The Maya Temple by Dorothy Daniels

Warner Paperback Library 1972

Cover art: Jack Thurston

Dorothy Daniels was a very prolific US author of Nurse Romance and Gothic novels. She was born in 1907 and “presumably” died in 2001. Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that but that’s how they have her death listed on the Bowling Green website which has all of her original papers. She was married to pulp author Norman Daniels. Before she started writing herself she would help Norman by editing and typing. Seeing how it was done she gave it a shot herself and started getting her stories published. She had success with nurse romance novels but as that faded in popularity she ventured into the new and exciting gothic genre and blew up. With her success the script was flipped and she was now the household head writer and Norman would help her with editing and typing. She was one of the giants of the 50s-70s gothic romance explosion.

The basic premise: Archeologist Gay Quillan travels to the Lacandon Jungles of Chiapas Mexico to find her missing archeologist father. There she meets her dad’s boss, rival, secret girlfriend and a cast of other characters that may or may not have had something to do with dad’s disappearance.

A gothic mystery in the jungles of Mexico with Mayan sacrificial temples and a lake god named Chac Mol. Yes please. Dorothy Daniels delivers an interesting mystery with swift pacing, vivid characters, exotic setting, dreadful ambiance, folklore and archeological accuracy. Or at least she’s good enough at making it up to make it sound good.

Gay is a strong female lead. She is brave but not a fool. Sure, sometimes she needs some help but don’t we all. She is an archeologist, so she knows some things, but this part of the world was her father’s interest, so we do get exposition of the locals explaining to her the legends of the area. There is a lake outside of the village. In the middle of that lake is an island and on the island is an ancient Mayan temple constructed of stone with a sacrificial altar at the top. In days of old the Lacondones tribe would sacrifice people to the lake god Chac Mol.

All the Lacondones people avoid the island and even though he was warned not to go over there, Gay’s father was crawling all over it. The story has a pulpy weird menace vibe. The natives say Chac Mol has disposed of her father for intrusion into the forbidden. At times the mystery creeps into the seemingly supernatural. And of course we have the human suspects. Constantly guiding Gay toward one path or another. Some shadier than others. Some a little too friendly. I appreciated that we get about five human suspects and the legend.

Someone keeps leaving Gay little clues that dad is still alive, like a matchbook from Beirut and his still warm pipe. Is he leaving these things? Why doesn’t he make contact? Is it a trap? Everything that happens in this book is mysterious. One night at a dinner party at Don Ricardos house she is drugged. She makes it home but wakes up chained to the sacrificial altar. She screams and a diver from Mexico City who Don Ricardo has hired to search the lake for her father, hears her screams and rescues her. She thinks he’s hot, but it was pretty convenient that this handsome stranger showed up at just the right time. Lots of stuff like this to where you don’t know who’s helping and who’s hindering. Paranoia vibes galore.

This thing is on the gothic romance trope track and it’s making all the stops. Mysterious handsome stranger. Red herrings. At one point she is drugged again but this time with psychedelic shrooms and there is a hilarious CHAPTER of her having a Hunter S Thomspon-esque manic trip where stuff like the bed tries to eat her and her shoes are bigger than she is. It’s so over the top. I was dying. I’d readily guess that Dorothy Daniels never actually ate shrooms herself but read a sensational article about it in Readers Digest.

Classic mystery with a clear-cut cast of characters, shade and motive. I loved the exotic setting backdrop. Isolation. Stranger in a strange land. Mayan history. I didn’t know the baddies until the final reveal. This thing was so much fun, enjoyable and simple. The bad guys go to prison, good guys get love and marriage. The end.

Hunger by William R Dantz

Tor Books 1992

William R Dantz is one of the pseudonyms of Rodman Philbrick who was born in 1951 and is still swimming the waters. He won the Shamus award for best original P.I. paperback in 1994 for his book Brothers and Sinners. He has written many young adult books most notably Freak the Mighty which was made into a movie titled simply The Mighty in 1998. There is an adorable video on Youtube where two children interview him about his children’s books where he answers questions like he’s talking to adults. His answers and insights are really interesting, and I hope it inspires the little ones. It’s cute.

Basic premise: Sealife Research Institute have been genetically engineering mako sharks to make them smarter and then training them to attack enemy divers and protect underwater missile silos for the government. The sharks escape their lagoon into the open ocean. A couple who run a diving tour business make it their mission to put an end to these sharks.

