Customer Reviews

One Fearful Yellow Eye

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Travis McGee leaves Florida to help a friend in wintry Chicago in this brisk, economic adventure that's no shorter than the other installments but still feels more compact.

The classic MacDonald asides are all here: McGee offers up commentaries on Christmas, modeling, art, homosexuality, toilet paper and sex, among other things.

And there are some really good scenes -- Trav's extremely unsettling visit to the Farley farm, an ominous encounter in a windstorm, a creepy moment in which mysterious figures get the better of McGee (though MacDonald fumbles this by underplaying it afterward), and one seriously wacked-out climax in a retirement community.

This isn't great McGee -- it just doesn't have the complexity, level of menace or vivid characters of yarns like "Bright Orange," "Amber," "Pink" or "Lavender." But if you're looking for a quick MacDonald snack, "Yellow" is where it's at.

Travis McGee, sometimes modern Robin Hood and most-times beach bum, can't resist a pretty face or an old friend. So when an old flame calls and needs some help, McGee quickly leaves balmy Ft. Lauderdale for the colder climes of Chicago in John D. MacDonald's One Fearful Yellow Eye.

Glory Geis is the widow of renowned neurosurgeon, Fortner Geis. When Geis dies after a long illness, Glory discovers that his $600,000 inheritance (much bigger money in the 1960's) has gone missing. It turns out that Dr. Geis liquidated all his assets over the course of the last year of his life. Glory is left without very much money and her stepchildren accuse her of foul play. So Glory begs McGee to find out what happened to the inheritance. Of course, Travis discovers that the good doctor has more than a few skeletons in his closet, and there are a number of suspects.

The plot in this 8th book is a little thin, and I figured out fairly early who the blackmailer was. But I still gave One Fearful Yellow Eye four stars as the writing is sharp and crisp and as good as any previous McGee. Two favorites include:

"Take her home. Boat her, beach her, bake her, brown her, and bunk her. You too are a sucker for busted birds, starving kittens, broody broads."
or
"There was no color in the world. Gray sand, gray water, gray beach, gray sky. I was trapped in one of those arty salon photographs of nature in the raw, the kind retired colonels enter in photography contests."

In terms of philosophizing, this book is MacDonald at his best. Also, while I tend to like McGee better in his native Florida, Chicago is rather a good setting for him.

This is my 8th Travis McGee and I'm a long way from being tired of him. I'm anxious to start number nine-Pale Gray for Guilt.

Like a fine local wine, Travis doesn't travel well. His lack of enthusiasm for the Windy City is boundless, and willy-nilly, this is where he must be to assist his latest lady in distress. The architecture, politics, and citizenry are bad enough, but my God, the weather is freezing!

"One Fearful Yellow Eye" is an intricate tale of "where's the money?". Brilliant, kind, and wealthy neurosurgeon Dr. Fortner Geis had converted all his assets into cash before his death, and left his young wife Glory in a precarious situation. The cash was not to be found and Glory not only faced the prospect of being poor, but heavy suspicion as well.

This is an intricate tale with an excellent whodunit complement. MacDonald is sure enough of his Travis creation by this time to let Trav display a fine self-deprecating sense of humor as well as the usual speed, strength and purity of purpose. The many threads to the story are all kept well in hand and dovetail neatly into a grand finalé. The two stereotyped ungrateful stepchildren turn out to be not so typical after all. The leading ladies have a hard time in this book, emotionally and physically. My only complaint is that widow Glory was a bit much with her oh-so philosophical bravery and fawning adoration of Trav.

This is superior McGee-good pace, characterizations and a very twisty story.

I really enjoy the Travis McGee series and especially like this book. Much as I enjoy reading about his exploits in Florida, the change of scene to Chicago is an interesting change of pace. Perhaps more than average number of twists and turns in this plot, and a little more "cringe factor" from the violence than some of the other McGee books.

As the title of my review indicates, I really like this series as a whole. They're among the books I go back to again and again when I'm restless and want something fun to read. I always learn something, whether it be about how to maintain a houseboat or how to kick someone's hide in a fight. :-)And I have some laughs doing it.

I've been reading the Travis McGee series in order, and this book, 8th in the series, is nowhere near the quality of the preceding books. The plot is okay, not great, it feels like it was pieced together as MacDonald went along. There are many portentous remarks of the 'had I but known' variety, and the McGee/Heidi sexual psychiatric healing scenes are pure undiluted bilge water. Up to now I felt MacDonald painted a McGee who was fairly honest about his (McGee's) sex life, but in this book Travis comes off as a real Gary Stu character. Even his detective work was so so SO easy. Granted, one of the joys in reading these books is that Travis is just that bit more quixotic, more reflective, more sun-soaked than anyone in real life, but in this book Travis is so much more of everything, and it really got my gag reflex working. Now, having said this nasty stuff, this book is not bad enough to put me off McGee for life. I'll go right ahead with the next book and hope Travis regains his form. And if he never does, those first seven books were still worth the price of admission.

This is one of the McGees that I end up not rereading as much, because for me it doesn't hold up quite as well. I realize that in this decade, LSD was a completely different thing than what we know it to be now, but it still throws me off guard; plus I am a little harsher on the perfect Dr. Fort Geis than the book would like me to be. If you're a T. McGee fan, read it and it may hold up better for you, but if you're new to the series, it probably won't make the best starting point.

