Dead Silence

I love Randy's books as he uses the geography to tell his stories. He definately does his homework when including details of the area and it's history, which makes the books more interesting reading because then you can go and investigate the area yourself when you visit Southwest Florida. I have visited many of the areas he describes in his books and just can't wait to read each new book he puts out. I finally met him at a book signing at one of his restaurants in Fort Myers Beach. What and exciting life he must live! Debbi from Ohio and Cape Coral part time.

THE TEASER "Dead Silence", 16th in the "Doc Ford" series, begins with a "prolog" told by a third person narrator, the only purpose of which appears to be to establish Ford as a remorseless cold-blooded murderer. Then, an unidentified first-person narrator, takes over. The narrator is on his (her?) flight from somewhere to Newark, NJ, to meet with "Harrington" his (her?) CIA contact. Readers new to the series, not knowing that Marion Ford is the most probable narrator, will undoubtably be disoriented and confused. THE SETUP The premise of the novel is that after the death of Castro, Alpha 66 (a Cuban anti-Castro organization) acquired Castro's private documents and passed them along to the U.S. Government. A consortium consisting of Cubans, Venezuelans, and Americans want some of the documents. A Cuban former intelligence agent (an interrogator, Rene Navarro) is in charge of the operation. The plan is to kidnap an American senator (Barbara Hayes Sorrento) and bury her alive for blackmail leverage. Serendipitously, Ford foils the kidnaping, but Native American highschool student Will Chaser is kidnaped instead. The remainder of the novel is Ford's search for Will. COMMENTS The middle of the novel drags at points, the last few chapters are a bit implausible, but overall, the story is well written, imaginative, intriguing, and entertaining. The characters are rich and convincing. DOC FORD vs TRAVIS MCGEE vs ED RICKETS Let's be honest. In the "Doc Ford" novels prior to "Dead Silence", Marion Ford was a combination of Travis McGee (a John D. MacDonald character) and John Steinbeck's "Doc" (featured in "Cannery Row" and "Sweet Thursday") who in turn was based on the real person, marine biologist, Ed Ricketts. Many authors have tried to resurrect McGee, and fans have prayed for decades for recreations of both "Doc" and "McGee", but only White has been reasonably successful. THANK YOU RANDY WHITE Like McGee, Ford is a knight who helps out friends in trouble. Both have sidekicks, McGee has (PhD economist) Meyer, and Ford has Tomplinson. Unintentionally, in the previous novels, although superfically charming and admirable, Ford's character had undertones of a self-absorbed hypocrite, and Tomlinson seemed to be a bit of a sly phony underneath the "stoner priest" veneer. That was probably because both were schizoid--Doc Ford had two distinct and incompatible personalities, "McGee" and "Doc"; three if you add "Secret Agent Man". The (mostly just hinted at) "ex-CIA assassin" past was almost impossible to reconcile with the "Doc Ford" (Ricketts) persona-- the gentle, lay-back, ethical marine biologist -- virtually by-definition a lover of living things. Tomlinson was also schizoid-- a hoot as a paranoid, burnt-out, strung-out, but lovable stoner, in hiding from "something" real or imagined. However, Tomlinson is (or at least was) highly implausible as s serious intellectual of international stature. In the previous novels in the series, t

A good story! A great audio book! High suspense, tainted with humor, make this book a must for Randy White fans. Doc Ford's self doubt and Tomlinson's mysticism, coupled with sex, revenge, kidnapping and terror, create a well told, and almost believable, adventure story. Five * * * * *!

[[ASIN:0399155406 Dead Silence (Doc Ford Novels)] I've been a fan of Doc Ford and Tomlinson for years, and of Randy White even longer. The plot is well developed, the characters are appealing and authentic, and the book ends while the reader is still wanting more. Randy, get busy and let's have another one soon!]

This is an excellent story. I have read all of the Doc Ford series and find they are so exciting I can't put them down until I finish the book. I had pre-ordered this book, which is #15 in the series and it was shipped promptly upon release. I would highly recomend Randy Wayne White's novels to anyone who is familiar with the Sanibel area of Florida and also to fans of a spellbinding tale. You don't have to read them in the order they were written, but I do find it helps and gives you a great insight into the characters.