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Deadly Welcome
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
About the author
John D. MacDonald
585 books1,475 followersJohn D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 16, 2017
"Deadly Welcome" is one of MacDonald's many early works and even his early pulp novels were terrific. Anyone who enjoys his Travis McGee series should take a look at his earlier body of paperback novels.
Here, he combines a number of pulpy themes, including the nasty, inbred Southern town on the Florida swamps, a man returning to the childhood town he had been thrown out of, the luscious town tramp who no man can resist, the tormented frigid spinster, a murder no one can solve, and a secret government agent.
This is a fairly short novel that can be completed in just a few hours. The pace is brisk and it is easy to read.
Everyone in this book has a past they are trying to live down or run away from and the world of this backward Florida town is one filled with broken people, some physically broken and some emotionally crippled. MacDonald does a superb job of switching back and forth between the present and the past. The overall plot is very typical of paperback pulps of the fifties, but few ever wrote these books as flawlessly and seemingly effortlessly as MacDonald.
Here, he combines a number of pulpy themes, including the nasty, inbred Southern town on the Florida swamps, a man returning to the childhood town he had been thrown out of, the luscious town tramp who no man can resist, the tormented frigid spinster, a murder no one can solve, and a secret government agent.
This is a fairly short novel that can be completed in just a few hours. The pace is brisk and it is easy to read.
Everyone in this book has a past they are trying to live down or run away from and the world of this backward Florida town is one filled with broken people, some physically broken and some emotionally crippled. MacDonald does a superb job of switching back and forth between the present and the past. The overall plot is very typical of paperback pulps of the fifties, but few ever wrote these books as flawlessly and seemingly effortlessly as MacDonald.
May 13, 2018
Totally not what I was expecting. Not your typical hard-boiled crime novel. Still loved it.
January 11, 2025
Can a local boy make good?
Deadly Welcome is everything I love about a spinner rack book. MacDonald just doesn’t screw around. Literally on the first page of this book he gives you all you need to know about his main character, Alex Doyle. He works for the US State Department, he’s good at his job, and he’s lived all over the world. He’s not a man of action but doesn’t shy away from a fight. He’s smart, cautious, and good a blending in. It’s a succinct portrait, and all you need to know to get going.
Alex is also happy with his place in the world, so when he gets reassigned to the Pentagon for a temporary duty he’s not thrilled. Sure he’s ex-military, but he missed all the action in World War II, and since then has spent most of his time gathering and reporting intelligence in foreign countries. Not exactly the profile of someone the Department of Defense needs for a covert mission.
But it turns out he’s perfect.
It’s 1958, the height of the cold war, and Colonel Crawford M’Gann is an essential part of the United State’s efforts to defeat the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, he’s suffered a heart attack and retreated to a small town in Florida called Romona to recover. The very same small-town Doyle grew up in and has been avoiding for years.
M’Gann choosing to take time off to get better wouldn’t normally be a problem for the Pentagon, he’s such a high value asset that they would gladly wait until he got better for him to resume his work. But there’s a problem. While in Romona Col. M’Gann’s wife becomes the victim of a high profile, unsolved murder, and M’Gann makes it clear to the Pentagon he will not return until he gets some answers.
The Pentagon doesn’t have time for that, and they conclude that they need someone who can change the Colonel’s mind, someone who understands the local landscape of Romona, someone who is good at getting close to people and figuring things out. They have searched high and low for a candidate, even engaging the services of their advanced IBM computing division, and all their information points to one man, Alex Doyle.
From here MacDonald launches into a fantastic mystery story, full of small-town intrigue and international stakes. What I love about this book is that Doyle isn’t tasked with solving this murder, but instead with simply getting a message to Col. M’Gann, whose controlling twin sister is caring for him at a remote beach cabin just outside of town. Her refusal to let anyone near him, combined with a burning desire on the part of local Deputy Sheriff Donnie Capp to keep outsiders away from the case, has made it impossible for previous agents to talk to Col. M’Gann.
Doyle quickly finds out the case is much more personal than even the Pentagon knows. M’Gann’s wife was Jenna Larkin, who he both knew growing up and had a romantic fling with shortly before being framed for robbery and sentenced to serve out his term in the Army. Its why he’s never been back to Romona. For Doyle, it’s a town full of bad memories and bad people.