This is a 348 page book about a group of killer sharks and by page 7 they have already escaped their lagoon prison. Not. A. Bad. Start.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t go right into the bloodshed but eases us into the water with a little character building and backstory. Our heroes are Sally and Tom. They are a married couple who have a boat named Wild Child and a charter business of taking land lubbers out to scuba dive around the reefs of the Florida Keys. Tom is an amateur writer of reef life. Sally is an amateur marine biologist who basically inherited two dolphins that were once owned by the dastardly Sealife Research Institute. The dolphins are named Louis and Clark. They were obviously abused and have issues, but Sally is working on it.

Our antagonist is the diabolically determined Dr Speke. He is thin and tall with a wispy ponytail. I hate him already. He doesn’t care about anything but getting his precious sharks back in the lagoon and keeping his cushy government contract. Oh, and getting in his young female assistant’s pants. Both her and another employee have a half-conscious. They know some of this isn’t exactly cool, but they also know when it’s gone too far. There is also the wet brain alcoholic biogenetics engineer who thinks everything they’re doing is wrong, but he’s messed up his life so bad with drinking that there isn’t any other place for him to go.

The sharks are makos even though I’m pretty sure that’s a great white on the cover. They’re also not the size of a football field. There are six of them and they are all connected to each other. They reminded me of the Borg from Star Trek Next Generation. Like if one feels pain, they all do. There is a reason but it’s a spoiler, so I’ll leave it out. They have shark thoughts, logically work out problems and ponder.

The kills are few and far between. Descriptions of basic functions. There’s a lot of padding in this which is paradigm for this era of horror so we’ll cut ‘em some slack. There is even one part where a character keeps dragging their feet about showing Sally and Tom a diver’s picture of the sharks and Sally is like, “come on already!” And that’s how I felt a lot during this.

The sharks kill some divers, some fishermen, a hammerhead. There is an AWESOME scene where one of the shark straight shoots out of the water, and while flying over the boat, gobbles up a fisherman. When the attacks happen they’re good they just needed a whole lot more. One diver is so scared that his “anus contracts to the size of a pen point.”

There is some Jaws stuff but what are you going to do, it’s a book about killer sharks along the coast.

There is no way that the movie Deep Blue Sea wasn’t inspired by this book.

This was just ok. If they had trimmed the fat it could have been really fun. Also, it does take itself a little too seriously. Some good. Like they have responsible real world shark facts like most sharks don’t eat people and the ocean needs them. At the same time, it’s a shark book, schlock it up! The showcase showdown was not what I expected so that was a pleasant surprise.

Mako shark fact: There have only been ten attacks on humans between 1980 and 2024.

Shout out to Bryan from Bad Taste Books for sending me the book.

This book is available for free on archive.org

One Man’s Treasure by Terrance Layhew

Self-published 2024

Cover art: Victor Maristane

Terrance Layhew is a fellow YouTube personality who hosts a show called Suit Up! wherein he interviews guests from the world of the written word to talk books, writing, and everything that inspires them all while dressed to impress. To be fair though, I think Terrance dresses like that every day. He has published three books so far. Two romance novels; Reason and Romance, Prose and Procrastination and this here adventure novel, One Man’s Treasure.

Basic premise: Two brothers acquire a treasure map dating back to 1670 won in a poker game. They venture off to the Caribbean to determine if this treasure really exists. Along the way they have feisty romantic entanglements with ladies, storms in the jungle that almost drown them, mental chess games with adversarial peers, sword fights and a showdown with pirates.

The story is alternately told through the perspectives of both brothers, Sam and Dix. Sam is the younger. He’s an engineer. Shy. Reserved. Unsure of himself. Mechanically inclined. And he’s asking the love of his life Amy to marry him. He is intrigued with the map and is the spark that gets the adventure going. His older brother Dix is a macho, shark of an attorney who would have a gambling problem if he didn’t win so much and doesn’t always put others feelings before his own. He’s also aces with a rapier. The chapters alternate perspective with each brother’s narrative. I’m kind of daft so I was a little confused until like the fifth chapter and then I was like, oh duh. Which is really embarrassing because Layhew literally heads each chapter with who the narrator is.

We get an excellent historical background on the treasure and the pirate Killian Jack, who once owned it.

Sam’s fiancée Amy joins the brothers on the trip. She is levelheaded, intelligent and often the voice of reason. Also, we have Mallory, a love scorn romantic victim of Dix’s conquests. She’s a sympathetic character who has her own moments of strength buried beneath her vulnerability. At times a damsel in distress but I get the impression Layhew holds women in very high regard so it’s never insulting. And to be fair at one point Sam is the damsel in distress but of his own witless doing.

The adventure is very classic pulp fiction style. At first, I questioned the decision to make the two protagonists high class professionals. But then I realized a lot of classic pulp heroes were exactly that. The later era working class hero that I’m used to, came in when Men’s Adventure took the place of adventure pulps.

I appreciated that Layhew included the things he obviously loves; James Bond, Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone. All things classy. Tuxedos and high stakes poker games. Fencing; a gentlemen’s sport of violence. We’re on yachts. We’re in wealthy lawyers’ skyscraper office buildings. Romance and not just the kind between two human beings. The settings are romantic, the adventure is romantic, the style is romantic. Dig up Alan Ladd and William Bendix and put them in some tuxedos, I have a movie for them to star in.

I really enjoyed the excitement-build-up scenes on the yacht. Layhew’s strongest ability is dialogue, and it keeps accelerating in quality as the plot moves forward. But he also knows how to add a good fight scene and macho attitude when the story warrants it. At one point a character’s face is described as “very punchable” which I absolutely enjoyed because I say stuff like that all the time.

When the pirates make an appearance, we meet Captain Marks who I would imagine was inspired by the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride though he is described as looking like Errol Flynn. A fair and somewhat good-natured Wesley only in the pirate business for the adventure and the money. He was definitely the right highlight needed for the climax of the book.

Overall, this is an adventure novel with moments of light-hearted quips in the middle of the action and a touch of romance. It reminded me of movies like Brendan Frasier’s Mummy or Journey to the Center of the Earth. Maybe even an atmosphere from a 1940s adventure movie. There is nothing crude and the only modern thing in this book is some technology. There is danger and excitement but it’s also fun and has the feel of an exciting vacation mis-adventure.

Running Gun by Robert MacLeod

Fawcett Gold Medal 1969

Robert MacLeod is one of the pseudonyms of Scottish author Bill Knox who was born in 1928 in Glasgow and died in 1999. Knox was a crime reporter who had his own 15-minute news show called Crimedesk but mostly he just cranked out crime novels. His longest running series was Thane and Moss which ran from 1959 to 1999 and had 25 entries.

Basic premise: Working man Joe Dyer leaves his claim to head back to Arizona to meet up with his business partner. On the way he stops at Spanish Wells New Mexico for the night. It’s the town’s 50th anniversary and one of the events is a beard growing contest. Joe gets attacked by two drunk cowboys because he is without beard. He fights back and gets kicked out of town. He comes upon a dwindling ranch and gets invited to stay for the night by Mexican ranch hand Santos. It turns out the two drunk cowboys live there. In the middle of the night there is a shot. One of them is dead, Joe is the main suspect, and he hits the road on the run from the law.

I really liked Joe’s temperament. He’s a serious sort of guy. Has a bit of a temper. He’s honest but also aware of the world he’s living in, so he does what he has to to survive. Like at first he stays right there and is willing to talk to the sheriff. While doing so the remaining of the drunk cowboy duo takes a shot at Joe and he’s forced to shoot back. From there he sees the game is fixed and the sheriff might be shady himself. His only course of action is to find Santos, who has run off to Mexico, so he can clear his name with the higher ups.

This is a great adventure mystery novel with an old West setting. It’s incredibly exciting as Joe tracks Santos to El Paso, Chihuahua, Cuidado and into the barren wild desert. There are historical accuracies that guide the plot including run ins with Pancho Villa’s army. On a train South they are overtaken by the militia who executes a slaughter of the foreign passengers. Joe of course survives or it would be a really short book and is now accompanied by a fresh widow named Ruth. Ruth was heading down to her family’s mine that she previously had to abandon because of Pancho Villa. Joe is still chasing down Santos so they are both headed the same way.

A romance slowly blooms between the two as they survive obstacle after obstacle. This thing cruises and whether they are fighting off bandits, surviving inhospitable desert terrain, mentally piecing together the initial murder mystery, hunting down Santos, giving Mexican history lessons or getting friendly, it is all engaging, well thought out and written wonderfully. On page 50 I was like, I can’t believe how much has happened already and it wasn’t clunky, forced or awkward.

