A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald
Justice and vengeance are served in this mid-1980’s mystery novel featuring Travis McGee. It’s the second MacDonald I’ve read. Neither have overly impressed me. He is considered one of the masters of mystery writing, but I’ve yet to find a masterpiece. I have four more of his books as part of this collection, so maybe one of them will be good.
This story starts with a bang, literally. But then we get fifty or more pages of nothing. Contemplation. Travis McGee living a licentious lifestyle. Pontification about life that in today’s world would be cancelled. The view of women, sex, and relationships is crass, sexist, and to be honest, boring.
The first half of the book is McGee looking for a missing woman. The second half is a plot he comes up with to exact revenge. I agree that MacDonald writes well. He has an almost literary style. But the story dragged. And there were huge blocks of description and philosophizing, and scenes that I struggled to even see their relevance. The view of prostitution was way outdated. Supposedly, these women were happily selling themselves on a pleasure boat. While I appreciate McGee’s walking in the gray areas to solve crimes, I find his morals to be somewhat repugnant.
It’s fortunate I inherited this collection of five novels. If I had paid for this one, I’d have been upset. A fair amount of profanity. Sexual scenes that didn’t advance the story. Minimal violence. I’ll rank this one twelfth. It’s written better than Neon Prey, but the story is way less engaging.
- The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
- Weapons of Remorse by Chevron Ross
- Relentless by Ed Gorman
- Framed by James Scott Bell
- The Big Empty by Robert Crais
- After Her Deceit by Steve Rush
- Water Grave by Mitchell S. Karnes
- The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods
- My Brother’s New Wife by Matt McGregor
- Deadly Silence by Erik Carter
- Neon Prey by John Sandford
- A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald
- Perfect Daughter by Ion Esimai
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