The return to his hometown becomes the perfect device for MacDonald to flesh out Alex Doyle, and he does a great job with it. Never hammering the reader with too much at once, he slowly gives you a complete portrait of the man over several chapters. What’s unexpected is the way he uses those chapters to also give you the background on the town, a set of supporting characters, and a common history for all of them that is just as rich as what he’s done for his main character. By the time MacDonald is done you know, as well as Doyle does, that something fishy is going on and the death of Jenna Larkin sits squarely at the center of it.
In many ways, Deadly Welcome is a typical noir set up. There is a mysterious murder, no one is who they seem to be, and an unlikely outsider is tasked with saving the day. What elevates the book is MacDonald’s willingness to write complex characters, create exciting action scenes, and, on top of the secret mission and murder mystery, throw in a good old fashion treasure hunt. This book is so stuffed with great ideas you won’t want to put it down.
Oh, and did I mention his prose? In addition to the cooly economical text that dominates the book MacDonald frequently takes flight, drowning you in delicious descriptions like this one of the local dive bar in Romona:
Now that is a five-star paragraph.
If you love a tight mystery, solid characters, and a fun, fast read, I can’t recommend Deadly Welcome enough. I loved every bit of it, and I intend to read more MacDonald in the future.
Deadly Welcome is everything I love about a spinner rack book. MacDonald just doesn’t screw around. Literally on the first page of this book he gives you all you need to know about his main character, Alex Doyle. He works for the US State Department, he’s good at his job, and he’s lived all over the world. He’s not a man of action but doesn’t shy away from a fight. He’s smart, cautious, and good a blending in. It’s a succinct portrait, and all you need to know to get going.
Alex is also happy with his place in the world, so when he gets reassigned to the Pentagon for a temporary duty he’s not thrilled. Sure he’s ex-military, but he missed all the action in World War II, and since then has spent most of his time gathering and reporting intelligence in foreign countries. Not exactly the profile of someone the Department of Defense needs for a covert mission.
But it turns out he’s perfect.
It’s 1958, the height of the cold war, and Colonel Crawford M’Gann is an essential part of the United State’s efforts to defeat the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, he’s suffered a heart attack and retreated to a small town in Florida called Romona to recover. The very same small-town Doyle grew up in and has been avoiding for years.
M’Gann choosing to take time off to get better wouldn’t normally be a problem for the Pentagon, he’s such a high value asset that they would gladly wait until he got better for him to resume his work. But there’s a problem. While in Romona Col. M’Gann’s wife becomes the victim of a high profile, unsolved murder, and M’Gann makes it clear to the Pentagon he will not return until he gets some answers.
The Pentagon doesn’t have time for that, and they conclude that they need someone who can change the Colonel’s mind, someone who understands the local landscape of Romona, someone who is good at getting close to people and figuring things out. They have searched high and low for a candidate, even engaging the services of their advanced IBM computing division, and all their information points to one man, Alex Doyle.
From here MacDonald launches into a fantastic mystery story, full of small-town intrigue and international stakes. What I love about this book is that Doyle isn’t tasked with solving this murder, but instead with simply getting a message to Col. M’Gann, whose controlling twin sister is caring for him at a remote beach cabin just outside of town. Her refusal to let anyone near him, combined with a burning desire on the part of local Deputy Sheriff Donnie Capp to keep outsiders away from the case, has made it impossible for previous agents to talk to Col. M’Gann.
Doyle quickly finds out the case is much more personal than even the Pentagon knows. M’Gann’s wife was Jenna Larkin, who he both knew growing up and had a romantic fling with shortly before being framed for robbery and sentenced to serve out his term in the Army. Its why he’s never been back to Romona. For Doyle, it’s a town full of bad memories and bad people.
The return to his hometown becomes the perfect device for MacDonald to flesh out Alex Doyle, and he does a great job with it. Never hammering the reader with too much at once, he slowly gives you a complete portrait of the man over several chapters. What’s unexpected is the way he uses those chapters to also give you the background on the town, a set of supporting characters, and a common history for all of them that is just as rich as what he’s done for his main character. By the time MacDonald is done you know, as well as Doyle does, that something fishy is going on and the death of Jenna Larkin sits squarely at the center of it.