The eighth installment of the Travis McGee series takes place in Chicago rather than in Florida, and thus most of the usual cast, save for McGee himself, is MIA. It is not a book that would have endeared MacDonald to the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. The author was obviously not very fond of the Chicago, and through McGee makes some fairly cutting comments about the Windy City and its inhabitants.

For those unfamiliar with the series, McGee is a self-styled "salvage" expert. If someone is defrauded and has no legal recourse, McGee will use his considerable talents to recover what has been lost. His fee is fifty percent of the recovery; expenses come off the top.

In these books there is always a fragile woman who has been badly treated, sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally, and often both. In addition to recovering what has been stolen by the bad guys, it will be McGee's job to restore the poor woman to a state of health and physical well-being--unless, of course, she manages to get killed along the way.

In this case, one of these previously broken birds (the book's description, not mine), Glory Doyle, turns to McGee for help a second time. Her husband, a respected Chicago physician, has recently died and Glory discovers that during the last year of her husband's life, someone had managed to bleed him of his entire fortune. McGee comes to Chicago to chase down the money and punish the evil-doers. Along the way, of course, he will have to rescue a beautiful but frigid blonde who has no idea why she hates sex. Can McGee cure the poor woman and turn her into a sexual dynamo while at the same time he deals out justice to the bad guys? Is the Pope Catholic?

Along the way, we also get a heavy dose of McGee's philosophy as he ponders the mysteries of the universe and the failings of his fellow man. He's particularly hard on Chicago legend Hugh Hefner and the Playboy lifestyle.

This was in its day, one of the most popular mystery/suspense series ever written. But sadly it has not held up very well over time. One naturally expects that a book that was originally published in 1966 is going to show its age, but these books now sound positively archaic and re-reading them is almost always disappointing. When I first discovered the paperback reprints of these books back in my youth, I devoured them and couldn't wait to find another. Now, every couple of years or so, I pull one off the shelf, hoping to rediscover some of the magic that first drew me to McGee and his adventures. Unhappily, I haven't found it again in a long time. But that won't stop me from trying again in another couple of years.

McGee and LSD became popular about the same time, but the typical bright-eyed MacDonald sense of humor stops there, for One Fearful Yellow Eye is probably too sad a story for all but the most serious fans of the series.

Fearful Yellow Eye's plot revolves around a certain 600 grand bequeathed to survivors of Dr. Fortner Geis, a generally well-liked and well-respected Chicago doctor. But when the 600 grand does not turn up following the good doctor's death, McGee is hired onto the case.

His investigations lead him to Chicago, Glory Geis, and then the twisted tale of Glory's daughter/love-rival Heidi Geis.

Remarkably, McGee finds himself attracted to the broken-winged Heidi, and ultimately the novel is hers. Because it is she that must get past her family's dark secret, and it is she that comes through at the novel's end as a much stronger character.

There are moments of poignancy in One Fearful Yellow Eye, and McGee's approach to Heidi's disturbing LSD overdose may be worth the price of the ticket alone, but generally I'd have to recommend several other McGee novel's before One Fearful Yellow Eye. Cinnamon Skin, thusfar, is my favorite.

Stacey Cochran
author of CLAWS: A Suspense Novel

This entry of the T. McGee series was not up to plot or craftsmanship found in most of John D. MacDonald's work. To me, it seemed at times to be almost a parody of the usual McGee...too much TALK of broken birds, and just not enough of the rough and tumble action we have come to expect from Ol' Trav. But don't worry, things are back on track in the next one, PALE GRAY FOR GUILT. I've wondered if there wasn't something going on in JDM's personal life to make this entry seem so lacking?

John D. MacDonald was a brilliant, gifted and witty author. He created in the early 1960s a character named Travis McGee, a "salvage expert" who lived on a houseboat (won in a poker game and subsequently named the Busted Flush!) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Over nearly 30 years, MacDonald wrote 21 Travis McGee Mystery novels (typically a murder is involved). One Fearful Yellow Eye was published in 1966 and probably written in the same year, as MacDonald was very industrious in the 60s. The novel takes place in Chicago and its environs as Travis McGee helps out his friend Glory Doyle by investigating the death of her husband, Dr. Fortner Geis. I do not wish to spoil the story by giving any more details except that the ending will stun you! MacDonald was a very gifted observer of people, a commentator on society and a marvelous and captivating storyteller! The Travis McGee Mystery series holds up very well some 40 years later and does not suffer at the hands of time. All of his stories, particulary this novel, (my favorite of all 21 McGees!) is a riveting page turner, an immensely satisfying reading experience. I have read it numerous times and it never fails to awe, amaze, and engross me! MacDonald is skilled at getting into the minds of the characters and he views society and individuals through the eyes of Travis McGee with wisdom and wit that leaves me breathless for lack of a better way to describe it! I highly recommend this novel and all the other 20 McGee novels as well as MacDonald's other mysteries! Here are some links to other MacDonald works. Other favorites are Bright Orange for the Shroud and The Dreadful Lemon Sky (I have a review of it). The first novel was The Deep Blue Good-by. The last novel was Lonely Silver Rain (Travis McGee Series) All the McGee novels contain a color in their title. MacDonald passed away in 1986. He was a huge influence on many writers such as Sue Grafton and Dean Koontz just to name two.