The Buck Passes Flynn

If you like wisecracking private investigators, the FLYNN books are for you. This book whirls around a unique and intriguing plot which begins with every person in small towns across America waking up to find $100,000 cash on their doorsteps. Naturally, chaos ensues! THE BUCK PASSES FLYNN was published in 1981, so a lot of the technology and social mores are dated. Nevertheless, the storytelling and the wry, dry, intelligent hero hold up very well. Not all of the plot points ultimately pay off, but this mystery-adventure was good fun.

Have you read a Fletch book? Flynn is, in some ways, Fletch's flipside - he is a perfect gentleman, a devoted family man even, who works for the forces of law and order - but if free spirit Fletch lives in fun stories that might give you some pause for thought, reliable Reluctant Flynn lives in hilarious stories that might later keep you up nights in deep contemplation. McDonald is a damn good storyteller, running his clever characters through a series of plausible situations with snowballing root causes that give broad opportunity for adventure and the display of wry wit. Flynn and Fletch are his vehicles for some of the best dialogue I've seen in print. This is one of my favorite McDonald books. My biggest problem with the work is that I keep giving copies away to friends and having to purchase more.

Thought-provoking idea, well-written in McDonald's excellent style... witty, inventive. I love the Flynn series! More, more, please!

McDonald's hero "Flynn" is not as popular as his "Fletch" series, but "The Buck Passes Flynn" is the best of the series and every bit as good as a Fetch novel. The theme, that someone is making random $100,000 deposits on the doorsteps of every home in small communities around the country and creating havoc in the process, is quite fascinating (though admittedly dated, it would probably be about $250,000 today). It is a mystery worthy of the great Inspector Flynn, and is told in a humorous style for which McDonald is known. Overall, a great book for fans of detective fiction.