In many ways, Deadly Welcome is a typical noir set up. There is a mysterious murder, no one is who they seem to be, and an unlikely outsider is tasked with saving the day. What elevates the book is MacDonald’s willingness to write complex characters, create exciting action scenes, and, on top of the secret mission and murder mystery, throw in a good old fashion treasure hunt. This book is so stuffed with great ideas you won’t want to put it down.
Oh, and did I mention his prose? In addition to the cooly economical text that dominates the book MacDonald frequently takes flight, drowning you in delicious descriptions like this one of the local dive bar in Romona:
He waited patiently, becoming more and more aware of the effluvia of stale grease, spilled beer, and elderly nicotine. More subtle were the drifting odors of rancid coffee, perfume, fish scales, armpits, bad plumbing, and the nausea of ten thousand Saturday nights.
Now that is a five-star paragraph.
If you love a tight mystery, solid characters, and a fun, fast read, I can’t recommend Deadly Welcome enough. I loved every bit of it, and I intend to read more MacDonald in the future.
August 25, 2016
I not only had never read this 1958 John D. MacDonald novel, I had never even heard of it before I found it in a friends-of-the-library sale in his adopted hometown of Sarasota. Boy howdy, though, was it good, with some wonderful touches that give you a glimpse of the greatness to come with his later Travis McGee series.
The plot is forehead-slapping predictable -- disgraced former football hero returns to town to solve a murder, find a treasure and get the girl. The characters are cut straight out of standard-issue pulp. There's so little mystery to the killer's identity that the hero solves it about halfway through the book, and every time you think there might be a twist that shows he was wrong, well, it turns out he wasn't.
What makes this novel move and groove, though, is MacDonald's delightful and insightful descriptions of the novel's setting, a sleepy Florida beach town in the days before Disney and the interstates. You can tell he was an avid boater and fisherman, and his depiction of the life aquatic on the Gulf coast is so inviting you wish you could dive right in. He's got fishing scenes, swimming scenes, boating scenes, even a thunderstorm that's so realistic you'll swear you just saw a flash of lightning. At the end, the hero leaves town -- but promises to come back soon, and you'll wish you could too, before change sweeps it all away.
Would you read a thriller just for the setting? I would have never said yes before, but now I'm glad I did.
The plot is forehead-slapping predictable -- disgraced former football hero returns to town to solve a murder, find a treasure and get the girl. The characters are cut straight out of standard-issue pulp. There's so little mystery to the killer's identity that the hero solves it about halfway through the book, and every time you think there might be a twist that shows he was wrong, well, it turns out he wasn't.
What makes this novel move and groove, though, is MacDonald's delightful and insightful descriptions of the novel's setting, a sleepy Florida beach town in the days before Disney and the interstates. You can tell he was an avid boater and fisherman, and his depiction of the life aquatic on the Gulf coast is so inviting you wish you could dive right in. He's got fishing scenes, swimming scenes, boating scenes, even a thunderstorm that's so realistic you'll swear you just saw a flash of lightning. At the end, the hero leaves town -- but promises to come back soon, and you'll wish you could too, before change sweeps it all away.
Would you read a thriller just for the setting? I would have never said yes before, but now I'm glad I did.
November 21, 2014
Excellent double-edged plot about a disgraced hometown football hero who returns to his hometown to clandestinely investigate a murder. The beginning is kind of clumsy with page after page of information dump via totally unrealistic dialogue, but eventually Alex Doyle gets on the scene and the story gets into high gear. Plenty of action, but also plenty of exposition via disembodied dialogue. Not screenplay snappy dialogue. Long long paragraphs of summary delivered via speeches without any scene setting or facial expressions or gestures or anything. Even a scene where the characters are swimming and delivering speeches. That pet peeve aside, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The climactic sequence was done really well and with a lot of pace and that made for a satisfying ending. And despite my bemoaning the exposition via dialogue, MacDonald still delivers plenty of passages like this: "He felt the familiar tensions of the chase, a taste in the back of the throat of a breathless expectancy. It was, in a sense, a dreadful art, this manipulation of human beings. Discover the area of stress. And then nudge so gently and carefully. Back up the lions with a kitchen chair. But it had to be done delicately."
