Night Moves

Doc Ford #20

by Randy Wayne White

The stunning new thriller—the twentieth Doc Ford novel—from the New York Times–bestselling author.

Both Doc Ford and his friend Tomlinson have buried secrets. Now one of those secrets is about to come alive—with a vengeance.

While trying to solve one of Florida’s most profound secrets, Doc Ford is the target of a murder attempt by someone who wants to make it look like an accident. Or is the target actually Tomlinson? Whatever the answer, the liveaboards and fishing guides at Dinkin’s Bay on Sanibel Island are becoming increasingly nervous—and wary—after a near-poisoning, a plane crash, and an explosion make it apparent that Ford and Tomlinson are dangerous companions.

What their small family of friends don’t know is that their secret pasts make it impossible for the two of them to go to the law for help. There is an assassin on the loose, and it is up to them to find the killer—before he (or she) finishes the job.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Adult

368 pages, Hardcover

First published March 5, 2013

About the author

aka Carl Ramm, Randy Striker

Randy Wayne White (born 1950) is an American writer of crime fiction and non-fiction adventure tales. He has written best-selling novels and has received awards for his fiction and a television documentary. He is best known for his series of crime novels featuring the retired NSA agent Doc Ford, a marine biologist living on the Gulf Coast of southern Florida. White has contributed material on a variety of topics to numerous magazines and has lectured across the United States. A resident of Southwest Florida since 1972, he currently lives on Pine Island, Florida, where he is active in South Florida civic affairs and with the restaurant Doc Ford's Sanibel Rum Bar & Grill on nearby Sanibel Island.

Series:
* Doc Ford Mystery

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is good for a fan of the series who wants more of Doc Ford’s personal life and personality and is less concerned about the satisfactions of a taut, cohesive thriller plot. At first it seems focus is going to be on the search for the crashed planes of “Flight 19”, a case of six Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared on a training flight out of Pensacola in December 1945. A local pilot is taking Ford and his old hippie buddy Tomlinson by float-plane to a remote mangrove swamp where he discovered promising plane remnants when their sabotaged plane is forced to a near crash landing. The mystery over which one of the three is the target of the unknown assassin takes the story in many directions. A rich Brazilian in a fancy boat has shown up in Doc’s Sanibel Island community, who could possibly be an assassin after Doc in relation to all his special ops assignments in South America. Tomlinson is carrying on an affair with a married woman whose husband or insane brother may have been targeting him. He has also gotten in trouble with a major Haitian drug dealer for selling pot in his territory. Alternatively, his pilot friend could be a target to get the jump on his potential Avenger crash site discovery or even over his successes as a fishing guide in the lucrative annual tarpon fishing competition. The story milks all these angels in a leisurely manner, in the process straining then strengthening Doc’s friendship with Tomlinson. The comic touches that mark this series are in full force. A dog found in the swamps gets a lot of attention, perhaps too much. Doc gets into some dangerous situations that call on his special talents. His biggest concern is getting outed as a special ops agent within his own beloved community or getting tagged as a callous womanizer by a local fishing guide he is pining for (Hannah Smith, who is becoming the hero of a new series by White). A good read that can be approached without reading others in the series, but it is not up to some of White’s best.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook. I have read just a few Doc Ford books, so I know a little about the series, but not a lot. Doc is a marine biologist living on Sanibel Island in Florida. He is also a special ops specialist who does covert work for the government. He tries to keep his deadly covert activities a secret from his fishing community. His day job has him supplying marine life to various labs around the globe and working as an active researcher of marine biology. His best friend on the island is his drug fogged hippie buddy Tomlinson. In this book Doc is intrigued by the story of downed WWII planes in the swamps near. A pilot friend gets Doc and Tomlinson interested in looking for wreckage. When their float plane is sabotaged and they nearly crash Doc starts wondering which of the three of them is he target. Doc has many enemies around the world due to his covert life. Tomlinson is having an affair with a married woman who has an insane brother-in-law and jealous husband. The pilot is also a fishing guide who wins big money in tarpon fishing contests and may have enemies of his own. While slogging through the swamp he comes across a dog who has been injured by a large snake. That is a side story. Doc discovers a Brazilian assassin is “vacationing” near Doc. Wanting to figure out who the Brazilian might be after, Doc forms a strange alliance with with the killer (keep your enemies closer). The married mistress’s insane brother-in-law is stalking the mistress. Doc uses the Brazilian to help him shed Tomlinson of the nuisance. Or so it seems. Tomlinson has created more danger by getting into a battle with Haitian drug dealer. Lots of moving parts in this book - not to mention Doc’s strained relationship with fishing guide Hannah Smith thrown in for more muddied waters. The Brazilian is interested in the downed bombers and wants Doc to include him in the search. Tomlinson and the mistress smoke tainted pot and become quite ill. I enjoyed the book up to a point, but why Doc got so involved with the saucy mistress and Tomlinson’s problems, and his tenuous association with the assassin don’t make a lot of sense to me. It was an okay read.

