for help from an old friend. Shay Money, a successful 26-year-old businesswoman who's about to be married, fears her future happiness is in jeopardy because an extortionist has videotaped her and three female friends in sexually compromising situations. While Ford manages to get the tape in exchange for a sizable payment, his suspicions that the criminal isn't done with Money are soon confirmed. His efforts to protect her lead him to the Caribbean and a sophisticated blackmail racket with a lengthy list of victims. Despite some awkward prose (The combination of flesh and death, the orderly geometrics of my wound, struck me as indefinably profound), series fans should enjoy the ride. Author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* What happens in the Caribbean—at least on the tiny island of Saint Arc—definitely doesn’t stay there. Especially if you happen to be a rich, young woman out for a final fling with your girlfriends before tying the knot. That demographic is likely to snag you in the web of Saint Arc’s resident voodoo queen, the Widow, a sexually ambiguous dragon lady who runs a sophisticated blackmail enterprise. In this fifteenth outing for White’s beloved hero, marine biologist and special-ops agent Doc Ford, the Widow meets her match when she targets Ford’s goddaughter, Shay. Feeling a bit out of sorts since he retired from the clandestine services, Ford is ready to mix it up a little and heads off to the island to confront the blackmailers. He finds much more of a challenge than he expected and is happy to join forces with a mysterious island resident, a seventysomething Brit who appears to be a former special-ops type himself. White makes the most of this pairing (imagine Michael Caine as the Brit), injecting some bantering fun into the high-octane action. As always in this consistently entertaining series, the plot offers a fascinating mix of headline-grabbing crime (Caribbean vacations gone bad) and history (island archaeology, with a touch of those ever-popular Knights Templar). Like Robert B. Parker and John D. MacDonald at their best, White draws readers into his world with characters you’d pay just to hang out with and then hooks us with straight-ahead action. It’s an old-school combination, but it still works just fine. --Bill Ott --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (March 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410405753
• ISBN-13: 978-1410405753
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,190,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Randy Wayne White is the author of sixteen previous Doc Ford novels and four collections of nonfiction. He lives in an old house built on an Indian mound in Pineland, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has the shark been jumped?, August 8, 2008

By 

Rainman (DE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Widow (Doc Ford) (Hardcover)

I have read all the Doc Ford novels and some other of Randy Wayne White's fiction and non-fiction. I was first drawn to his works by the incorporation of the local color of the Fort Myers Beach/Sanibel/Captiva area, places I have visited. I thoroughly enjoyed the early Ford books and looked forward to each new publication. I especially enjoy the characters developed out of the Dinkins Bay Marina. But starting with Dark Night, I've enjoyed each successive book less and less. The latest villain from Black Widow seems more appropriate for a Mike Meyers movie. There are enjoyable moments, but some things are just getting too far fetched.

Far and away my biggest disappointment is what I view as changes in Doc Ford's basic character. Many successful authors who publish over a period of years run into a dilemma with their main characters (Parker's Spenser, Burke's Robicheaux, and White's Doc Ford). That problem is their aging. Parker seems to have frozen Spenser's age. Burke ages Dave Robicheaux much more slowly now. But White seems to have reinvented Doc Ford. Those of you who are long-time readers, did you notice how, for what I believe was the first time, there is no obvious or subtle mention of, or reference to Doc's age? Doc always had the combination of the professorial yet politely macho demeanor that appealed to women characters of substance over a wide but realistic age range. In this book, Doc seemed to be appealing to younger aged female characters, including a character he would have treated as a father figure in past novels. ALL the women had the hots for Doc this time! I found that cheapened him. And that conclusion??? Please. Also, I'm a city kid and have never found cursing objectionable, but some of Doc's dialogue just wasn't consistent with who Doc Ford has been. I found myself thinking "Who kidnapped Doc Ford and replaced him with this younger, "edgier" guy?" Also suspicious is the return to his former "career." Is this the Doc for a new generation?

A rhetorical question for thought: For those who know the series and all White's works, do you see signs of Doc Ford being reinvented as more of a Randy Stryker? If so, I believe that severely diminishes Doc as a character.

Again, I have very much enjoyed the bulk of the earlier works, my favorite being The Man Who Invented Florida. However, I didn't feel I was reading about the Doc Ford I knew previously in this novel and was comparatively disappointed.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great beach read, March 19, 2008

By 

Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Widow (Doc Ford) (Hardcover)

I saw Randy Wayne White speak at a booksigning down here in Southwest Florida last night, and was impressed with his gift for storytelling and self-effacing sense of humor. I could see how this relaxed, funny guy wrote Black Widow, which is a shameless potboiling page-turner.

This is exactly the kind of book you want with you at the beach, preferably with an ice-cold Corona or frosty margarita. To be precise, on Lighthouse Beach or Bowman's Beach on beautiful Sanibel Island, the very real home of fictional Doc Ford, the hero of Black Widow.

I'm biased. I live on Sanibel, and I'm partial to books that focus on places I know. So I especially enjoyed the parts of the book set here. But even the segments set elsewhere stayed interesting and moved fast.

The story, which includes steamy tropical sex, blackmail, poisonous jellyfish and attacking hammerhead sharks, is outlandish and delicious. I enjoyed Doc's hippie neighbor Tomlinson, who thinks he can talk with whales. Doc himself seems cut from the same cloth as Indiana Jones -- just substitute biologist for archeologist and you're halfway there.

My only caveat: you'll enjoy the book the most if you're familiar with White's earlier Doc Ford titles. There's a lot of talk of things that have happened before. If you're a newbie to the joys of Randy Wayne White, I suggest starting with an earlier Doc Ford novel and working your way through.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, May 18, 2008

By 

J. E. Stephens "Jeanne" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Widow (Doc Ford) (Hardcover)

This is my first Randy Wayne White book. I have heard the members of my book discussion group rave about his books even though we have never read one of his.

This book was all that was promised and then some. I was hooked on the first page. Now I will start reading the rest of his books.

This book was filled with suspense- but not overloaded with gore. It left a lot to your imagination.

It is interesting reading about the islands and it made me wonder if someone could film vacationers in that manner. It is kind of unnerving thinking you could be watched and filmed on your vacation. Hopefully if it happens to us we will have a "Doc" to rescue us.

Since I live in Florida, I enjoyed reading a Florida author. Hopefully the rest of his books will take place in Florida instead of an obscure island.