Magnum P.I: A novel

by Roger Bowdler

Readers are introduced to Thomas Magnum, a former Ensign in the Army during the Vietnam War. He is called on to investigate the death of one of his buddies from those days who dies and is implicated in the drug trade.

This is a spin-off novel from the first Magnum P.I. series which ran from 1980 to 1988.

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Jack Heath · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 Star. Such a disappointment. Was I an easy mark to enjoy this book or what? I liked the 1980s TV series with Tom Sellick as Magnum, John Hillerman as Higgins and his "lads," two dangerous-looking Dobermans, Roger Mosley as TC, and Larry Manetti as Rick. The real star was Hawaii with its beauty in living colour. This novel came out of the first episode, "Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii." The story is thin. It doesn't get going until a third of the way in, and only occasionally pokes up its head after that. It packs as much punch as a two-year old with boxing gloves - if you like similes, get ready for a thousand. Magnum was Navel Intelligence during the Vietnam War, and his buddy from those days has been murdered with several baggies of cocaine found in his stomach. Most of the novel is character background. Higgins is portrayed as a racist in every way imaginable while he was in the British Army. Ensign Magnum's superiors, Colonels and the like, have trouble putting together two sentences without an anti-gay diatribe. It's disgraceful. It doesn't apologize. I didn't catch any of this in the TV show! No surprise a second book never appeared. (August 2019)

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I wasn't such a Magnum PI fan I would rate lower.

It does follow the first 2 episodes of the tv series but gives more background. Higgins is more of a jerk in this one. Not just a snob as you may think on TV but a real piece of work.

It is not a bad book just... not a good book.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)


I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)


First time read the author's work?: Yes

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Demesos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Positive: The book provides many background stories of Magnum and the other characters in the series.
Not so great: the book is mostly stories, with much connection. The actual storyline just takes up a minor part of the book.
Terrible: the book depicts misogyny, diminishing rape, taking racist viewpoints, diminishes the severity of German concentration camps, romanticizes the actions of German WW2 soldiers and American Vietnam soldiers, and homophobia. While this might be somewhat accurate in describing the mindset of some people in the 70s and early 80s, the book still fails to create a healthy distance to those viewpoints.