September 2, 2020
I have been trying to read all the early novels chronologically to see how MacDonald developed his style and ideas as a writer. I am one of those strange MacDonald fans who likes his early stand alone novels much better than the Travis McGee series. This is very good story and I see that it has been described well in the reviews by others previously and i would send you there for more details. One thing I noticed is that this is the first time I saw a few of the stylistic and character traits that he uses in his McGee novels. But it's just an inkling and doesn't get in the way here.
August 10, 2016
A classic John D MacDonald mystery tale.
It's always a pleasure to get such an intimate glimpse into the communities of a Florida that no longer exists. The plot is a bit predictable, even for a MacDonald story, but it is a very fun and fast read. My main complaint is that the level of poetic insight into the characters' souls is not quite as well-developed as in some of his other work (notably the Travis McGee novels), but Deadly Welcome should make for an enjoyable time for anyone that is a fan of his style and settings.
It's always a pleasure to get such an intimate glimpse into the communities of a Florida that no longer exists. The plot is a bit predictable, even for a MacDonald story, but it is a very fun and fast read. My main complaint is that the level of poetic insight into the characters' souls is not quite as well-developed as in some of his other work (notably the Travis McGee novels), but Deadly Welcome should make for an enjoyable time for anyone that is a fan of his style and settings.
July 13, 2022
This tale of redemption by John D. MacDonald is one of my top guilty pleasures. Unlike the door stops which are his Travis McGee series, this earlier short paperback packs everything into 160 pages. 160 pages of "this is 1958" in a long-gone area of Florida. There are no philosophizing speeches or long-winded descriptions, the romantic interest lives (unlike the predictable romantic interest die-off in the aforementioned Travis McGee books), and its light reading.
The answers come quickly -when appropriate- and the climax of the story is almost generic. One can easily guess "who did what" but there was a happy satisfaction for me, even when I was handed the clues in the three-paragraph responses everyone in the town of Ramona, FL seems to give. The main character, Alex Doyle, is a likable character with some mystery behind him. I really liked Betty Larkin, the romantic interest as she communicated so well and didn't worry about what was appropriate.
In the end, I am happy for this wounded individual correcting the wrongs of his past (and everyone else's as well).
The answers come quickly -when appropriate- and the climax of the story is almost generic. One can easily guess "who did what" but there was a happy satisfaction for me, even when I was handed the clues in the three-paragraph responses everyone in the town of Ramona, FL seems to give. The main character, Alex Doyle, is a likable character with some mystery behind him. I really liked Betty Larkin, the romantic interest as she communicated so well and didn't worry about what was appropriate.
In the end, I am happy for this wounded individual correcting the wrongs of his past (and everyone else's as well).
July 30, 2018
A lot of practical realism
Greatly enjoyed this book. Ready to go on to the next MacDonald book. Unlike the McGee books he and the girl finally connect in a presumably permanent way. MacDonald seems to have more than a passing familiarity with detective work. Can only guess at what he did during the war.
I love fits nautical descriptions. I have to believe Ravenna, the town name he uses is somewhere on Marco island or close to it. The ten thousand islands would seem to be where the climax occurs. As a former soldier he clearly has some knowledge of guns. Also I believe he learned to shoot a22 Target rifle as a young man. Can only guess if his 'psychotherapy' was realistic. A more contemporary version of Jenna would turn out to have been sexually abused by her father.
That would have complicated Bettie's situation some. One or two loose ends - who raped Bettie is never explained. Needed to know a bit more about what Alex did for the government.
Greatly enjoyed this book. Ready to go on to the next MacDonald book. Unlike the McGee books he and the girl finally connect in a presumably permanent way. MacDonald seems to have more than a passing familiarity with detective work. Can only guess at what he did during the war.
I love fits nautical descriptions. I have to believe Ravenna, the town name he uses is somewhere on Marco island or close to it. The ten thousand islands would seem to be where the climax occurs. As a former soldier he clearly has some knowledge of guns. Also I believe he learned to shoot a22 Target rifle as a young man. Can only guess if his 'psychotherapy' was realistic. A more contemporary version of Jenna would turn out to have been sexually abused by her father.
