Customer Reviews

Deep Blue Goodbye (Crime Masterworks 04)

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This was the first in the beloved Travis McGee series. Buy Deep Blue Goodbye. Then buy Nightmare in Pink. Now you are on your way to reading one of the best book series ever written. John D. Macdonald is my favorite fiction author for many reasons: his social commentary, characters, storylines, ...
Deep Blue Goodbye gives much, and leaves you wanting more. Thank goodness there are so many good works by this author.
But don't take my word for it. Read the entire T. McGee series!

Got started with the Travis McGee series 20 years ago. Didn't read them in order, but suggest others do. My favorite is The Green Ripper, and thought the only one a little lacking was Freefall in Crimson. But just want to say, when you finish all the McGees, go immediately to his other novels and short stories. Some are clunkers-- Man of Affairs, Border Island-- but some are unbelievably great novels of the crime/"pulp fiction" genre. The Empty Trap; April Evil; On the Run; The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything; Linda (found in Border Town Girl), and on and on and on. Also short stories-- Good Old Stuff, More Good Old Stuff (Seven not as good) and the sci-fi-- yes, that's right-- sci-fi stories from very early in his career are in a collection, too. They're hit and miss, but mostly hit. For me, MacDonald and Steinbeck capture so much about this country.

"Home is the `Busted Flush,' 52-foot barge-type houseboat, Slip F-18, Bahia Mar,
Lauderdale."

Is there any address in American literature so readily identified? Probably not.
It's the home of Travis McGee, "knight in tarnished armor," and central character of the
over-20 volumed series by John D. MacDonald.

With quite a following of readers around the world (my first McGee was while
vacationing in Torremolinas years ago and needing something to read while soaking up the

Spanish sunshine and absorbing the sangria deliciosa!), MacDonald's hero, along with his
sometimes bizarre assortment of friends, enemies, and hangers-on, goes from one adventure
to another. Each of the McGee books contains a color in the title, easily recognizable. And
it's not purple prose either! MacDonald, a best-selling novelist for years, has more than
just a storyline to carry his books.
Certainly, McGee is his principal concern. He's "retired" most of the time--he
only goes back to work when he sees he's running out of money. He'd rather stay aboard
his houseboat and entertain his friends that work. He claims he's taking his retirement one
day at a time!

"The Deep Blue Good-by" is the first in this series, published in 1964. It is amazing,
too, that in reading it here in the year 2000, the book still stands as relevant now as it was
then. McGee, as usual, finds himself befriending and then helping out Cathy Kerr, who
has come to him in desperation. Her misfortune has been to meet up with Junior Allen, "a
smiling, freckle-face stranger" with depravity on his mind and a more odious person you
don't want to meet. There is also something about missing inheritance. McGee is unable
to resist and from the moment he accepts the challenge, the reader is glued to the pages.

MacDonald's style is terse (some would say Hemingwayesque--one of MacDonald's favorite
writes, incidentally) and moves rapidly, a pace easy to keep up with but one that if you
blink, you might miss something. But who wants to blink when MacDonald is
on a McGee crusade! The author's knack for piercing characterization, his ability to
capture the landscape and atmosphere of "Lauderdamndale," and his penchant for a good
story make this first episode one not to be missed. True, the McGee books ordinarily don't
have to be read in sequence, it's still a good idea. Over the course of the series, naturally,
an affinity toward complete understanding of Travis, and his good friend Meyer, keeps
readers truly involved.

"The Deep Blue Good-by" is a "hello" to a great series!

My 2008 New Year's resolution (I made only one) was to read MacDonald's Travis McGee series for the first time, and in order. So I just finished this first title and can hardly wait to get to the next book. Travis McGee is somewhere between Parker's Spenser and Burke's Robicheaux, philosophically speaking. McGee is as much a knight-errant as Spenser but has the half-cynical, half-hopeful view of the human race as Robicheaux. For years I was told that the McGee books were hopelessly chauvinistic, politically incorrect to the nth degree. I was lied to. If anything, given that the book was first published in 1964, McGee's world view is more advanced than many of today's men AND women. And the frank (but never graphic) sexual context has a rare honesty and respect for both sexes that is too often missing in today's fiction. That aside, the storyline is riveting without being sensationlist. The characters are deftly drawn, and the pacing is swift without leaving anything necessary unsaid. This book is both classic and a keeper, it invites the viewer to re-read for those moments when McGee steps back from the action to talk intelligently but not clinically about his world. Highly recommended.

and continue digging in the gold mine created by one of America's finest authors, who inspired and taught generations of writers how it was done. As you read, you will find an accurate assesment of America at a certain time and truths that have not aged. And you will enjoy.

John D. MacDonald's protagonist Travis McGee describes himself as a "salvage Consultant". He recovers misappropriated or stolen items from various miscreants. He lives a quite casual lifestyle on board his house boat, the Busted Flush, docked in Ft. Lauderdale. Like Nero Wolfe, he works only when his bank account runs down. Unlike Wolfe, McGee is active, and in good physical condition. He views himself as a romantic who is happy to jump in and help a pretty lady recover what was inappropriately taken from her, and help her through her problems. He doesn't hesitate to cook and clean for a lady if she needs the help.

