Sanibel Flats [Hardcover]

Randy Wayne White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1990

Its cool gulf breezes lured him from a life of danger. Its dark undercurrents threatened to destroy him.After ten years of living life on the edge, it was hard for Doc Ford to get that addiction to danger out of his system. But spending each day watching the sun melt into Dinkins Bay and the moon rise over the mangrove trees, cooking dinner for his beautiful neighbor, and dispensing advice to the locals over a cold beer lulled him into letting his guard down.Then Rafe Hollins appeared.How could he refuse his old friend's request-even if it would put him back on the firing line? Even if it would change forever the life he'd built here on Sanibel Island?

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A major new talent...hits the ground running...a virtually perfect piece of work. He's the best new writer we've encountered since Carl Hiassen. White's stylish narrative never falters. This is a book that's got everything and then some..." --Denver Post

"He describes southwestern Florida so well it's easy to smell the salt tang in the air and feel the cool gulf breeze." --Mansfield News Journal

"Stylish written!" --Kirkus Reviews

"[The] first appearance of intelligent, likable Doc Ford will leave readers hoping to see him again." --Publishers Weekly

"A promising debut from another Floridian who can turn a phrase." --Booklist

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

About the Author

Randy Wayne White is the author of the popular Doc Ford novels and the nonfiction collections Batfishing in the Rainforest, The Sharks of Lake Nicaragua, Last Flight Out, and An American Traveler. A onetime veteran fishing guide, he lives in an old house built on an Indian mound and spends much of his free time windsurfing, playing baseball, and hanging out at Doc Ford's Sanibel Rum Bar and Grille on Sanibel Island, Florida. Reader of over four hundred audiobooks, Dick Hill has won three coveted Audie Awards and been nominated numerous times. He is also the recipient of several AudioFile Earphones Awards. AudioFile includes Dick on their prestigious list of Golden Voices.

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 307 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312039263
• ISBN-13: 978-0312039264
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,305,857 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

64 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First among the best, February 14, 2004

By 

Chris Callahan (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sanibel Flats (Doc Ford Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Assuming others will give you an overview of the story, let me simply state that this is the first of the series, and among the best. (And I've read every one). An excellent place to start, rather than the latest book, Everglades.

So if you've never read any of the Doc Ford series, or you're already a fan of author Randy Wayne White, by all means buy this book! My favorites in the Doc Ford series, are, (drum roll, please):

(5 stars)
Captiva
Twelve Mile Limit
Shark River
The Heat Islands
Ten Thousand Islands
Sanibal Flats (the first in the series)

The following are the 4 stars in the series--great stories, but I wouldn't recommend them as a first read of the author:

Everglades
The Man Who Invented Florida (a bit different from the rest of the series--Doc Ford isn't as prominent in the tale as his uncle, Tucker Gatrell, but this also is the funniest in the Doc Ford series)
North of Havana
The Mangrove Coast

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Randy White Gives Doc Ford A Great Start, December 9, 2001

By 

W. R. Stockstill Jr. ""Bill"" (Marietta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sanibel Flats (Doc Ford Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

My sister got me hooked up on Randy White's Doc Ford novels this summer. I am from Sarasota so it was interesting to read about action and adventure occurring in an area that is close to home. This is the first Doc Ford novel and although I liked it it is not my favorite.

Doc is an ex-NSA officer that has returned home to SW Florida to start a new life. He is a marine biologist (his front while being an NSA operative) who is the owner of the one man operation Sanibel Biological Supply. He lives in an old stilt house on fictional Dinkins Bay that also serves as his lab. Close by, at Dinkins Bay Marina, are his neighbors and friends. His best friend, Tomlinson, who reminds me physically of the character Jeff Bridges played in The Big Lebowski, lives on a sailboat at the marina. The two are opposites that author White has said in an interview represent his own coming to terms with his logical (Ford) and spirital (Tomlinson) sides.

This novel has Ford rescuing a dead highschool friend's small boy from a group of radical terrorists in a Central American country. Ford's NSA past is revisited as he sets off to save the boy with the freespirit "hippy" Tomlinson by his side. This novel has a twist for an ending and like all White's Doc Ford novels gives you a history lesson to boot.

White was a saltwater guide and does a wonderful job of explaining different mysteries the Gulf in that part of Florida holds. He also knows the ins and outs of a marina's micro-community and does an excellent job of describing how it feels to live with a group of boaters on the water. Also, White has done a great deal of research on the Calusa Indians of Florida as well as the ancient peoples of Central and South America.

As I said, this is not my favorite Doc Ford Novel. My favorites were Captiva (dealing with the Net Ban issue) and Heat Islands.
But it doesn't matter which one you start off with, if you like one, you'll like them all.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gone fishin, July 24, 2000

By 

marzipan "panchild" (Greenwich, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanibel Flats (Doc Ford Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm never sure whether I enjoy Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford mysteries because I love Captiva Island, or because they're as good as they seem. I've read all of them, and re-read this one recently. Reading it in a more urban environment than Sanibel or Captiva Island has convinced me it's the latter. His ex CIA agent turned marine biologist detective is a wonderful character, virile, but sweet,too. While world-weary Doc Ford is as laid-back as only too many hours spent looking for fish on Florida's Gulf coast can make one, he's ready for action whenever he's got to get that boat moving!