That would have complicated Bettie's situation some. One or two loose ends - who raped Bettie is never explained. Needed to know a bit more about what Alex did for the government.
December 26, 2020
Neither noir nor hardboiled captures John D. MacDonald's fiction. Best know for his Travis McGee series, his stand-alones are classics as well, including Deadly Welcome. A State Department officer, temporarily assigned to the Defense Department, returns to a small town in Florida where he had confessed to a crime in his youth and escaped punishment by joining the army.
No mystery writer of his time equals his lively descriptions of characters and memorable descriptions of place.
“To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.” - Kurt Vonnegut
"....the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." -- Stephen King
No mystery writer of his time equals his lively descriptions of characters and memorable descriptions of place.
“To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.” - Kurt Vonnegut
"....the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." -- Stephen King
May 26, 2023
Good - but pedestrian MacDonald effort. State dept guy gets yanked back to his rural Florida childhood home and the bullies are back. He is there on a mission to bring back a smart fellow to the cold war effort, but first he must solve a murder and dodge the town baddies. Pretty good conclusion among the thousands (?) of tiny islands and mangrove swamps of Florida gulf ... trying to find where the baddy took our spunky lady.
March 31, 2022
Stand-alone 1959 novel by author John D. MacDonald. Alex Doyle is sent to Ramona Beach, Florida to find and retrieve a government scientist. Alex grew up in Ramona - on the wrong side of the tracks - and he is reluctant to return, a view shared by most of the citizenry. Early on he gets "tuned up" by a sadistic local cop, and you wait for his revenge throughout the book.
July 19, 2023
John D MacDonald is always hit and miss with my mood for how much I'll actually enjoy him, and I didn't catch this at the right time. That said, it's more focused on a single character than most of his non-Travis McGee books, and as always it has smooth writing, an oppressive noir feel, and an unforgettable Florida setting.
January 1, 2023
Fun little story, but I wasn't blown away. The opening is clunky, the rest paces well and was a good read. Will definitely read more John D. MacDonald but I assume from what I've heard that this was not his finest work.
July 23, 2023
With very little editing this could be a Travis McGee prequel-- 'The girl in the pink dress'?
The solution to the murder mystery is unconvincing. The sexual-healing subplot is classic Travis. No houseboat, no split recovery-reward.
The solution to the murder mystery is unconvincing. The sexual-healing subplot is classic Travis. No houseboat, no split recovery-reward.
January 18, 2024
Good semi-early John D MacDonald
I can see hints and other signs of the Travis McGee character and the rural, pinky woods coastal Florida that featured in some of the novels in that series.
I can see hints and other signs of the Travis McGee character and the rural, pinky woods coastal Florida that featured in some of the novels in that series.
August 11, 2025
Classic in the genre.
Read other books by this author many years ago. I think he’s up there with the best but this one isn’t quite in the same league as The Executioners (Cape Fear) but still worth a look for crime thrillers
Read other books by this author many years ago. I think he’s up there with the best but this one isn’t quite in the same league as The Executioners (Cape Fear) but still worth a look for crime thrillers
March 19, 2026
Doesn't have the same snap as the Travis McGee novels. This reads like a more personal project, something in MacDonald's past -- proof, again, that the old maxim only write about what you know is nonsense.
December 26, 2018
Yet another of JDM's florida tale. This one takes place by the everglades, a local boy returns home 15 years after leaving in disgrace, makes good, gets the girl.
March 5, 2019
Pretty sure I found this in the green room at UCB Chelsea on 26th. Maybe Dave Martin left it there?
March 28, 2019
Reviewer "Dave" pretty much said it all. A fun little thriller by a major talent.
May 1, 2022
A sloppy ending damaged a very entertaining hard-boiled thriller. I suspect Macdonald was trying to avoid cliche, but the last fifteen pages or so just didn't work for me. But he's still awesome.
June 5, 2022
Not one of MacDonald's most ambitious novels but an engaging read, nevertheless.