In spite of his strong desire to right wrongs and his frequent philosophical observations, many readers will not look upon Travis as a deserving hero. He charges his, generally attractive, female clients fifty percent of what he recovers, i.e., considerably more than would a malpractice or wrongful death attorney. He has no hesitation in using intimidation, or even torture, to get the information he wants, or planning for the death of his opponents. He is relatively promiscuous, generally not hesitating to engage in one night stands, or have sex with a variety of women in the course of a few days. These encounters are often portrayed as almost medicinal for his bedmates. For those who admire a hard-boiled detective, with questionable morals, who doesn't hesitate to do whatever is needed to set thing right and get the truly evil villain, Travis McGee is the perfect hero. For others he is clearly an antihero. The story is, as much if not more, about McGee's character, than the unfolding of the plot. McGee's approach to problems reveals an unflinching man of action rather than a strategist, whose lack of detailed planning often gets him into trouble.

Although this book was written in 1964, about forty-five years before this review, the moral questions of if and when torture and intimidation might be acceptable are debated in earnest. However, for Travis McGee there is no debate, if it helps him get the 'bad guy' its okay.

MacDonald usually writes in short direct sentences with the occasional multiline one. His characters tend more to caricature than fully dimensioned individuals. His plot here is more action than detection, and its precedes in a straight forward manner with the occasional philosophical, social, or sexual aside.

The author has a marvelous way with a phrase. His writing is often pithy, humorous, insightful, and always well-constructed. He doesn't `numb down' his vocabulary as many popular writers do, and even successfully educated college graduates will occasionally turn to their dictionaries.

MacDonald has a strong fan base, and its clear that if hard-boiled characters are your interest McGee is one of the best. I usually lean more to clever detection than antiheros, so I was surprised to find this book kept my interest throughout. This is a quick, easy, and well-written novel that draws you in from its first sentence, "It was to have been a quiet evening at home."

Why do I read such pulp fiction page-turners? I don't usually, only MacDonald, and I hear Dean Koontz reads him too - that is enough for me. Actually I think he should be studied for writing style in literature classes. This is another good one with damsels in distress and McGee to the rescue, and philosopher MacDonald expounding on all kinds of things you would not expect to be in pulp fiction. Very enjoyable and I even learned a few new things. I agree with Koontz, well worth reading.

The conventional wisdom has it that John D. MacDonald deserves high marks for the way in which women characters are treated in the Travis McGee series. I must take issue with that particular idea. It's not difficult to detect a certain hostility to women running through the series. This hostility reaches its peak in The Long Lavender Look (entry #12) where the female characters are all dumb bunnies, hookers or psychopaths. In The Deep Blue Good-by, Travis comes to the aid of two women who have been victimized by the same malevolent man, Junior Allen. Allen had insinuated himself into the lives of these two ladies by using sex as a means of controlling them. In both cases, the relationship starts off as forcible rape (I'm not making this up) and rapidly proceeds to involve frequent, rough, consensual sex which lulls the women into some sort of docile funk rendering them helpless and easy to take advantage of.
Because we all know that women are children whose ability to reason is extremely tenuous. All it takes is a steady dose of sex, the rougher the better, to turn them into unthinking zombies. To state the obvious, that attitude is offensively sexist even by the standards of 1964.

McGee's moral code sets him apart from the conventional protagonist inhabiting similar works of fiction. We learn in The Deep Blue Good-by he has no problem whatsoever in applying torture to someone just to get information the person on the receiving end of the torture may or may not have. This tendency toward brutality recurs again and again throughout the entire 21 book series, though at times it may be tempered. In fact, in The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (entry #10), Travis attempts to save the life of a craven murderer only to be prevented from doing so by a police officer who has seemingly temporarily taken on McGee's God like role.

The Deep Blue Good-by introduces Travis McGee along with many of the series' familiar trademarks. The Busted Flush, Miss Agnes, The Alabama Tiger, etc. (Though friend, neighbor and sometimes partner Meyer is nowhere to be found.) Another staple of the Travis McGee series introduced in The Deep Blue Good-by is McGee's frequent musings on a host of topics from the mundane to the most profound. Many readers love this aspect of the series and claim it's the main reason they read the books. Others find it tiresome and perceive it as too much self-indulgence on John D. MacDonald's part. I guess it comes down to a matter of personal taste.

Once you get past the misogyny inherent in the premise and the disquieting brutality displayed by the protagonist, The Deep Blue Good-by is a pretty good crime/action-adventure novel. The narrative flows very smoothly and the ending is exciting and unexpected. All in all, a successful start to a long running series which has brought enjoyment to millions.

The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald

Travis McGee is a beach bum with a talent for finding wounded birds and murderous mayhem. A charming ex-con tramautizing McGee's neighborhood discovers that only one good man is needed to stand in his way. McGee involves himself in other peoples business and collects his lumps.

Over the years I have read as many of the John D. MacDonald Travis McGee novels as I have been able to acquire. His stories are classic, hero with a heart, diamond in the rough, private eye stories that I grew up loving. In spite of my overwhelming love of fantasy and scifi, I always made time to read the latest Travis McGee tale.

The stories are dated, the scenes are changed, the environment and mores are dramatically altered and yet the story still entertains. Timeless mysteries with an admirable protagonist.

I highly recommend it.