The Mangrove Coast

Doc Ford #6

by Randy Wayne White

Readers who still yearn for Travis McGee and wish the Busted Flush wasn't in permanent dry dock should hook up with Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford--a Travis McGee for The '90s. (The Orlando Sentinel). Randy Wayne White continues to produce the kind of novel that makes The Denver Post say, We'll always drop anything to read a new Randy Wayne White novel, and be glad we did. In The Mangrove Coast, the daughter of a dead war buddy calls Ford in distress. If you're ever really in trouble, his friend had written her, Ford's the one you can trust. And trouble is what she's got. Her mother's disappeared in Mexico without a trace, in the company of an unsavory companion, and her money's gone, too. Doc agrees to help, and finds himself in Baja, on the trail of a man more genuinely evil than any he has ever encountered. There's more to it than that, though--a third man whose shadowy presence brings death in its wake. For Doc, the mystery--and the danger--only deepens. In fact, solving the puzzle may turn out to be the most perilous thing of all. Filled with crackling prose and atmosphere, and some of the best characters in contemporary suspense, The Mangrove Coast is a triumph of inventive storytelling.

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

290 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 1998

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

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good Doc Ford book. Concerns a dead friend's wife and daughter being conned by an evil man. This one has a surprise ending that comes out of left field. Just enjoy.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed many of White’s books for his engaging characters and suspenseful plots. However, this one’s not one of his best. The plot takes a long time to get going, and the characters are so pathetic, or so unsavory, that I was left with a bad taste in my mouth.

In White’s defense, probably a real-life covert operation would be 75% research and 25% excitement. However, this ratio does not work well in a book. The hero spends too much time doing his research at home, and only the last quarter of the book rescuing the troubled victim. And the ending — depressing and pointless.

[Betsy Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am surprised at the previous reviews. I liked the plot of this book and the twists that it took. As I read more of the Doc Ford series I am especially enjoying the character developments of Doc and Tomlinson and their relationship.

[Chris Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I got hooked on this series a couple of months ago, after visiting Sanibel Island I can't help but read a couple of Randy Wayne White's books.

"The Mangrove Coast" is a sort of traditional Doc Ford thriller / mystery. But what I've grown to really enjoy in this series is the cerebral approach Ford takes to challenges, both internal and external. He is a man deeply haunted by his past who tries to rationalize his way through without the benefit of emotion. He is flawed, far from perfect but accepts that and strives to improve, knowing that he will fail and have to try again.

The tone, voice and setting of these novels are particularly relaxing for me to read and evoke images and memories of my time on the island.

The action is crisp and the plot in this work in particular gets very interesting, very fast. White does such a great job of juking out the reader, leaving one wondering what the heck just happened.

My only issues with this latest work are;

- at times he tinkers with the POV chronology, bouncing back and forth between past and present with little warning or context. Jarred my reading a couple of times.
- there was too much emotion crammed into the final 3 chapters that I felt we, as readers, did not really have a chance to grasp the gravity of what had just occurred. HUGE, multiple events were almost glossed over.

But I don't really care. I've got the next book in the series looking right at me.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This entry in the Doc Ford series has the daughter of a great friend of Ford's looking him up for a favor. It seems her mother is being victimized by an evil, evil man.

Ford investigates, with his best friend, Tomlinson, and Ford's uncle, Tucker, ( who actually is a lot like Tomlinson). The investigation takes them to Colombia, then Panama. Downer ending.

Pretty good, not as violent as some books in the series but still brings the thrills.

[window · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just an OK read. I thought that the plot really dragged for the first 60-75% of the book - not enough to make me abandon it, but enough to make it easy to put down.

There were a few things that didn't come across as believable, starting with Gail getting involved with a disgusting character like Jackie Merlot in the first place. The author never fully explains how they even got to know each other years before. Also, Doc's willingness to drop everything, put himself in mortal danger, and take off to South America without batting an eye felt like a stretch to me. Doc's relationship 20 years ago with Gail's husband that ended with his death just didn't seem to be strong enough to prompt such a sacrifice so many years later for people he had never met. Also, why Doc would brutally kill Jackie's body guard and then literally watch Jackie walk away makes no sense. The ending, while definitely unexpected, felt very contrived.

