Flynn’s World

Flynn #4

by Gregory McDonald

When the adolescent daughter of Boston Police Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn asks him to rescue her friend Billy from the cemetery, where he has been fastened to a tree by a nail through his earlobe, the good inspector is pretty sure there is something more behind what at first seems like a bully’s prank. And he’s convinced there is more than mischief involved in the hateful threats against distinguished Harvard professor Louis Loveson.

If that weren’t enough to keep Flynn busy, there’s Lieutenant John Kurt, whose very impressive arrest record follows some very disturbing patterns. In Flynn’s World, the dogged detective confronts intolerance in all its guises and sheds light on more than one dark secret.

F. X. Flynn made his first appearance in Confess, Fletch, in which he matched wits with the inimitable Irwin Fletcher. Since then he has befuddled, bemused, amazed, and infuriated his colleagues on the Boston Police force as he has pursued international terrorists, blackmailers, murderers, embezzlers, politicians, and, occasionally, his fellow policemen—all while doing his regular job.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, Detective, Thriller, Humor

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 24, 2003

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very disappointed by this book. As it's the last in the Flynn series I was hoping for a strong finish but alas that didn't happen. It seemed to me that what I really became interested in with the character Flynn in the first book slowly dissipated during the next three, until we get to this story where there really doesn't seem to be much of a plot to any of the story arcs. Of the three major ones, the one that takes up the majority of the book ends up being very anticlimactic of a finish. And another that has the least time spent on it ends up being the major ending to the story. Overall, I was hoping for something that sucked me in like the first and second Flynn stories did. But this one just had me reading so that I could finish and move on to another book. I wish the series ended a bit stronger.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.
Published nearly 20 years after the preceding installment of the Flynn saga, it supposedly takes place a few weeks later. The Flynn novels are uneven; I loved the first one, the second was not as good but OK. The third was just...weird. And this? I'm not even sure what this was.
I was looking for some light witty entertainment, but after "Flynn's In", I wasn't sure I would get it. Well, there's hardly any story here; what we get is a sort of rant wrapped in a few scraps of story. Flynn has a television...in the parental bedroom, where the kids can't really get to it without permission. His wife has a computer...which no one else in the house is expected to use. Flynn refuses to have a cellphone. Television is shown centrestage as the destructor of society as we know it, closely followed by computers. Apparently McDonald never heard of selective viewing. The Flynns have a 10 month old baby, which given that he makes No 5 may indicate how Ma and Da spend their evenings, since they're so anti-television.

An aging university professor who should have retired a decade before is being shunned by his colleagues and receiving threats. Why? Well, IMO the explanations of that really didn't hang together. Flynn's daughter has her first boyfriend, who is found after dark in the cemetery with his ear nailed to a tree. Why? The explanation of that one was unconvincing, too. Flynn himself is up for a disciplinary hearing by his boss. Why? That's the only thread that was really entertaining. We're given teasers of Flynn's backstory, but that's all they are. Flynn makes several remarks of the "we'll just see about that" sort, as if he already has all the answers and is prepared to take action to make several people very, very sorry--but when it comes to it, he bumbles around much more than usual.

Apparently MacDonald was just using this book to air his personal issues and opinions. Unfortunately, the narration was choppy, switching from one place, time and group of characters to another without so much as a transitional sentence. It read like a poorly-written TV screenplay, and that is not a compliment.

Meh, as I said. Harmless, but annoying. Didn't help me relax on a sleepless night.
One and a half stars.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this episode in the series better than the 1st. Loved the morality and the truths in the plot. Funny, clean, entertainingly decent - and I’m officially the author’s fan. Narrator is excellent. Christian morality treated fairly and with clarity.

[Bill Sheldon · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was like some lesser author read the other books and then gave it a shot. Take all the consistent characteristics of Flynn, Grover, and Corky, and turn them upside down. Bad finish to a great series.

[Chuck Childers · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the author of Fletch. I actually like the Flynn series a bit better (kinder, less smug) and I'm pretty happy to find a Flynn novel that I haven't read yet.

[Bill Seitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good coverage of "old school" sense of honor, truth, and justice.

[Mhd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Flynn at his best! Do read the others before in the series before this one. I'm just surprised that this book has been out 8 years but I only just found it...

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started this book I was so happy. I missed reading Flynn books. The dialogue, the lightness of tone, the twisted nature of the plot. It was all back. Why did I wait so long to read this final story.

But the last third lost me completely. The resolution to the Billy storyline reads like an old man’s opinion. The anti TV and anti Internet screeds felt like Flynn’s idiosyncrasies. But the “women can’t wrestle men” felt like a women can’t compete with men. Opinion. And the it left me feeling like the whole latter half of the book was just an old man complaining about kids today.

Also I can’t tell if Grover liking the professor was meant to be funny or nice? And I should be able to tell.

