A Flash of Green [Mass Market Paperback]

John D. MacDonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 1984

James Wing told himself he was only trying to help his friend's widow when he warned Kat Hubble that the beautiful bay she and her neighbors had struggled to save was going to be sold to developers. He knew he shouldn't have told her anything. He was a reporter, trained to reveal nothing. But he was falling in love with her. Now the developers have set their sights on Kat Hubble, and they'll do anything, use anyone, to stop her from interfering in their plans . . . .

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

James Wing told himself he was only trying to help his friend's widow when he warned Kat Hubble that the beautiful bay she and her neighbors had struggled to save was going to be sold to developers. He knew he shouldn't have told her anything. He was a reporter, trained to reveal nothing. But he was falling in love with her. Now the developers have set their sights on Kat Hubble, and they'll do anything, use anyone, to stop her from interfering in their plans . . . .

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett Gold Medal (March 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449126927
• ISBN-13: 978-0449126929
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #898,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Fall Down, November 24, 1997

By 

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

This review is from: A Flash of Green (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a strangely muted, yet exquisitely crafted , story from the creator of the Travis McGee detective novels. Local wheeler-dealers in a West Florida town devise a residential development that involves filling in a beautiful bay, to the dismay of the town's conservationists. Jimmy Wing, newspaperman, professes to help both camps, but is really in it only for the chance the view the "mechanism" of the conflict at close quarters. In the end, everyone emerges a loser; and Wing finds he has won a pyrrhic victory over his detachment from humanity. In this book, MacDonald probably brushes uncomfortably close to his real persona.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Color of Money, June 12, 2002

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Flash of Green (Mass Market Paperback)

This is pre-Travis, early MacDonald. Jimmy Wing, a reporter for a small Florida daily has foreknowledge that beautiful Grassy Bay is about to be dredged by developers into a commercial/housing development. It just needs to be passed by the Board of Commissioners. This battle has been fought two years ago and defeated by the altruistic Save Our Bay organization. But this time, it isn't a wicked outside developers; it is a local consortium, and things look bleak for the S.O.B. contingent.

Jimmy spills the beans to young widow Kat Hubble who is all things demure and honorable. Just exactly why Jimmy does this or why he has a serious case of the lusts for this lady is unclear. Jimmy is sucked into spying for the local power structure headed by delightful old rascal, Elmo Bliss. I was so taken with Elmo; I was almost rooting for him in spite of his very non-correct environmental stance. Elmo was one of the few whose motives were pure; he wanted power and went after it. Maybe he went a mite overboard, but you always knew what he was about. The Save Our Bay people were persecuted, blackmailed and put to rout. Those left standing were sadder and wiser.

The story is a slow starter, and creaks here and there, but MacDonald puts in a lot of work on the characterizations, particularly Jimmy. I saw a few stirrings of a pre-Travis McGee in Jimmy particularly in the latter chapters. Motivation was seriously lacking. Much of the time, the characters were not acting in their own best interests, but we are never satisfactorily told why. MacDonald does shade the opposing groups well; they all have their share of vices as well as some virtues. My biggest problem was I could not work up enough enthusiasm to care very much about the outcome. Grade C.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pre-McGee, June 29, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: A Flash of Green (Mass Market Paperback)

John D. MacDonald has always had the incredible knack for putting character development before plot. A FLASH OF GREEN is the precursor to the Travis McGee books, but MacDonald's gift for characters was already shining. Newspaperman Jimmy Wing, on the trail of a story which may ruin a small Florida ecosystem for development (what else is new?) decides to stick around for the ride, to see who's doing what. Chief among the perpetrators is Elmo Bliss--what a great name! And what a great character! I had just as much fun watching him than I did the narrator. Strangely, I felt I knew more about what made him tick, as opposed to Jimmy. (Then again Jimmy is terribly stand-offish). As the plot unwound, I felt that the pacing did, too. But what held this together, as I said, is the characters, and that's a big plus in my book!