Dead of Night (A Doc Ford Novel)

I THOUGHT THE BOOK WAS GREAT, GREAT CHARACTER MIX. A THRILLER AT THE TURN OF EVERY PAGE. LOVED THE 2 RUSSIANS WHAT CHARACTERS

It's been two decades since John D. MacDonald passed away. A gifted storyteller who had published several dozen books from the 1950s until his death, MacDonald was particularly noted for his series of novels featuring Travis McGee. Over the years, there has been many attempts to create a worthy follow-up to McGee. Randy Wayne White, with his Doc Ford novels, is the writer who has succeeded. Of course, there are distinct differences between McGee and Ford. McGee was more-or-less a beach bum who took his retirement in pieces, amassing funds on occasion doing dangerous "salvage" work. Ford is a retired government assassin who now works as a marine biologist and only reluctantly gets involved in adventures. The similarities, however, are also significant: both live in Florida by the ocean and are members of a close-knit beach community. They both take on particularly nasty characters and have near-genius sidekicks. Most importantly, both characters are also the narrators of their stories and lace their tales with plenty of cynical observations of the Florida life. In Dead of Night, the twelfth Doc Ford novel, the hero is recruited by an old friend Frieda to check on her brother Jobe, a brilliant but extremely withdrawn scientist. Her brother has never been very communicative, but when Frieda realizes Ford will be roughly in Jobe's neighbor, she asks him for the favor. When Ford arrives at Jobe's home, he discovers the scientist between tortured by a man and woman. Ford chases the two off, but when he returns, he finds Jobe dead by hanging. That's bad enough, but when worms start crawling out of the corpse, Ford knows something really creepy is going on. The worms turn out to be parasites native to Africa and there is apparently a conspiracy to infest the local waters with them, where the damage would be considerable. Ford's training is enough to clue him into the real dangers; he is further drawn in when his old boss, Hal Harrington, recruits him to find and "eternalize" the bioterrorist. If Dead of Night suffers from anything, it's that the villains aren't quite as interesting as in other Ford books. The main villain, an evil-but-beautiful Russian woman named Dasha has her moments - and the other bad guys also have their quirks - but they just aren't that compelling. Maybe it's just because they pale in comparison to the creatures they threaten to unleash, of which the worms are only one species. Some of these animals will really make the reader squirm. Of the recurring characters, we get some nice new developments. Ford, in particular, must deal with his erstwhile girlfriend Dewey, who has moved to Iowa carrying their child. He also starts coming more to terms with his dark past and the fact that he can never completely retire from it. Meanwhile, best friend Tomlinson must cope with unexpected wealth; anti-materialistic by philosophy, he must cope with also enjoying money and what it can buy. Randy Wayne White fans should b

Eco-Terrorism seems to the current fad amongst thriller writers, and no one has done it better that Randy White. "Can't put it down" is probably one of the most over used - and subject to exaggeration - lines in a review, but this is one of just two books I read in the past few years that I finished in one day (I am a slow reader). I recall reading an early review of this book, and the writer wondered why such a skilled and articulate writer as Randy White did not have a greater following than he does - and I agree. This is the first of the Doc Ford books I have read - and believe me, the first of what will be many. I found the plot similar to other eco-terrorism books, but the pacing of the book almost never let up. This is a fast paced ... and fast paced book. Only rarely does White slow down and let you catch your breath, and that is generally to introduce and draw out a new character. Having never read a Randy White book before, the central character - Marion Ford - was new to me. I was fascinated at how this character was introduced and how he changed as the book progressed. At first, Ford is a middle aged Marine Biologist with tendencies that many of us can relate to - rather be at home more and more as he grew older; misses his routine; and has unusual and largely unsuccessful amorous relationships. By the end of the book, this is a well trained, physically fit, government operative that can easily take of terrorists, KGB and the likes (all of which he will by books end). Great character development - and slight of hand. No matter how good a plot or well drawn the characters may be, outstanding books are also ones that pay attention to detail. And often, are informative and educational. The expertise that White shows in his study of exotic insects and their habits is quite amazing. The amount of research that went into this book is prodigious. While I am sure that White imbues each book with a wealth of marine biological lore, this book has even more to teach about primates, insects, and ecological balance. There is simply an amazing amount of information in this book - not mention the great read. No point in giving away the plot - suffice it to say the venue is Florida and the Bahamas; all the characters are well drawn and well developed; and the action never stops. You will walk away from this book wondering why you haven't discovered Randy White earlier.

A couple installments ago Doc Ford seemed to be drifting. I was worried. Would I lose my favorite west coast of Florida , marina, fishcamp, biologist hero? Well here's the answer. The Doc is really back and in his role as a biologist is central to the plot. A reader never gets the feeling that something is being dragged in, that events are being delayed. We all know that temptation to skip to the end. Well-- it's not here in this novel. What a great collection of baddies: Human and biological. I'll leave the humans for later, but the biologicals are nasty memories from my undergraduate days in invertebrate zoology lab. "For heaven's sake, don't cut yourself on a broken slide!" The central beastie being "Dracunculus medenensis" :a nasty nematode aka - the fiery serpent. And a few actual serpents, cobras, mambas, etc., are thrown in as well. Then there are the ex-KGBers, replete with needles and needle shooting shotguns, and other events to build a romp: a great shark rescue, an aquatic version of a car chase, and for Tomlinson a catfish attack that makes moste males wish for an electric catfish instead. The simplicity of the land development scheme- infest Florida, drive down the land prices and then cure the infestation and surf off to wealth on the tidal wave of profit, is the sort of device which allows the other events to happen. It even motivates them. Which is more than anyone has yet figured out about pirhanas, walking catfish and hissing roaches turned loose in the wilds of this country which probably prompts the scheme. If you like the Doc, read this one.

A friend in the book industry got me an advance copy of Dead of Night, and I devoured it within 48 hours, that involved one dead of night reading jag! I must say the Doc Ford books just seem to get better. This is a big complement from me as I usually find Serries books go stale after awhile. This has stayed fresh because of the writers brillant ability to creat real characters with real emotion. His plots also make sense and not contrived to fit the action. You don't start to feel like you have read this somewhere before. In this installment the good Doctor is up against and evil plot to murder just about everyone he knows. It starts out when he finds his friend reclusive Biologist Jobe Applebee murdered in a grusome fashion I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it is a very novel way to murder someone. To make matters worse there is no evidence to point to might have donme such a thing? Doc is force to start his investigation from square one. Part of the plot involves the release of exoctic critters that cause damage to the enviroment and humans and I found this an interesting plot premise (I wont say more cause I don't want to spoil the read). Doc suspects -- eco terrioist, or maybe greedy land developers trying to reduce the value of land they want to buy, or maybe something else? Whatever the case he better figure it out quick or he won't have any friends left! So jump on for another roller coaster ride of a thriller by Randy Wayne White!