I won’t be rereading this book. Though I’ll still reread some of the earlier ones.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the least satisfying of the series. I enjoyed Flynn, and I enjoyed the different stories, and enjoyed getting to know his family and Grover better, but I was less impressed by Macdonald’s desire to rail against progress. The book is, at times, more about old fashioned morals, and holding these up as preferred and resisting change than about detection. I might sometimes sympathise with, and I do recognise that some of the points he makes may have value, but the issues are not as simple (and black and white) as Macdonald is implying in his conclusions. I felt Macdonald used Flynn’s to get a few things off his own chest, which was a shame.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grover is finally redeemed :-) I adore Flynn series and wish it could have continued. Flynn is a man without many flaws, but is also redeemed by having had an awful childhood..
The characters just make me laugh and smile

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this very unusual mystery Inspector Flynn solves two crimes (one involving who nailed his daughter’s boyfriend’s ear to a tree) while delivering wit and social commentary. The book is ridiculously hilarious but at times just ridiculous.

[Addison · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my moms favorite authors so it was really fun to read and think of her! Very witty and hunourous and driven by dialog! Within this there is a surprising amount of politics, philosophy and worldly meditations! Highly recommend for a silly read with a splash of realness.

[Steven M. Durben · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good Flynn story

I was pleased and surprised to find that I missed this book when it was published. It was nice to have one last Flynn story!!

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright but a bit half hearted?

[Lisa Citron · Rating 2 out of 5]

the whole Flynn series is included with Audible, so I've gotten to enjoy the whole series. This one was disappointing, though I appreciated the glimpses of Flynn family life.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flynn encounters the "woke" people and maintains his composure as he puts out a series of fires around him to try to maintain some semblance of normality in modernity.

[John Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice story, actually several stories, about the world that Flynn lives in, personally and professionally. Nothing real exciting and very entertaining. A good ending to the too-short Flynn series.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the other 3

[J New · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did not hold up well. It’s a soapbox and a bit of a mess. As a big fan of Fletch and Flynn I read it for completions sake.

[Andy Rausch · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book in the Flynn series. Mcdonald does everything right with this one. Perfect.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Character of Flynn. His interactions with his assistant "Cocky" Concannon and his sergeant Richard "Grover" Whelan make this series so good. Plus the Flynn family. Good stuff.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to read.

[astaliegurec · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.0 out of 5 stars
More a Political Tract Than a Mystery
July 23, 2004

Unfortunately, this book is basically a political tract and not any kind of mystery. Even worse, the politics presented just reinforce my belief in how miserable this world is due to PC. To add insult to injury, the mysteries Flynn is trying to solve are trivial (essentially there for McDonald to wrap his politics around) and Flynn's wry attitude are taken to such an extreme that they go right past "two-dimensional" and into "one-dimensional" (i.e., the characterization are worse than flat). I suppose if you're a die-hard Flynn fan, you'll want to read this. But otherwise, I'd suggest staying far away: it's just too depressing to read.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot going on in Flynn's worlds (e.g. the world of his family, the world of his job as the only Inspector in the Boston P.D., the world of his job as a super spy in No Name). This captures more of the worlds that I prefer, so was a much more enjoyable Flynn outing. Didn't really care that the mystery was inevitably solved. I did care that I had one more adventure with Flynn and his family. There was a lot more that could have been explored in Flynn's worlds, but Flynn was simply overshadowed by Gregory McDonald's other creation, I. M. Fletcher. I was glad to see Grover finally get room to shine in his own way.

[Søren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize this book was part of a series at first, but the story is rather 'stand-alone' as it explains things, histories of the characters,etc throughout the book as time goes on. First, off what an intelligent novel! Plenty of witty banter and big words! So fun. Also, one of the most enjoyable mystery novels I have ever read. It's almost two stories in one; one major plot and a minor subplot. It has quite a satisfying ending as well. Great "summer read" for reading-thinkers!

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows, Flynn, an investigator of sorts who has been given the job to figure out who is trying to harm a Harvard professor AND his own assignment of who has hurt his daughter's friends. Flynn is a fun character, witty, sarcastic and makes lots of great references to history and literature. I didn't realize at first this was not a novel, but rather part of a series.

Favorite quote: "I suspected certainty stunts growth."

[Peter Flom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: F. X. Flynn is the only Inspector on the Boston Police Department. He's also agent 13 of "No Name". A father of 5. And a force to be reckoned with.

Here, he is trying to find out who is threatening the life of Professor Loveson, who nailed his daughter's boyfriend's ear to a tree and why a certain Boston policeman only arrests people who are Black, Jewish, Asian or gay.

A delight.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story, easy read and good characterization. A little thin on excitement and lacking a hook to pull me in to the story, so not giving it my highest rating.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never could recall where he fit into Fletch's world