Bright Orange for the Shroud [Mass Market Paperback]

John D. MacDonald (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Books (1995)
• ASIN: B000MB0IE0
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travis McGee and the Nature of Time, September 28, 1997

By 

James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bright Orange for the Shroud (Mass Market Paperback)

I now believe that Travis McGee, like all great detectives, exists outside of time. How can a novel written over 30 years ago speak to us so directly without reference to its era?

In BRIGHT ORANGE FOR THE SHROUD, knight errant McGee rights wrongs committed by an impromptu consortium which exists to defraud and destroy its victim utterly. McGee flushes out the book's ultra-villain, Boo Waxwell, and does what he can to rectify the wrongs done to an innocent man. All, I might add, without reference to the Cold War, Carnaby Street, Hippies, or anything else which would have identified the book as a product of the Sizties.

MacDonald's villains are the seven deadly sins, with an occasional personification of evil from the swamps like rapist-murderer-extortionist Waxwell thrown in. A wonderful read which I highly recommend.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quintessential McGee, April 27, 2000

By 

Michael Kramer (Ft Lauderdale) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bright Orange for the Shroud (Mass Market Paperback)

All the ingredients of a great McGee tale are present here, including the essential South Florida locale. It's hard to believe these stories were penned almost thirty years ago, and the rare "tells" that crop up are pretty funny. The typical is a wardrobe description replete with dacron sailcloth slacks, white denim jackets with wooden buttons, and the omnipresent pale yellow ascot. Of course, money matters are a giveaway. Like a wealthy murder victims toney "$30,000 home".

That said, few authors nail a modern detective yarn quite like John D. Read this book, or any other in the series, and you'll see what I mean.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another McGee Goodie, August 2, 2004

By 

Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bright Orange for the Shroud (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked up "Bright Orange for the Shroud" based on a recommendation from Amazon. But I didn't need such encouragement: I am a big fan of John D. MacDonald and, especially, the Travis McGee series. My favorite MacDonald book is "A Flash of Green", but I've always come back to the McGee series. This one, full of that shifty Florida culture, its tennis court bombshell, and gallons of flowing booze, is archetypal MacDonald. And, as I say in each review, I sure hope more people out there are reading MacDonald's works.