October 2, 2026
You can't go wrong with a John D. MacDonald book! I've read all 21 of the Travis McGee books several times each, and all of the other 60 of his novels more than once. Highly recommended.
January 5, 2016
Loved it.
Written in 1958 by one of my favorite authors, John D. MacDonald. We all read for entertainment, so don't ask me how I can read something so out of date. MacDonald was fond of writing stories set in old Florida. That is, before the explosion of the space race, theme parks, and mass migration from Cuba all transformed Florida. Only old people remember what it was like then, unless you read some of MacDonald's books. And that's part of the enjoyment of this story. We get to see a bit of Florida heritage. A guy is sent to a backwater town to track down a prominent scientist who has retired before his time. Our guy, Doyle, is the hero in the story and actually grew up in the backwater town and left as a very young man to escape the shame of a bad decision in his early life. Doyle starts out fearful of returning, and that fear is enhanced. He also finds reasons to stay. The book has at least a half dozen real characters, some great conflicts, and some good twists. It's not flashy, but it is satisfying.
Written in 1958 by one of my favorite authors, John D. MacDonald. We all read for entertainment, so don't ask me how I can read something so out of date. MacDonald was fond of writing stories set in old Florida. That is, before the explosion of the space race, theme parks, and mass migration from Cuba all transformed Florida. Only old people remember what it was like then, unless you read some of MacDonald's books. And that's part of the enjoyment of this story. We get to see a bit of Florida heritage. A guy is sent to a backwater town to track down a prominent scientist who has retired before his time. Our guy, Doyle, is the hero in the story and actually grew up in the backwater town and left as a very young man to escape the shame of a bad decision in his early life. Doyle starts out fearful of returning, and that fear is enhanced. He also finds reasons to stay. The book has at least a half dozen real characters, some great conflicts, and some good twists. It's not flashy, but it is satisfying.
August 22, 2016
The MacDonald male is self aware. "And he decided that telling her the truth had been for him a kind of therapy he had not realized he needed so badly. It was like retching away something that had lain sour and heavy on his stomach. "
The MacDonald male is a good judge of character. It was in a sense, a dreadful art, this manipulation of human beings. Discover the area of stress. And then nudge so gently, and so carefully. Those who think themselves monstrously clever can best be awed and broken by a phenomenon that can only be the result of greater cleverness. And by something they do not quite understand.
The MacDonald male is a good judge of character. It was in a sense, a dreadful art, this manipulation of human beings. Discover the area of stress. And then nudge so gently, and so carefully. Those who think themselves monstrously clever can best be awed and broken by a phenomenon that can only be the result of greater cleverness. And by something they do not quite understand.
December 21, 2015
#67 from macdonald for me. just finished The Crossroads. now this, 22 dec 15
23 dec 15, finished. great story! really enjoyed this one...has all the bells and whistles. one repugnant cop...more than a few dames...one whose change is welcome and long overdue...a number of mysterious elements that suggest all manner of things, all resolved by story's end. has that travis mcgee flavor to it. onward and upward.
23 dec 15, finished. great story! really enjoyed this one...has all the bells and whistles. one repugnant cop...more than a few dames...one whose change is welcome and long overdue...a number of mysterious elements that suggest all manner of things, all resolved by story's end. has that travis mcgee flavor to it. onward and upward.
September 8, 2013
i realised early on that the cover of the vintage edition i had bought second hand at Hammett in Berlin gave away who did it... but like the best crime novels, that didn't matter, because with MacDonald, its all about the writing. taut, efficient characterisation and plotting with the occasional burst of dazzling imagery, a claustrophobic small town setting and a flawed, bitter protagonist all makes this an inessential but enjoyable thriller.
December 27, 2015
Classic John D. MacDonald
I've always been a huge fan of his Travis McGee novels and am really enjoying catching up on the rest of his back catalog.
Deadly Welcome is set on the Florida coast as usual. The main character is very Travis like although the ending makes this book it's own.
I've always been a huge fan of his Travis McGee novels and am really enjoying catching up on the rest of his back catalog.
Deadly Welcome is set on the Florida coast as usual. The main character is very Travis like although the ending makes this book it's own.
September 7, 2015
The plot's a bit contrived but I really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews