Customer Reviews

Carioca Fletch

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

 

 

After reading all of the negative reviews of Carioca Fletch, I was skeptical that the book would be able to keep my interest. I've just now finished reading the book and, while this is not the most captivating Fletch story in the series, I certainly didn't find it to be as bad as described by others.

In my opinion, it was a nice change of pace from the other Fletch books. There is not a lot of suspense or mystery, however I appreciated the fact that Fletch seemed to be in awe of Brazil. Also, his interactions with the Tap Dancers were pretty comical.

My biggest gripe is that Mcdonald didn't write a mystery about Fletch in Italy. I know it is touched on in other books, but I was hoping there would have been a story about Fletch moving to Italy (vs a whole book about Fletch in Brazil).

Either way, Carioca Fletch is still a good read if you are a fan of the series...it just doesn't compare to the others in terms of suspense and mystery (which is unfortunate as that is pretty much the genre Mcdonald was writing).

Like one other reviewer, I have to say this is an excellent Fletch book -- one of the best, in my opinion. Here Fletch takes on a whole new dimension in a foreign land, and personally I find the situation where he is mistaken for being a reincarnation of a Brazilian hilarious. This is also, as another reviewer mentioned, the closest we will come to having a supernatural Fletch story.

I just discovered Fletch a couple of weeks ago and now have read almost all the Fletch books, Flynn books, and am working on the two Skylar books.

Great author -- and almost all his books are consistently entertaining, and sometimes sublime.

My highest recommendation: Flynn's World.

It is definitly more about Brazil than the story line, but Brazil is the story here. If I'm not mistaken, McDonald was a journalist at some point, and he's gotten at a travel story from a different angle here. It's a very Fletch adventure, just as Fletch's Fortune was with the old south. This time Brazil is a charicter. If you've read the rest, then, like me, you were probably jonsing for another adventure. It delivers.

It probably looked good on paper when McDonald pitched it to his publisher: Fletch gets caught up in a 50-year old murder mystery, and with people trying to kill him currently he has to solve the old mystery to simultaneously solve the new.

In practice, this book is a rambling mess that barely touches on any of the above-mentioned elements. There's a lot of Brazilian "flavor" that ultimately felt like filler. There's also a lengthy subplot involving some party boys known as The Tap Dancers that I will generously call a red herring, as (minor spoiler) it has nothing to do with the over-all story, even though so much time is devoted to it that it feels like it should. (end minor spoiler).

If you want to be completionist about the Fletch series, keep your expectations in check and get it from the library. Otherwise, you can safely skip this one.

It's almost as if someone else wrote the book. It doesn't have the feel of any of the other Fletch books and I was thoroughly disappointed. Obviously, the author wrote it after a trip to Rio, probably during Carnivale, and he was affected by it so much that he wrote the lead character so much differently from the other Fletch books. He doesn't speak the way he normally speaks, and frankly I almost bailed halfway through the book. Oh, and thanks for all of the Portugese which I don't speak. It just doesn't fit in the series. As a story, it certainly works and attempted to keep my interest, but as a Fletch book, sorry, I didn't care for it at all.

Every prize winning author is entitled to a stinker. CARIOCA FLETCH by Gregory McDonald smells like the back allies of the Brazilian slums. The book does provide the reader with some back story as to what happen when the private plane landed with Fletch and a suitcase full of money as passengers.
If you enjoy reading an entire series it is on the list.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS.

I will agree with those who said this is their least favorite Fletch book, but will break with those saying it is bad or not worth reading.

I actually quite enjoyed reading it, but then again having been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival in Trinidad, I was fascinated by all the descriptions of Brazil and Carnival. There were several characters (most notably the Tap Dancers) that I liked reading about, and I thought it was an interesting segway from Journalist Fletch to Rich Fletch who just is observing people and experiencing life. Fletch talking about getting robbed when he got there and about how he was not a Carioca but was clearly trying to learn what he could about Brazil were good, and his realization of what he wants to do (and basically not stay in Brazil) I also liked. "Sometimes what is not there tells you as much as what is there".. great line from the book and very illustrative of "Carioca Fletch" on the whole.

Fletch does not have the 'wit' nearly as much as he does in his other books, but the book itself was a good read that honestly I couldn't put down. As a Fletch book, not as good, but it is a good book (if that makes any sense.)

cariocca fletch is probably one of the worst of the fletch books. certainly not ranking up there with the 2 of the best works of the whole mystery genre Fletch and Confess, Fletch. There is no real mystery or suspense here. Mcdonald delves into too much Brazilian mythology to create a plot. the mystery if you could call it one is who killed Janio Bareta 47 years ago? who cares. there is no real investigation into the murder, and fletch solves in about 2 seconds. the book could have been much shorter. i didn't find the characters very intersting. and i can't imagine that Brazilians are really this superstitious. most of the story is really about Brazil, and Carnival. the mystery if you could call it one, is really secondary to the setting. who cares. i can read losts of books about Brazil during Carnival without reading this one.

The weakest Fletch book by far, by FAR. Carioca Fletch has our beloved investigative reporter on extended holiday in Brazil after swiping a sizable sum of Alan Stanwyck's fortune (this bit didn't happen in the movie). While there he learns that he may be the reincarnation of a man who was murdered 47 years ago and is more or less mesmerized into solving that case, whether he wants to or not.

Gregory MacDonald obviously started writing this book with no clear goal, story or resolution in mind. He rambles on and on and on about nothing of importance and gooses up the pages with endless filler material. So many untranslated Portuguese words and long, long random character names come and go, it's hard to keep up. The tepid story clearly is not novel length, even a pulpy novel such as this. All it is really good for is finding out what happens to the characters of the original Fletch book (the books were written and published out of chronological story order) immediately afterwards.

The Fletch series and character are great and have, so far, been well above average in terms of pulp fiction. But this is a major low point. For hardcore fans and completists only. Three stars is very generous indeed.

Taking place in Brazil, this book tends to lose the story among descriptions of Carnival parades and drums and songs. It is extremely slow, seeming more like a day in the life of Fletch on vacation. No real mystery or adventure here, nothing Fletch couldn't pack up and leave behind, unlike most of the other Fletch books. Not too much of the classic Fletch dialogue, but there is plenty of portugese without translation and names that are tough to pronounce. Clearly, Gregory MacDonald did his homework for this book, but it I could use a little less description and a little more story. I will, of course, still read the two Fletch books that I have yet to read.