Both main characters, Joe and Ruth are real folks with imperfections that you can sympathize and empathize with. The Ruth character has this great way of zooming out and seeing the bigger picture whereas Joe sees what’s right in front of him. It makes for an interesting dynamic in their conversations. This book is political. But not one sided with an infallible character. Valid points are stated and then something will happen to take it into a grey area. Ruth is an American who was basically run out of Mexico but gives speeches on how she understands why people are upset and do the things they do. She gives a wonderful speech on the history of Mexico and what led to Pacho Villa and the people who followed him. The author definitely had an affinity for Mexico. None of the Mexican characters are cartoonish or offensive.

Even though this is totally a Western, I feel like if you enjoy mysteries, historical fiction, adventure or romance you would love this. At times it felt like Amazon Queen or Romancing the Stone without the arguing and substitute the jungle for untamed Mexico.

Stir of Echoes: Book versus Movie

The book was originally published in 1958. Written by one of my faves, Richard Matheson. Among many others he was responsible for I am Legend, The Twilight Zone episode with capt Kirk Nightmare at 20,000 feet, Little Girl Lost (which if you haven’t seen it, it’s the plot for Poltergeist.) Shrinking Man, Hell House, What Dreams May Come, Trilogy of Terror, and the teleplay for Kolchak the Night Stalker. What a resume!

The movie came out in 1999. Screenplay by David Koepp who also wrote the screenplays for Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Mission Impossible, Spiderman and others.

I read a 2000s edition with a boring cover so when we’re talking about the book we’re going to use the Hector Garrido painted 1969 Avon edition.

Basic plot

A family of three- Husband, Wife, toddler son- move into a rental house. The parents along with the wife’s sibling go over to the neighbor’s house for a little party. The wife’s brother (book)/ sister (movie) hypnotizes the husband. While under hypnosis there is a suggestion that his mind will be open to everything. He comes out of it. Jokes are made. They go home. He’s feeling funny. Goes to bed. Nightmare. Wakes up in the middle of the night, goes out into the living room and sees a female apparition standing in his living room. Along with this vision he also has psychic feelings and visions of friends and family. He spends the rest of the story trying to solve the mystery of who this ghostly woman is and what the hell is going on with his mind.

Time and Location.

The book: It’s the end of the 50’s. We are in Southern California. It’s sunny and bright and I imagine the neighborhood looks like the Edward Scissorhands neighborhood. Easter egg-colored houses with perfectly manicured lawns.

The movie: It’s the end of the 90’s. We are in Chicago. It’s a downtown area where the houses are all bunched in and probably built in the 1920’s. It’s summertime so we have block parties but most of the action takes place at night avoiding that pesky sun atmosphere.

The movie wins this one hand down. How are you going to have a ghost story with fresh cut grass ambiance? I want musty smelly basements, plaster walls, and old creaky floors. To be fair, around the time of the novel I imagine California and Hollywood in particular, was a pretty popular interest in middle America. It was new and exciting. Around ’99 Hollywood idolization is played out. People want to see stories they relate to and most of the country is BACK EAST.

The two Toms.

In the book we have Tom Wallace. All American guy, all American name. It doesn’t give us his background. He’s the everyman. He works at THE PLANT down the street. He’s a good-natured fella with a lot of patience. He’s cracking but gently. If you bumped into him in the street you’d probably think, “hmm that Tom Wallace guy seems like he might be having some troubles.”

In the movie we have Tom Witzky. I’m guessing a Polish lineage here. Urban Chicago beer drinking working class guy who fixes your phone lines. Rock n’ Roll guitar player who used to play in bands but now that he’s a little older and has a wife and kid he pouts that his life sucks and he’s never done anything. He completely loses his shit after being hypnotized. If you bumped into movie Tom in the street you’d probably think, “Jesus, what the fuck is that guy’s problem?”

Though I think Kevin Bacon is great in the movie, the book Tom is just a more likeable character. Book Tom cares about his wife and how she feels. Movie Tom gives little effort to his wife’s feelings and is self-centered.

The neighbors

The book neighbors have lots of personality. They are major players in the story right off the bat and make several significant appearances in the story that lead you to believe they have something to do with the ghost mystery. Every time they appear, and Tom has an interaction with them it intensifies the suspense. Layers are peeled.

