Carioca Fletch

I will agree with those who said this is their least favorite Fletch book, but will break with those saying it is bad or not worth reading. I actually quite enjoyed reading it, but then again having been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival in Trinidad, I was fascinated by all the descriptions of Brazil and Carnival. There were several characters (most notably the Tap Dancers) that I liked reading about, and I thought it was an interesting segway from Journalist Fletch to Rich Fletch who just is observing people and experiencing life. Fletch talking about getting robbed when he got there and about how he was not a Carioca but was clearly trying to learn what he could about Brazil were good, and his realization of what he wants to do (and basically not stay in Brazil) I also liked. "Sometimes what is not there tells you as much as what is there".. great line from the book and very illustrative of "Carioca Fletch" on the whole. Fletch does not have the 'wit' nearly as much as he does in his other books, but the book itself was a good read that honestly I couldn't put down. As a Fletch book, not as good, but it is a good book (if that makes any sense.)

Like one other reviewer, I have to say this is an excellent Fletch book -- one of the best, in my opinion. Here Fletch takes on a whole new dimension in a foreign land, and personally I find the situation where he is mistaken for being a reincarnation of a Brazilian hilarious. This is also, as another reviewer mentioned, the closest we will come to having a supernatural Fletch story. I just discovered Fletch a couple of weeks ago and now have read almost all the Fletch books, Flynn books, and am working on the two Skylar books. Great author -- and almost all his books are consistently entertaining, and sometimes sublime. My highest recommendation: Flynn's World.

It is definitly more about Brazil than the story line, but Brazil is the story here. If I'm not mistaken, McDonald was a journalist at some point, and he's gotten at a travel story from a different angle here. It's a very Fletch adventure, just as Fletch's Fortune was with the old south. This time Brazil is a charicter. If you've read the rest, then, like me, you were probably jonsing for another adventure. It delivers.