[Barbara Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Moves, the 20th in the Doc Ford series, is scheduled for publication in March and I know anyone who has read Randy Wayne White's books will want to snap it up.

White is prominent on my list of favorite authors because he creates unique and memorable characters to populate intriguing stories set around Sanibel Island, Florida. Doc Ford is a marine biologist, who readers will know has a second, secret life, and he gets involved in all kinds of dangerous investigations in and around the Everglades.

I love Ford's friend and neighbor Tomlinson who is hilarious no matter what kind of trip he's on. He has taken almost every drug in existence and sort of levels out at a degree of highness in which he can function but is unpredictable. In this one he has a bumbling but dangerous drug dealer from Haiti on his trail.

We also have two mysterious, very expensive boats newly docked at the marina where Ford and Tomlinson live on their boats, Tomlinson's new married mistress and her crazy in-laws, and a lively survivor of a dog Ford saves that has part of a boa constrictor in his mouth and fangs buried in his hide. Additionally, there is a rich, sophisticated hit man. Who is the hit man's target? Hopefully it isn't Ford. As well, we have another of Ford's friends, a pilot who thinks he may have found the remains of WW II planes that disappeared in the 1940s. All of these characters have a definite place in the story and White makes discovering how the tale comes together entertaining.

Part of the book is frightening because Ford is in real danger, but I have to admit laughing my way through the rest. In this 20th adventure I even see a hint of a midlife crisis for Doc Ford. I do hope he won't go soft on us.

Source: Amazon Vine
Recommended reading, a must for Randy Wayne White fans.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of the stronger Doc Ford entries. A friend of Doc's has the wild idea that he can find the remains of the 5 WWII planes that disappeared on a training flight.

Kind of all over the place. Someone attempted to kill either Ford or his buddy Tomlinson, he's not sure which was the target.

[Rex Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first of Randy Wayne White, and not the last. The thing is, Doc Ford and Tomlinson are exactly—dead cold exactly—the types you expect to meet living on the water around Sanibel. Laid back, multi-skilled, avowed bachelors, as likely to catch clean and eat dinner as not on a given night but pretty certain to tip a few. Doc, serious but forgiving lead character with a sense of humor, and Tomlinson, not quite wacked all the way out side-kick. The characters do it here. You want to spend a weekend with these guys. Not sure it’s even useful to describe the plot. Something about the five-plane Avenger flight that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, a dog rescued in the Everglades with the boa constrictor it killed still clamped to its neck, a crazed documentary film producer, his Marilyn Monroe-esque sister-in-law, a Haitian sacerdotal drug dealer, and a wealthy Brazilian assassin. Cracking good dialogue and just enough action. Great fun.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is my farewell to Randy Wayne White. In reading this book, the 20th of the Doc Ford series, I did something I've only done in one other instance and that is willingly skip an entry in a series. I read the first 18 books of this series. It's never been a consistent one, but I liked 8 of the first 13 books. Numbers 9, 11 and 12 were especially good. In numbers 13 through 18, there were two books that I read that rose above the mediocre line, and a couple were real duds.