The movie neighbors are bit players. They appear every once in a while and do and say everyday things. The suspense in the movie leans more toward who the ghost is or what she wants. But it never ventures out into the real-world suspects until the reveal at the end.

The ghost.

The book ghost appears but a couple times. It’s more the idea of her that gives you the creeps. She is described in an appropriately eerie way but it’s subtle. It gives you a taste and lets your mind fill in the rest.

The movie ghost is there. You can see her and doesn’t leave much to be imagined. It will still creep you the hell out, but I think it stays right there in the moment.

Once again, I enjoyed the book better in this aspect. I’ve always been a fan of more subtle horror than blatant gore. Though I did like that the ghost was more at the forefront of the story in the movie. There is more depth to the plot in the novel. Many paths to explore. The movie says, here is a ghost story.

The mystery.

In the book after he gets hypnotized, the psychic powers are at the forefront of the plot. It’s not just a ghost he is seeing but now he can read thoughts, has premonitions, he can feel the horror of the traumatic experience through an object that was at the scene. So not only do we have the mystery of who the ghost was but he’s questioning his sanity. Is he really going mad or is this stuff happening?

In the movie the same things happen but it’s on the back burner. The psychic visions have everything to do with the ghost mystery. He almost doesn’t question what he’s experiencing because his son sees the ghost too. In fact, his son is talking to someone who isn’t there right at the beginning of the movie. In the book it’s only briefly mentioned toward the end that the son might have the same psychic abilities as the dad.

The mystery is played out in different ways in the book and the movie. Both are satisfying. You don’t see them coming, especially in the book. Unfortunately, this move on the part of the screenwriters for the psychic kid screwed them as in the same year the mega hit, The Sixth Sense came out.

Final thoughts.

Both are great. This isn’t a case of the book completely blowing the movie out of the water. There isn’t a clear winner here. It’s sort of like the original Blob movie versus the 80’s remake. Both are perfect for their era. That’s what this was. I do wish the book wasn’t set in Southern California though, that’s my biggest gripe about the novel. I also wouldn’t have minded just a little more ghost. The buildup in the book is a softer hill. It’s not screaming in your face to be noticed but it’s also not off track. You are right there with Tom as he slowly starts to lose it. You’re not watching from the outside.

The book was sexier. A look behind the plastic happy façade of 50s life. There is way more marital disfunction drama in the book than in the movie. Well, as far as the other couples in the book go that is. Tom and his wife are actually great together. In the movie the neighbor’s drama is only lightly suggested and movie Tom and wife are bickering and like previously stated, Tom is a self-absorbed moody downer who all but ignores his family.

That whole part in the movie where the wife and son run into the psychic cop and it basically remakes the Shining scene where Danny meets Dick Holoran is so dumb. That part was not only cheesy and a rip-off, but it goes absolutely nowhere. They really should have cut it. It’s not in the book at all.

Tom is so unlikeable in the movie. He really gets on my nerves. I feel like they could have turned down the intensity a notch. He’s running at ten almost right from the first paranormal occurrence. I do love how 90s it is though. And I prefer the wife’s sister character played by Illeana Douglas, instead of the chummy brother in the book. She’s always great in everything.

If I had to pick one over the other…I’ll give it to the book. It’s creepier to imagine the ghost than to see them. With the movie you are stuck with exactly what is given to you, even though I thought they did a great job. I did like the climax of the movie a little better though. I don’t know man! I just can’t do it. It’s a draw.

Walking Dead by Guy N Smith

New English Library 1984

Guy N Smith was a UK horror writer who lived from 1939 to 2020. His early writing career started with writing articles on shooting and firearms. He then appropriately wrote for Men’s Adventure Magazines. He opened a used book business called Black Hill Books. His first published horror novel was Werewolf by Moonlight in 1974, published by the infamous New English Library. His name is synonymous with pulpy 80s horror. He is responsible for all those Crab books. Night of the Crabs, Killer Crabs, The Origin of the Crabs, Crabs on the Rampage, Crabs’ Moon, Crabs: The Human Sacrifice, Crabs Fury, Crabs Armada, Crabs Unleashed, Killer Crabs: The Return and The Charnel Caves: A Crabs Novel.

Basic Premise: The Walking Dead is the sequel to his 1975 book, The Sucking Pit. Our hero Chris Latimer has sold his land, which included the Sucking Pit. The new owners made it into a quarry. But now it’s sold again, and the new owner is developing the land for homes. While a digger is cleaning up debris, he starts sinking into the sucking pit. Evil ghost Jenny and ghost gypsy king show up in the muck and terror ensues.

I originally purchased both the Sucking Pit and The Walking dead at the same time without realizing they were connected. I did read The Sucking Pit and enjoyed it. The ending was pretty well concluded so I was surprised when I started reading The Walking Dead and realized it was a sequel. I don’t usually read the back synopsis after I buy them, I like to just grab a book and be surprised. And yeah, it says it on the cover but I didn’t notice, ok?

The main character Chris Latimer was the original protagonist, Jenny’s, boyfriend. After Jenny succumbs to the Sucking Pit…wait a minute, I didn’t tell you what the Sucking Pit is. The Sucking Pit is a big hole in the ground that gypsies threw bodies into that has a supernatural force inside of it. Ok, so, Jenny is gone and Chris, her ex-boyfriend who has been hooking up with Jenny’s landlord’s wife since Jenny was banging the landlord for rent free living. The landlord is now at the bottom of the Sucking Pit and Christ Latimer has married, the now deceased landlord’s wife and inherited the property with the Sucking Pit on it. Got it?

That wife is now out of the picture. Either she died or just ran off, I didn’t write it down and it doesn’t matter. He sold the place, and they made it a quarry. A new developer guy has bought it and is going to build a housing development. Chris Latimer is back in town, reliving his Sucking Pit glory days when it starts happening again.

This is a crude and rude gore fest with almost zero plot. There is a swampy hole in the woods with evil spirits that hypnotizes people to commit murder and then jump in the pit. Ghostly Jenny makes a few appearances, usually as a sexy siren who then turns into a decaying corpse that likes to show off her rotted undercarriage. I got to say, I feel bad for the Jenny character. She was a total innocent who got manipulated into evil in the first one and now she’s some hot to trot lifeless sack dying for someone to get it on with. They really just dehumanized this poor woman. I mean, the way it’s written is schlocky and hilarious but at the same time you’re like, come on man.

It's really formulaic. Scene after scene of a new character getting entranced by the Sucking Pit and killing their loved ones. It is pretty damn funny though. There is a part where this middle aged dude sees a young lady (not Jenny, they mixed it up for some reason) hanging out by the Sucking Pit. She tells him to kill his wife. He goes home, grabs an ax and heads upstairs. On the way he realizes he has a boner, so he pops it on out and stats rubbing it with his finger and thumb. He opens the door to his wife. She's like, what the hell?! He ax hacks her with his raging boner swinging around and then flops down onto her eviscerated corpse and just kind of rolls around in the entrails.

If that sounds good to you, well, good news, you’ll love this, because that’s all it is! Another amusing point worth mentioning. There is an asterisk on page 105 and at the bottom of the page there is a note to “see Sucking Pit.” HA!! Dude. You’ve been referencing the Sucking Pit the entire fucking book. Why asterisk now??

It’s fun. A little boring once you see it’s the same thing over and over again but it’s really short at around 150 pages so it’s still enjoyable. The books have a certain appeal to them that other “bad” horror books don’t have, and I think a big part of that is the page count. It’s too short to have filler. It’s kill after ridiculous kill. For as simple as this was, I’ve read worse climaxes with bigger build up. Ultimately, I feel like Guy N Smith was like, yeah sure whatever, here is the ending. Not much was explained but I don’t need it explained. It’s a pit in the woods that’s evil.

The Quick Red Fox by John D MacDonald

Fawcett Gold Medal 1964

Original cover art by Ron Lesser

John Dann MacDonald was an American crime author who lived from 1916 to 1986. After graduating with an MBA from Harvard University in 1939 he joined the United States Army Ordnance Corps and then in World War 2, Like E Howard Hunt, John D MacDonald served in the Office of Strategic Services. Also like Hunt, MacDonald was stationed in China in the same years. It makes me wonder if they ever crossed paths. MacDonald’s writing career was prolific and successful. He started off in the pulps, his first story, G-Robot, was published in 1936 at the age of 20. He then went on to have over 400 short stories published. Novel wise, The Travis McGee series, his most popular, had 21 entries. 43 non-series crime/thrillers and 3 science fiction novels. He wrote The Executioners which was made into a movie called Cape Fear in 1962 and then remade in 1991. He died at the age of 70 from surgery complications.

