Customer Reviews

The Dreadful Lemon Sky

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

 

 

"Dreadful Lemon Sky," MacDonald's 13th in the Travis McGee series, is vintage McGee. I would put it right up there with the best of them, "Green Ripper" and "Bright Orange Shroud." It boggles my mind that MacDonald could write the abominable loser "Turquoise Lament" in 1973, and turn around and write this sparkling gem in 1974.

Carrie, a blast from the past, pays McGee a surprise visit aboard the Busted Flush with a suitcase full of suspicious money. She asks him to keep it safe for her, keep a $10,000 "fee," and if she does not return for it in two weeks, send it to her sister. Two weeks later and no Carrie; McGee goes out to earn his fee. Carrie has died in a car "accident." McGee mounts his white horse and vows vengeance for the lady. He finds drugs, danger, more action than even he bargained for, and meets a load of fascinating (if not righteous) characters. He discovers an all too happy singles only apartment complex apparently fueled by marijuana and presided over by a Big Daddy who is the benevolent landlord. A mysterious newly widowed Cindy Birdsong plays his Bond girl role, if somewhat diffidently. The locale is all Florida, purely Florida.

"Dreadful Lemon Sky" is superbly plotted with a surprising number of twists and turns for a MacDonald book. The character vignettes are sharp and right on the money. This is a Travis McGee not to be missed.

This happened to be the first novel of the Travis McGee series I read, back in the 80's, and I was instantly hooked. I grew up in Florida, and McDonald, as every reader familiar with Florida notices, knew the state intimately and paints that strange place with a master's touch. Travis McGee is probably the most perfectly realized character in series fiction, but what really grabbed me about this novel was the ultra-frightening villain. In fact, I think McDonald's greatest talent was the invention and development of his horrifying bad guys.

This was not one of the best McGee novels but it's still a good one. McGee goes off to investigate the death of a friend. The plot isn't really tied up in this novel but the strength of a MacDonald novel isn't always the plot but the writing, the characters, the flavor of Florida. This is full of McGee's and Meyer's insights into the human condition, which are always interesting to read. One of the bad guys comes to a particularly bad end. It's a unique and very uncomfortable way to die.
Not a five star novel but four stars isn't bad,

Travis McGee is visited late one night by a girl he knew years ago. She appears concerned for here safety, not allowing McGee to turn any lights on and continually checking over her shoulder as if someone might be following her. It turns out she is carrying a large sum of money that she asks McGee to hide for her. She adds to the intrigue by instructing him that should anything happen to her, he was to get in touch with her sister and give the money to her.

Inevitably she is killed a week later prompting McGee to take The Busted Flush and his neighbour and regular party fiend, Meyer south to Bayside to try to find out what happened to her.

What he and Meyer stumble into is an amateur marijuana smuggling racket that is starting to get out of hand. While McGee is stirring the hornets nest bodies begin to pile up at an alarming rate. He plays the avenging white knight to perfection here without becoming overly sentimental or judgemental; he simply does what he has to do, taking his bruises in the process.

The inclusion of his fellow Lauderdale resident and party buddy on this particular caper adds a nice balance to Travis' usual introspection. They each bounce their deep philosophies off the other keeping both each other and us amused. A fast moving Travis McGee is a good Travis McGee and this one certainly zips by with alacrity.

The adventures of Travis McGee are always fun to read. I love how Mac Donald ties in the value of fla real estate & econ with this series. The story is a very vintage tale of drug dealing in fla. I could not put it down until it was finished. All the characters are splendid from the prettiest & nicest to the worst villian.

Bayside, Florida has more than its share of intrigue percolating under the surface. Travis McGee finds himself irresistably drawn there when the "accidental" death of a female acquaintance occurs not long after she visits Lauderdale in the dead of night to give him more than $100,000 in cash to hold for safe keeping. Since the newly deceased woman worked as a secretary and made only $174 per week after taxes, suspicions are strong that the money Travis is holding may have been illegally obtained.

Once McGee, accompanied by friend Meyer, arrives in Bayside aboard the Busted Flush, he discovers a community where criminal activity abounds. From the smuggling and distribution of Jamaican marijuana all the way to cold blooded murder, all too many of Bayside's citizenry have something illicit to hide.

The Dreadful Lemon Sky is a fast, easy read with plenty of action. There are a number of twists to the storyline and Travis is very nearly killed on more than one occasion. A well written, straightforward mystery that, quality wise, ranks within the middle range of all the Travis McGee books. Good, not great.

Like all of John D's Travis books, I would give them 5 stars! Had read then all years ago and have been buying them lately for my husband. He has enjoyed every one he has read - and, thats just about all of them! This review goes for all the McGee books I have purchased.

This was supposed to be one of the best of the series. I saw it listed on some mystery sites as a must read for this genre.

I liked it generally speaking and gave it an OK rating. It isn't a classic by any means but it has a good story, with good twists, believable characters, some action, good detective work. I dont' care for the authors frequent editorializing on issues that he deemed imporatant, but then again quite a few authors do this so I just accept it as their "thing".

In all I found that it was a good, cheap, PI novel. That's what the guy wrote. Readable and I would recommend it if you want a quick, throwaway read.

My first book by John MacDonald, this one "the Dreadful Lemon Sky" is listed as one of America's Best Detective stories.

Travis McGee is a very tough man, with his own moral code. His world is a seamy one, filled with greedy, shallow people having low expectations of themselves in almost every sense you can think of - except for the lethal ones, who are caricatures of slimy vanity. Casual sex is typical and nonchalant in his world - every attractive woman is somebody's potential bed partner. Thankfully, not too many details are given. McGee's best friend (Meyer) is the philosopher/poet type, which says yet something else about McGee, contributing to his interesting descriptions of landscapes and illustrations of the human condition.

I found Mr. MacDonald's story with its multiple violent arms to be depressing with nothing but McGee's friendship with Meyer to be uplifting. Not my cup of tea.