Customer Reviews

Buck Passes Flynn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

McDonald's hero "Flynn" is not as popular as his "Fletch" series, but "The Buck Passes Flynn" is the best of the series and every bit as good as a Fetch novel. The theme, that someone is making random $100,000 deposits on the doorsteps of every home in small communities around the country and creating havoc in the process, is quite fascinating (though admittedly dated, it would probably be about $250,000 today). It is a mystery worthy of the great Inspector Flynn, and is told in a humorous style for which McDonald is known. Overall, a great book for fans of detective fiction.

If you like wisecracking private investigators, the FLYNN books are for you. This book whirls around a unique and intriguing plot which begins with every person in small towns across America waking up to find $100,000 cash on their doorsteps. Naturally, chaos ensues! THE BUCK PASSES FLYNN was published in 1981, so a lot of the technology and social mores are dated. Nevertheless, the storytelling and the wry, dry, intelligent hero hold up very well. Not all of the plot points ultimately pay off, but this mystery-adventure was good fun.

Have you read a Fletch book? Flynn is, in some ways, Fletch's flipside - he is a perfect gentleman, a devoted family man even, who works for the forces of law and order - but if free spirit Fletch lives in fun stories that might give you some pause for thought, reliable Reluctant Flynn lives in hilarious stories that might later keep you up nights in deep contemplation.

McDonald is a damn good storyteller, running his clever characters through a series of plausible situations with snowballing root causes that give broad opportunity for adventure and the display of wry wit. Flynn and Fletch are his vehicles for some of the best dialogue I've seen in print.

This is one of my favorite McDonald books. My biggest problem with the work is that I keep giving copies away to friends and having to purchase more.

After someone leaves envelopes containing $100,000 each in several small towns across America, Boston Police Inspector and Secret Agent Francis Xavier Flynn is called in to investigate.

After finishing reading MacDonald's "Fletch" series of books, I decided to give the "Flynn" books a try, but the simple fact is that the "Flynn" books just aren't as good as the "Fletch" books. "The Buck Passes Flynn" is the second Flynn book, and not only is there no murder for Flynn to solve (yes, I am aware that it is possible to have a mystery story without a murder, but they're generally not as interesting), but the whole novel is essentially just a vehicle for MacDonald to voice his opinions on the evils of money. The story is slow-moving, far-fetched and totally hypocritical. The message of this book seems to be that money only brings misery, and yet MacDonald seems to overlook the fact that Flynn himself is very rich (this fact is mentioned in the first Flynn novel and in "Confess, Fletch", but is conveniently omitted in this book) and I'm sure MacDonald isn't a charity case either. I own copies of the other two "Flynn" novels, so I will probably keep reading them, but after this book and "Flynn", I am beginning to have my doubts as to whether I will actually enjoy them.

Thought-provoking idea, well-written in McDonald's excellent style... witty, inventive. I love the Flynn series! More, more, please!