The Quick Red Fox was the fourth entry in the Travis Mcgee series.

The basic premise: Laid back Florida private detective Travis Mcgee is hired by mega super star actress Lysa Dean. She is being blackmailed with pictures of a party she attended that turned into a drunken drugged filled orgy. Travis must traverse the two coasts with his stuffy tagalong help, Lysa’s assistant, Dana Holtzer, to find the other members of the orgy party to see if they too were victims or part of the conspiracy.

This is the second Travis Mcgee book I have read and this one was way more enjoyable than Dreadful Lemon Sky. First off, his drinkin’ buddy Myer is not in this at all. The cutesy, chummy back and forth between the two really got on my nerves. I loved how Mcgee wasn’t just in one location. This book jumps from Florida to upstate New York, to San Francisco to Las Vegas. This was one hundred percent an investigation as he figures out the identities of the rest of the people at the orgy party, hunts them down across the US and gets their take on the party. Everyone is colorful but realistic with believable motive and reasoning.

Ok, maybe the Lysa Dean actress character was a bit of a stereotype. She all but says, “dahrling” at the end of every sentence. She’s a Midwest gal from Dayton Ohio. Wait, that’s where we’re from! It even tells you her childhood address. I thought it would be great to drive down there and take a picture but unfortunately, even though the street exists, there is no 1610 Madison Street.

McGee is a quiet giant of a man with deep philosophical rivers of thought flowing through his brain constantly. He has many beautifully written diatribes on humanity, our relationships with each other and the disgust he has when a person is treated as disposable. He loathes machismo for the sake of being macho but is, of course, the most macho of all. Basically, he doesn’t start fights, he ends them. Also, the man hates orgies. The fact is brought up many times throughout the book, though never in a preachy manner. McGee is just romantically sentimental. For sure he likes to sleep around constantly and never be in a real relationship, but he likes women as people and that elevates him above orgy people. That’s his reasoning anyway. It somehow comes off as admirable and pompous at the same time.

His co-star in this is Dana Holtzer, Lysa Dean’s assistant. She is cold at first, but the ice eventually starts melting around McGee’s aloof charm. The man isn’t trying to get into her pants though, he’s a gentleman. Like every other character in this book, she has a story and it’s a sad one. Her and her husband had a child who was so disabled they had to abandon it at a mental facility. Yikes. Then her husband is in a coma, I forget why, and is basically living on machines. This book has a lot of bleak in it. Not a lot of sunshine hitting the decks of Mcgee’s houseboat.

The rest of the cast run the gamut of wealthy cockroaches, grey area criminals and victims, domestic violence and mental abusers and everyone living the rough party lifestyle that seems fun at the time until years later when you look back and see how messed up your life has become. Serious drug and alcohol addiction and recovery vibes going on here.

The grit is in the characters. The driving force of the story is the investigation and that is quick and upbeat. Layers are consistently peeled as we get closer to the answer as to why all of this is happening. And it’s not just some get rich quick scheme focused around the actress. It’s a whirlwind shitstorm and everyone is invited. This is a bare bones investigation novel. Direct and to the point. He figures out the names of the rest of the people at the orgy right at the beginning and from there he tracks them down across the country, one by one getting their story. There is a little romance appetizer budding between McGee and Dana but it’s on the back burner simmering.

Couple fun things; There is some trash talking about other authors. McGee refers to the writings of Uris, Wouk and Rand as “portentous gruntings of witless ilk.”

He gets into a fist fight with two tough lesbian ladies. One of the ladies on the orgy list is now living in a trailer. McGee knocks on the door and it is EXACTLY like the scene in Kolchak the Night Strangler when he meets Charisma Beauty and Wilma Krankheimer. You know, I feel like often you see people stealing ol Richard Matheson’s ideas but here I think Mr. Matheson might be guilty of borrowing some MacDonald ideas.

This book was real world gritty. It didn’t have the laidback boathouse sunshine Florida backdrop of Dreadful Lemon Sky. It’s dark, bittersweet and lushly written. Brain and brawn. Classic PI novel with a balanced meshing of progressive and conservative attitudes and probably pretty modern for the time it was written.