Hunter's Moon (Doc Ford) [Hardcover]

Randy Wayne White (Author)

Book Description

Series: Doc Ford | Publication Date: March 27, 2007

Doc Ford saves a former President of the United States from assassination-and regrets it. Months ago, Kal Wilson's wife was killed in a plane crash. President Wilson is sure it was no accident-and he wants revenge. He needs Doc Ford to spring him loose from the watchful eye of the Secret Service, keep him alive, then get him home. Ford has just been picked for presidential duty- whether he likes it or not.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 14th Doc Ford Florida thriller (after 2006's Dark Light) from bestseller White requires more suspension of disbelief than most readers may be willing to provide. Marine biologist Ford, a shadowy figure with multiple links to the intelligence community, gets an unusual commission from Kal Wilson, a former one-term president who recently lost his wife in a mysterious plane crash. Wilson, who has a terminal illness, asks Ford's help in slipping his protective detail so that the politician can search for those he believes responsible for his wife's death. Implausibly, the psychotic serial killer who's Ford's bête noir, Praxcedes Lourdes, appears to have been involved in the attack on the former first lady, giving the covert op a personal incentive to assist Wilson. The action sequences, especially those involving Wilson, are less than convincing, and the climax is particularly far-fetched. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

White's last entry in his Doc Ford series (Dark Light, was a quasi-historical novel in which his hero, marine biologist and special-ops agent Ford, unraveled a mystery with roots in World War II. This time, though, it's back to the present, as Ford tangles with his nemesis from Tampa Burn (2004), the psychotic pyromaniac Lourdes. There's more than mano a mano going on here, though, as Lourdes is working with a group of Islamic terrorists who have a global agenda. And Ford has a new partner, too: Kal Wilson, a Clintonesque former president of the U.S., now stricken with a fatal illness, who needs Ford's help with a few clandestine items on his to-do-before-I-die list. It's a bit of an outlandish premise, to be sure, but White makes it work, drawing the former prexy into Ford's world as easily and believably as if he were just another hanger-on at Dinkins Bay Marina. There's not much kicking back, Margaritaville-style, on the agenda, however, as the lethal mix of pyro psychos, wacko right-wing Americans, and global terrorists keeps Ford on high-adrenaline full throttle from beginning to end. Yes, we'd like a bit more of the reflective character interplay that usually peppers the action in this series, but White does pure action as well as anybody in the genre, so why not just enjoy the ride? Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1ST edition (March 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399153705
• ISBN-13: 978-0399153709
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Randy Wayne White is the author of sixteen previous Doc Ford novels and four collections of nonfiction. He lives in an old house built on an Indian mound in Pineland, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page turner from a master of the English language, April 13, 2007

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hunter's Moon (Doc Ford) (Hardcover)

This is my first experience with Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford character. White is distinguishable from most mystery and thriller writers by his absolute mastery of the English language. It's rare to be able to describe a thriller as lyrical, but "Hunter's Moon" is. Even the slightest passage has a distinctive style to it and the best of the passages are truly memorable. His descriptions of guiding a canoe through Florida's fog are stunning; droplets of fog literally drip from your cheeks.

Doc Ford has appeared in twelve prior novels, but this is my first contact with him. Interestingly, for a series, White mercifully doesn't engage in flashbacks to prior novels and doesn't require his readers to have a knowledge of earlier works. Bless you, Randy Wayne White, for this small mercy.

Ford, ostensibly a self-employed marine biologist, has a past. It is because of this past that a former US President, Kal Wilson, who is dying, asks his help. There is no need to guess at the possibility of fatal violence in the near future.

Wilson has also enlisted the aid of Ford's eccentric neighbor and friend, Tomlinson, who also has a shadowy past.

Former President Wilson doesn't merely want to get even, he wants revenge.

It's quite an adventure. By sailboat, amphibious airplane, canoe and forms of locomotion, the treo, occasionally assisted by assorted oddballs, make their way across the Carribean into Central America.

The plotting is flawless, though you have to forgive a few episodes that are strained a bit to make the story work. White also plays fast and loose with technology, something that irritates me because my business is technology, but they're not the kinds of things most people will notice.

Ford is the best developed character. The other characters aren't insubstantial, but they aren't fully developed either.

The story itself, propelled by White's exquisite prose, never pauses for breath or falters. The story takes off on page 1 and doesn't finish until page 317 - at which point you wish there were more.

Interestingly enough, there is surprisingly little violent action in the novel. Much of the suspense comes from Ford, Wilson and Tomlinson being both prey and predator through the adventure.

The ending is unexpected and great, though readers who see the United States as the source of all bad things in this world will undobtedly be angered. Fair warning.

Overall, White is worth reading just to see a master of the language at work. For thriller, suspense and mystery fans, there are some great characters and an excellent story.

Jerry

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Doc Ford That We Are Used To, July 24, 2007

By 

J. B. Davis (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunter's Moon (Doc Ford) (Hardcover)

I have read 12 of the 14 books in the series. Obviously, I love Doc Ford. But his character in this book is different. He leaves Dinkins Bay and his lab with not a look back. He does not long for the solitude of his work. He doesn't express any angst about killing.
If you are new to the Doc Ford series, do not make this your first book to read. Try Shark River or Tampa Burn first.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hunter's Moon, September 24, 2007

By 

otherdoc "Sue" (Rising Fawn, GA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hunter's Moon (Doc Ford) (Hardcover)

I have read every one of RWW's novels, and much of his non-fiction. At a booksigning once, someone asked him how he writes so much, and he countered (to that literary audience) with, "how COULDN'T you write if you have it in you?"
He is a certified character with a fascinatiing background. He is among the few writers I watch for new novels from and then read with gusto. He isn't far behind JK Rowling in my need to keep the story going.
I guess it's clear that I am a fan. THIS novel is the best he's produced in a long time, if not ever. He has wonderful character development, and has managed to keep his protagonists fresh. I loved Hunter's Moon.
I would recommend it highly.