The author did do a nice job with describing life in coastal Florida and while I found the Tucker character annoying, the Tomlinson character was well done - a quirky, modern stoner-philosopher.

In reading other reviews, others have noted that this isn't White's best work. It's the first book of his I've read, so I'd be willing to give him another try, hoping the next one will be better.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting adventure with Doc Ford, this book has the reader turning pages and reading as fast as possible. When Doc gets a call from the daughter of an old friend who was with him in the war, asking for his help in rescuing her mother from a sleazy con man, he accepts and immediately finds himself in trouble as he goes on the mission. In typical laid-back, but still deep-secret, espionage manner, he does what he needs to do, but never expects what happens at the end. This is definitely a good read that will keep you up late at night reading until you finish it.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Salient topic in 2020 despite being written about two decades earlier. Incredible ending. The best in the Ford series thus far (early I know)

[Maggie K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, but some of the plot just didnt line up for me.

I didnt understand Doc's motivations, his handling of the villain, or his tugging loyalties between the mother and daughter. Not putting together Bobby's mission and his disappearance as more connected, and Uncle Tucker.

Uncle Tucker. I will have to think a little on him, I guess, because I think he may be the reason for the above....common denominator and all that. Ford's unrelenting resentment of the man makes him an unreliable narrator of his abilities, and his efforts to help could very well be helpful if not fo Ford's attempts to exclude him. Add to that the daughter's seeming affection, and well, geez Doc.

Still, I kept picking it up and was invested in the outcome.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The daughter of a dead war buddy calls Ford in distress. If you're ever really in trouble, his friend had written her, Ford's the one you can trust. And trouble is what she's got. Her mother's disappeared in Mexico without a trace, in the company of an unsavory companion, and her money's gone, too. Doc agrees to help, and finds himself in Baja, on the trail of a man more genuinely evil than any he has ever encountered. “

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not have a clue how to rate this book. It was very engrossing. The plot was bizarre. Not contrived, just bizarre. Doc is such an elusive character. I think even to himself. Just one of the most unusual books I’ve read in a long time.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some great parts - and some not so great parts. I enjoy Doc's character,but it seemed the story was drawn out alot. Guess my mind wants to wander it it's not being engaged at enough rpm.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am slowly making my way through the Doc Ford series on the recommendation of close friends. I enjoy the marine biologist Doc Ford’s digressions on the natural history of Florida, particularly about sea creatures that I know little about. Author White clearly has studied Florida’s flora and fauna. However, White’s crime writing is less impressive. It took him nearly half the book to introduce the reader to the various characters and their respective backgrounds. So, it is hard for the action portion to make up for the slow start—even though White takes us to exotic locations in Cartagena, Columbia and the Panamanian Gamboa. Meh!

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mangrove Coast by Randy Wayne White (Berkley Books 1998)(Fiction - Mystery) is another installment in the line of Doc Ford novels. This one was the weakest one I've read. I missed the usual detailed descriptive narratives involving various sea creatures, which to me are the most fun (and distinctive) portions of the storytelling. In this tale, Doc hunts for the wife of a former CIA buddy (now deceased) who has fallen under the spell of a svengali. My rating: 6/10, finished 8/30/12.

[Richard Katz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must confess that I was deeply disappointed with this book, after the very happy discovery of author Randy Wayne White's Sannibel Flats. The pacing was way off; felt as if the author could not wait to finish writing this book. And where was the editor? A surprise ending that was not a big surprise and unsatisfying. I will give White another chance since Sanibel Flats was so very good. I hope that Tomlinson makes a more full return in other books, as this Skink-like character is terrific!

[Jacqulyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Florida man can sure spin a great tale. I was hooked from the beginning and was completely reeled in by the end of the story. Doc Ford is joined once again by his crazy old uncle Tucker Gatrell, who always manages to throw the normally cool Ford off his game. Doc's mysterious past has come back to haunt him, requiring that favors be called in from people he had hoped to leave behind. But Ford never lets down a friend, even one who has been dead for nearly two decades.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Mangrove Coast” is about Doc Ford, a Florida Marine biologist, who lives in a stilted shack on Dinkins Bay. He hears from a dead war buddies daughter that her mother was missing and Doc finds out that her stepfather had been killed. Doc can’t turn Amanda down when she asks for his help to find her mother. The trail leads Doc to places he never thought he would have to go to track down Amanda’s mother and her kidnapper. A good book in the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White.

[Elizabeth VanKirk Doerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's voice feels very different in this one. More politics and preaching and Ayn-Rand-getting-this-off-my-chest sort of way. Randy Wayne White mad at someone/something? Story good, as always, the big and little surprises that we have come to expect, but just didn't feel like the old Doc Ford I have come to enjoy.

That said, give it a read. Why not.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doc Ford #6. Best one so far!

Even though we are 20 years beyond the publication of this book (1998), this review still hold true: "Readers who still yearn for Travis McGee and wish the Busted Flush wasn't in permanent dry dock should hook up with Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford--a Travis McGee for the '90s. -- The Orlando Sentinel. "

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say this one started out slow and dragged its heels, but in the end it was in my opinion one of the best in the Doc Ford series. Its one of those stories that when you are done you have to remind yourself its just a story. Very emotional, very well written.

[Eloise · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Doc Ford books just get better and better! This one has a surprise ending I never would have guessed. But it seems remarkably plausible. Rock on, Doc!

[Blain Dillard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jimmy Buffett meets Carl Hiaasen meets Daniel Silva. My first Doc Ford novel. Not bad. I'll give others in the series a try.

[CliffAnderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

This is one of his better books so far. I'll keep reading his series since they are readable,though not terribly well written.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mild mannered Biologist by day.... EX CIA when he needs to be..... A good story with with travel, tragedy and twists.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mangrove Coast. Randy Wayne White. Putnam, 1998. 290 pages. Book 6 of 28 in Doc Ford series.

Marine biologist and former-secret-agent-of-some-undisclosed-sort Doc Ford is just living his life in his Sanibel Island, Florida stilt house when he gets a visit from a stranger claiming to be the daughter of an old comrade killed in Cambodia on a secret mission shortly after the Vietnam War. In letters home, the friend had told his wife that Doc was the man to call on if she ever needed help when her husband was not around. Now, the daughter needs Doc's help. Her mother is missing and possibly endangered by a really shady and worrisome individual. She's broken all contact with the daughter and may be out of the country. Worried and intent on helping his dead buddy's family, Doc finds himself enmeshed in a dark mystery that takes him to Cartagena, Colombia and then to Panama. Another good Doc Ford mystery, and here's the history link: the book was published in 1998, and today it makes for a quaint look back at the early days of home computing and the internet. Emails and chat rooms comprise an integral part of the story, but it was new territory in 1998. Characters refer to emails as "letters' and "correspondence." At one point during their first meeting, the daughter is surprised to learn that Doc doesn't own a computer. Ford declares that he has no need for one, saying "I have a phone, a public library down the street, and the post office. Why do I need a computer?"

[anonymousreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just an OK read. I thought that the plot really dragged for the first 60-75% of the book - not enough to make me abandon it, but enough to make it easy to put down.

There were a few things that didn't come across as believable, starting with Gail getting involved with a disgusting character like Jackie Merlot in the first place. The author never fully explains how they even got to know each other years before. Also, Doc's willingness to drop everything, put himself in mortal danger, and take off to South America without batting an eye felt like a stretch to me. Doc's relationship 20 years ago with Gail's husband that ended with his death just didn't seem to be strong enough to prompt such a sacrifice so many years later for people he had never met. Also, why Doc would brutally kill Jackie's body guard and then literally watch Jackie walk away makes no sense. The ending, while definitely unexpected, felt very contrived.

The author did do a nice job with describing life in coastal Florida and while I found the Tucker character annoying, the Tomlinson character was well done - a quirky, modern stoner-philosopher.

In reading other reviews, others have noted that this isn't White's best work. It's the first book of his I've read, so I'd be willing to give him another try, hoping the next one will be better.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

You don’t need to read the previous five books in this series to enjoy this one. It helps, a little maybe, and I’ve done it, but that doesn’t mean you should feel you have to. This is a great mystery with some dark unblinking patches that include glimpses of pedophilia. If dark topics like that easily upset you, you can skip this and be ok. But if you do, you’ll miss out on a decent read with an especially twisty ending you won’t expect.

Gail Richardson is missing, and her daughter, Amanda, worries for her mother’s safety. Gail Richardson was married to a friend of Doc Ford named Bobby. He and Doc did clandestine stuff in southeast Asia after the Vietnam war, and an explosion vaporized Bobby one day. He left behind Gail and five-year-old Amanda. Gail remarried but never really loved the man. When that marriage fell apart, she got caught in the influential sphere of a nearly 400-pound man with child-like features. It is he who marries Gail, cleans out her accounts, then isolates and imprisons her mentally in a tropical small town on the Panama Canal. Amanda wants Doc Ford to rescue her mom.

The book feels a little slow to me. It’s not the kind of slow that lets your mind wander, and if you stay with it, the final two hours or so (normal Speed) will draw you in and change your heart rate in a place or two. It’s very much worth the time you’ll spend with it.

[Bonnie Gleckler Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE MANGROVE COAST is the sixth of Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford series and it is the fastest, most compelling and most intense book in this absolutely wonderful series about a Florida marine biologist and his hipster friend Tomlinson.
What I have yet to understand, however is how a marine biologist gets his self involved in so many other activities specifically investigating criminal activities.
I’ve had the good fortune to travel to Sanibel Island, and to visit both of the doc Ford restaurants there. Any of the books that Randy Wayne White has written might be purchased there.
What the author tells us about The Mangrove Coast is spot on. However, in this particular novel we learn more about Columbia and the environ there and in Panama than we do of Florida.
Doc Ford even seems a bit more Trepidatious with regard to this investigation and in particular with his uncles involvement. Especially knowing it involves the widow and daughter of one of his long past friends. But as always he solves the problem at hand, but this time does not go unscathed.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Mangrove Coast” is another good Doc Ford book which gave the reader an interesting story with a different, yet compelling plot. White also wrote several engaging plot twists with a real surprise surprise ending which totally caught me. Trying not to give any spoilers, this story was a little sad at the ending.

Doc gets a call from the daughter of an old friend who was with him in the war years. She is asking for Doc’s help in rescuing her mother from a sleazy con man. As expected, Doc accepts and soon finds himself caught up in a strange and dangerous web of deceit and murder. Unexpectedly, Doc Ford is joined once again by his crazy old uncle Tucker Gatrell.

White's stories are carefully crafted which is part of his ability of being a good story teller. At times, his plot does bog down - often from some excessive details or explanation, but White keeps the reader involved. “The Mangrove Coast” may not be White’s best, but it is a good story.

[MisterLiberry Head · Rating 2 out of 5]

To tell you the truth, Marion “Doc” Ford often comes off as a prig and a jerk. He thinks of himself as a Vulcan, but he’s really a Romulan. It’s hard to imagine a guy this conflicted passing his spook-agency psych screening much less partnering with SEALS on dark ops in Cambodia. Nevertheless, his sixth adventure has Doc trying to rescue the sexy widow and plucky daughter of a long-dead covert ops buddy who have fallen prey to a moral monster named Jackie Merlot. The plot hinges on the days of dial-up modems and the heinous possibilities cyber-tech opened for the early Internet predators. To be fair, THE MANGROVE COAST benefits from a back-and-forth chronology and a confessional, almost mournful tone. If only Doc-as-first-person-narrator would take a rest from fortune-cookie declarations like: “The past is constructed of memory, the future of expectations” (p26).