I skipped number 19 (Chasing Midnight) because the average rating for that one was noticeably lower than any other book, which had been decreasing for a while. The consensus is that it was a crappy book in a declining series. While I was debating whether or not to just skip that book or delay it for a while, White produced "Gone" last fall, his first book since 1986 not to feature Doc Ford. It was awful. It was a bad story featuring a new character in Hannah Smith who makes one of the worst series protagonists I've come across. Not only that, but he had Doc Ford as a secondary character, the secret love interest. I might as well be honest. I thought I was done with this author then.

Then this one came out recently, and I read many early positive reviews. This was Doc Ford in his old formula that worked. Unfortunately, this is only partly true. We have Doc Ford and Tomlinson roaming near the Everglades dealing with a domestic mystery in Florida and that puts it back in the vintage books of this series. But it falls short in quality. The mystery should be compelling but is cluttered. The villains aren't very threatening. The story is a mess. Here's what I think went wrong.

First, RWW has a new Hannah Smith slated for the Fall. Apparently, like John Sandford, this author is determined to write two different novels per year. Make no mistake, Sandford isn't as good consistently since he started doing this, but he does enough good things to still put out quality work. White's attention to story is really suffering. Second, Hannah Smith...White is determined to make her a major character, but she has the personality of a dial tone. Half the book, Doc thinks about her and how to mend the riff he created through a misunderstanding. Randy Wayne White, I don't know if you'll ever read this review, but ditch her. She's no good for Doc and she's no good for your fans.

Sure enough, the reviews of this book have gone down since its first release. Unless I see a good rating (3.8+) for White novel after it's been out for six months, I don't anticipate I'll be reading any more of his books. It's fun while it lasted, but check out "Sanibel Flats", "Twelve Mile Limit", 'Tampa Burn" or "Dead of Night" if you want to experience the best of this series.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earlier this year I attended a rehearsal dinner for a wedding. The dinner was held at Doc Ford's Sanibel, Rum Bar and Grille, on Sanibel Island, Florida.

At the restaurant, the novels and other memorabilia of the author were for sale. Randy Wayne White items dominated the setting and added to the atmosphere of the restaurant.

With the publication of White's current novel "Night Moves," I was reminded of those good feelings and it made me feel that I was part of the scene of the novel's action.

In the story, White takes the reader on a literary ride relating to one of the more famous mysteries of WWII and brings that mystery into a new light.

It was during the winter of 1945 that five Navy torpedo planes disappeared someplace off the Florida coast.

Doc Ford, his friend, Tomlinson, and a pilot named Dan Futch, are flown to an area in search for the downed Avengers. However, someone tampers with Futch's plane and they crash land.

Why is the event that occurred over sixty years ago so important?

In a suspenseful story, we observe Doc Ford and Tomlinson attempt to find the answer.

The plot mixes history and mystery as Doc tries to get to the answer of the missing planes and find who made the plane he was on, crash land. There is also an interesting side story of an attractive neighbor who seems drawn to every man she meets.

I enjoyed the story and learning more of Doc Ford. He lives on his boat on a marina and describes the living and setting very well.

[BJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great start to the book quickly fell apart. At first I thought Randy White had his mojo back, but now I'm thinking this series is finished. Perhaps the best thing Mr. White could do is put it out of its misery and let Doc marry his girlfriend and ride off into the sunset on his new boat.

This could have been a good short story about finding a missing airplane from World War II and the fate of the crew. Of course, that is not enough to fill a book, so we are given a subplot of an assassin at the marina, but that pretty much goes nowhere. So add a subplot about the cheating wife of a rich Mafia guy. Yeah, she cheats...so? Even her brain-damaged brother-in-law can't make her story interesting. Maybe add a dog. The owners of the dog seem to be pretty mysterious and a little evil. Nah, they're not. The dog is boring, too.

I loved the first fifteen or maybe sixteen books of this series, and keep hoping the next one will recapture the magic. Maybe the next one will. Hope springs eternal.

[Jim A · Rating 3 out of 5]

If a person has not read the first 15 or so of the Doc Ford series, they might find this to be a pretty good book. Personally, I thought White had once again found his groove with Ford after reading the first couple of chapters. But, it was a tease.

On the positive side, it's a heck of a lot better than his last two Doc Ford efforts.

On the negative side, the Doc Ford series by White is no longer on my 'must read right away' list.

Other readers might well have a different opinion.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Both Doc Ford and his friend Tomlinson have buried secrets. Now one of those secrets is about to come alive—with a vengeance.

While trying to solve one of Florida’s most profound secrets, Doc Ford is the target of a murder attempt by someone who wants to make it look like an accident. Or is the target actually Tomlinson? Whatever the answer, the liveaboards and fishing guides at Dinkin’s Bay on Sanibel Island are becoming increasingly nervous—and wary—after a near-poisoning, a plane crash, and an explosion make it apparent that Ford and Tomlinson are dangerous companions.

What their small family of friends don’t know is that their secret pasts make it impossible for the two of them to go to the law for help. There is an assassin on the loose, and it is up to them to find the killer—before he (or she) finishes the job.”

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randy White White And Doc Ford just keep getting better with age. Night Moves was another great addition to an already great series.. 20 books in and it is still a pleasure to revisit Dinkin's bay Marina and Doc, Tomlinson and other old standbys.
In Night Moves, White creates a great story about a missing WW2 squadron, an ancient american bone field and a dig that is found in the everglades that is much more than it seems. Couple those tidbits with a wealthy Brazilian assassin, a crazy and promiscuous blonde bombshell, her crazy brother in law and Doc's budding feelings for Hannah Smith and you have a heck of a book.

Keep on keeping on Doctor Ford!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series. Dinkin's Bay cat is missing, and the whole Marina is looking for him. Then as Doc, Tomlinson, and friend pilot are targets for murder, but which one was the target? They are looking for salvage of five navy planes in 1945, when a lot more is discovered.

[Sheldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doc is an interesting character. The bit of scientific information combined with a good cast of characters and an interesting mystery makes for a fun audio thriller. Doc needs some romance to balance the rest of his menagerie and he gets it. Not great but the book makes for a nice time.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doc Ford, marine biologist of note and CIA hit man, and Tomlinson, druggie and spiritual guru to many, are the oddest pair of friends in mystery fiction. How Ford avoids using his lethal skills on Tomlinson is sometimes beyond me. When both are targeted for murder (together with a pilot friend) while looking for traces of famous missing flight 19 (the five Grumman Avengers that disappeared over Florida or the sea around it toward the end of World War II), they get drawn into a couple of mysteries and the paths of at least one professional hit man, one big-time drug dealer, and one out-and-out psychopath. They also find a survivor dog of heroic but odd nature while hiking ou of the Glades following a plane ditching. Throw in abundant local color and several women and the book rises above the usual 3-star rating I give White's books. The Flight 19 hook got me, though.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another one of Randy Wayne White's books I enjoyed immensely. He took legends regarding what happened to the five fighter jets that disappeared in WWII (to this day never found), along with ancient sacred native burial grounds and added in a rather sleazy romance (married woman sleeping around with several people, including Tomlinson) and also added a purported Haitian witch doctor to the mix to write a very entertaining book. He also addressed the issue of jig, or snag, fishing, which is detrimental to fish and is not "sporting" behavior at all, but which seems to be popular on fishing channels and videos via visual media. I think this author just keeps getting better and better, and I envy him the place where he lives. What a great adventure in itself.....

[Hrn1947 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best doc ford in a while. Lots of action and more than one plot. Ending pretty good and a little unexpected. Not over yet, we'll see the bad guys again. It's good to see ford back as the main character, he was always the engine that moved the story. The dog must come back. This one is way better than the last two, I swore I was done, but I took one last chance. Now I'll probably try one more. White needs to get back to the formula of action, Florida history and the water.

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was better than RWW's last two, there's still something off. The search for missing Navy planes from 1945 was interesting, but there seemed to be too many players involved in this story. Personally, I think that Doc Ford is going through a mid-life crisis and I would like to see him back to his kick-ass glory days.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another disappointing RWW novel. It is hard to understand what point if any the author is conveying. I'm unsure I will bother with any more of his stories as they appear to be rapidly trending down. 2 of 10 stars

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, even though the plot lines got a little muddled. This is the second of his books I've read, of about 20 in this series, but it is able to stand alone, without a lot of background knowledge. There is a cliffhanger at the end so I'll probably seek out the next in the series!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good as always

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2. Marine biologist (and occasional government operative) Doc Ford is off on another adventure.

The plot's a little unconventional (in a good way) but it's the wonderful characters that make this book a fun read.
Doc, his slightly whacked-out buddy, Tomlinson, pilot Dan Futch, a crazed film producer and his seductive sister-in-law and her whiny husband, a suave Brazilian assassin, a very smart Chesapeake Bay retriever rescued from the Evergaldes and all the eclectic people surrounding Dinkin's Bay Marina on Sanibel Island in Florida.
There's a search for a flight of torpedo bombers that went missing in 1945, one of Florida's famous mysteries. On their first flight out a controller line snaps and BANG!, Doc, bis buddy an his pilot are barely avoid a crash landing in the Glades.
Upon inspection, they find that the cable has been tampered with leading to the conclusion that someone is trying to kill Doc...or Tomlinson...or Futch!
Back at the marina questionable folks are showing up and augmenting different avenues that Doc will have to pursue in order to find out just what the hell is going on.
The exploration continues and leads and lies begin to add up.
There's a LOT more to the story. Deep, dark secrets will be revealed.
A really likable ending.

I enjoyed it.

[Craig Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I last read one of Randy Wayne White's books about Marion "Doc" Ford, the biologist with an occasional pursuit of spying and black ops. This one is well on into the series, and has several fine points, but it's not nearly his best work.

Doc is drawn into an intriguing investigation of whether the planes of Flight 17, whose disappearance in 1945 led to the creation of the Bermuda Triangle legend, could have wound up in the Everglades instead. But the first foray that he, pilot Dan Futch and Doc's hippy buddy Tomlinson take winds up in a plane crash -- one that they discover resulted from sabotage. Who wanted to kill them?

This leads to Doc becoming involved with Tomlinson's latest fling, a married woman with lethal connections, plus a rival of Tomlinson's who's a self-styled voodoo doctor. Then there's this mysterious yacht, which is run by a mysterious Brazilian hit man.

There's also a dog Doc finds in the Glades and his on-again, off-gain flirtation with fishing guide Hannah Smith preoccupying his mind.

The ultimate resolution of all this is not much of a surprise, but it does make for exciting reading, especially the reveal of who tried to kill them and why. (I especially liked the role a stingray plays). But I found White's descriptions of the married mistress and Doc's sexual fantasies about Hannah Smith unsettling and more than a little off-putting.

[Stanley Dunagin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow at times, but always holds your attention. The book continues the Doc Ford tradition of interlacing science, history and Florida into an interesting presentation that sets the stage of this great series. Even in the sometimes slightly boring slow times, there can always be found gems like this:

“What is often referred to as life’s flow can as accurately be described as a stationary awareness of cascading events, contextual changes that impact our individual reality- a reality that oscillates in operatic patterns, the waves sometimes spaced like teeth pm a buzz saw. So we hunker down, weather the troughs, grab a breath through the foam, and hang on, awaiting that next glimpse of sky.”

Insights like this, that reflect a meaning to me, is one reason why I always keep coming back. The action maybe slow coming at times, but it is always worth the wait. If you read enough Randy Wayne White books you can predict events that will happen in the future, but not in details. There will always be surprises.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cliffhanger!

Randy Wayne White never fails to deliver! In the first few pages, Doc Ford, Tomlinson, and a pilot friend survive a plane crash in the Everglades, while searching for wreckage from the lost Flight 19. While hiking out, Doc finds a lost dog with a dead boa constrictor embedded in his throat; then two mysterious "fast boats" dock in Dinkin's Bay; and suddenly, Tomlinson's latest married "girlfriend" seems to have designs on him, just as he's trying to reconnect with Hannah Smith. Throw in a jealous husband, a mysterious Brazilian "hitman," a wannabee "film entrepreneur" and a mentally unbalanced drug kingpin and you've got the makings of a wild, rollicking, roller coaster of a tale with more twists than a Twizzler, and an ending that will leave you breathless! I loved it!

[Judith Trail · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good Doc Ford adventure with plenty of solid information on fishing, the ecology and the lost ruins of a WWII squadron. The returning characters are familiar in their endearing traits as well as their flaws, all of which believably take the characters into danger and get them out. Tomlinson irritates and amuses with his spirituality and love of drugs, alcohol, women and misreading of human nature. Doc is consistent in his striving to understand himself and a world of too-easy violence, with the desire to connect with a woman who is possibly to be his great love. Sanibel, its people, history and ecology, geology and biology is wonderfully described. The plot is twisty enough to keep things interesting to the end and the bad guys don't totally win.

[Lou Tilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Mr. White's style. I like the Florida based vibe. I think his Doc Ford is running out of
plot lines, however. In this latest Doc read, the bulk of the mid-book is spent on endless meandering dialogue between Doc and his aging hippie pal Tomlinson, along with some
never ending verbal jousting with the Brazilian bad guy - or is he? Ugh. And, unless you have read the others in the series, you are scratching your head about the love interest(s) - and - we never
quite understand the sexy divorcee. I usually spring through these reads, but this time it took me months, and a bad cold, to finish.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

After finding the machined metal plate with throttle levers that seem to be from an airplane, a friend asks Ford and Tomlinson help him check out the possible 20-year-old crash site of five WWII Avenger torpedo planes.

But others want in the discovery and are willing to kill. WWII planes, tarpon fishing and lost cat.

I love the lost dog. So smart, cute and amusing. I'm glad he keeps him.

Fave scenes: The dog waiting in place for Ford, the birth of a stingray, Ford catching the redfin and the dog retrieving things.

[Arrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Doc Ford novel from Sanibel/Captiva Islands Randy Wayne White centers on the 1945 disappearance of 5 Navy planes and the secret past lives of both Doc Ford and pal Tomlinson. You don't need to be a Doc Ford fan to genuinely enjoy this entertaining and somewhat suspenseful novel, but it certainly helps.

Any folks who have spent time on either island - including dining at the excellent Doc Fords restaurants - will enjoy the local color and scenes.

[Tex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doc Ford and Tomlinson are today’s Travis McGee and Meyer. Both sets of pals are based on the water albeit separate Florida coasts. Both have questionable part time incomes and are blissfully unattached. In Night Moves, Doc encounters potential filmmakers and lost military planes and, naturally (it’s Florida) illegal drugs.
I come away from each book in the series more interested in the natural area around the Florida coast and inland waterways.

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The missing pilots from WWII and their Avengers is the centerpiece for this thriller. The pilots were actually lost, this part is true, in what many have called a paranormal event. Doc Ford doesn't believe this. We get a picture of tournament tarpon fishing. Doc Ford gets a dog and his relationship with Hannah intensifies. This is a very good read.