Twelve Mile Limit

Doc Ford #9

by Randy Wayne White

"We'll drop anything we're doing [for] a new Randy White novel and be glad we did." (Denver Post)Randy Wayne White's ninth Doc Ford novel starts out as a fun excursion for four divers off the Florida coast. Two days later only one is found alive - naked atop a light tower in the Gulf of Mexico. What happened during those 48 hours? Doc Ford thinks he's prepared for the truth. He isn't.

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

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother was a huge fan of Randy Wayne White. She passed away in 2018 and since then I have tried to make it my goal to read at least one book a year by an author than was a favorite of hers. Randy Wayne White won the December lottery. This one had so much going on that it was a bit hard to keep up. There was an attractive lawyer, a disaster and rescue at sea, Dinkin's Bay parties, Coast Guard lore, drunken bigshot actors, dog fights, drug and human smugglers, wicked, bad-tempered Columbians, a very large Albino, mysterious mid-easterners, an I.R.A. bomber on the run, headhunters who were paid by some government assassins, midnight raids, a jungle adventure and four different women in bed with Doc Ford. Ho White managed to put all this together and write something that you could actually keep up with and understand is way beyond my reasoning. He started with the capsizing of a small dive boat nearly 50 miles out at sea. The nightmare of spending days lost at sea waiting for the Coast Guard to find you unfolds with what I interpreted to be realism. Doc Ford decides to continue the investigation long after the authorities have given up. I couldn't really judge the scenes in the jungles of Columbia, I thought bordered on improbability. You have to wonder how all these pieces and parts came together so conveniently. I also have to wonder at my 95-year-old mother reading this...but I guess i read some things she had to wonder about also.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Doc Ford adventure.

Some friend of Doc's goes on a dive with a party, and they go missing. One of the members is found, but the other seem to disappear without a trace.

Doc, being Doc, manages to track down his friend to a human trafficking ring. Along the way, he gets into a fight with a Steven Seagal type movie actor, who is in town for an environmental sham fundraiser.

Doc finds his way to Colombia, and we enter Heart of Darkness territory, as he tracks his friend through the lawless jungle.

A great one!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 9th offering in the Doc Ford mystery series. White bases this one on an actual incident that occurred in 1994—four underwater divers exploring the wreck Baja California ended up stranded when their boat sank. One made it to a tower and was saved. The other three were never found. White fictionalized the divers, but all of the facts surrounding the case are true. It IS an intriguing case!

I admit that I enjoy White’s discussions regarding the natural history of Florida—whether it is the habits of the Tiger Shark or how an opportunistic octopus can steal crabs from an enclosed tank. It has only been within the last few years that I have been making my way through the Doc Ford series. Fortunately, there are many more offerings available to look forward to. Recommend.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a real weakness for stories that take place, geographically, in areas with which I am familiar and this one happens, for the most part, on the Florida Gulf coast. Have you ever heard the characteristic, "If you ask him the time he will tell you how to make a watch?" You could characterize this author that way. His protagonist is a marine biologist who is hunting for three people lost on the Gulf. During the course of his search he teaches us much more than we need to know about marine life, astronomy, Gulf current charts, the formation of the Gulf Stream, etc.; not to mention the histories of several personal relationships.
He also puts our hero in some unlikely positions with unlikely outcomes. It was a struggle.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have another new hero, Dr. Marion D. Ford. Just discovered him in this book, he is a marine biologist currently, and has his own lab, on the sea coast of Sanibel Island, FL. It is a tight nit community of quirky characters of which he is one. He has a past, CIA I believe, and it is much different than the life he lives now. But every once in a while he needs to use those skills, and in this case it is to seek out and find a friends who were lost at sea. Exciting read, with a few more details than one needs, but I can deal with that. Based loosely on the loss of 4 Navy Seals under similar circumstances in the same area, over the Baja California that was sunk there.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook. Doc Ford is a marine biologist living on Sanibel Island in Florida. He is surrounded by an eclectic group of fishermen, island bums, and faithful friends. Doc is no ordinary scientist, however. He possesses the unique skills of the most highly trained special forces and once upon a time did deadly work for the government. In this book his friend Janet, who lives nearby and is his sometimes lab assistant has gone missing in the Gulf of Mexico along with 3 friends. Janet was scuba diving near the shipwreck of the Baja California off the southwest coast of Florida. Only one of the 4 divers was found on a light tower in the Gulf. Amelia tells a tale of being separated from the group after their boat sinks. They were all trying to get to the tower, but only she made it. She confides to Doc that she believes another boat had come near them in the dark and she believes her companions may be alive. Doc is skeptical, but he has connections in and out of government who can provide him with satellite surveillance and other intel. He learns there was indeed another ship in the area hauling human cargo. Janet and her companions were abducted right out of the sea. The dangerous mission to save them is on. It takes Doc and Amelia to Cartagena, Columbia chasing after a dangerous, ruthless smuggler. I would have given this thriller 4 stars had it not been for a couple of salacious sexual scenes - one involving his friends and one involving a head hunting wild native in the jungles of Columbia. I think they were extraneous and only there for titillations.

[Jaq Greenspon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up.

To be fair, this wasn’t a book for me. The slightly cartoonish cover and description leads one to believe it’s going to be a Carl Hiaasen style book about a marine biologist who goes on adventures and solves a mystery or two.

It’s not. It’s a actually a couple of different books, with different styles and tones, but ends with finding out the marine biologist is an ex military special forces killer type dude with a gun fetish and every woman in the book is described starting with her nipples.

Also, the title has nothing to do with the book. At all.

I finished it, but as I as I say, not for me.

[Dan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A fun excursion for four divers off the Florida coast. Two days later only one is found alive - naked atop a light tower in the Gulf of Mexico. What happened during those 48 hours? And what happened to the other three? The people at Dinkins Bay and Doc Ford don’t give up. and little by little things start coming together. But it is not what you would expect.”

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has given me a glimpse about international flesh-trade businesses, white slavery and smuggling of illegal aliens. It’s more than just a triller.

[Karen Dustman · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a great read!

Sweeps you away… in the best of ways. A book you don’t want to end. Though this one has a fun surprise at the end.

[Chris Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot stand how GREAT this entire series is.

I can't explain why, but the author's writing style is directly in my wheelhouse. Everything from plot to description to setting to pace to tension to characterization is, to me, just spot on - every time.

White uses several surprising twists to really draw in the reader, punch 'em in the back of the head several times, before showing what was missed earlier in the book.

While his books never end "well" for the protag, there is always an inevitable, juicy moment of much-deserved revenge at the end.

Our hero is broken, battered, beleaguered and just beat; but always comes through in the end.

Love this series and am hell bent on reading the entire series before January. In order if possible.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the fifth book I have read by this author. Randy Wayne White is a great story teller, his characters are interestingly quirky and the plot changes keep you reading. His stories are set in Florida and involve some aspect of the culture or history of the area. I can't wait to read another of his books. I'm so glad my brother-in-law recommended this author.

[Gerry O'Malley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book on the advice of a perfect stranger. A patient I was attending to in the ER was reading another Randy Wayne White "Doc Ford" adventure novel while she was waiting for her tests to be completed. She was a lovely 92-year old former nurse and we struck up a wonderful conversation. She told me she'd read almost all of Mr. White's book and she loved them. I asked her which one she would recommend to a novice reader like myself and she thought for a few minutes then recommended this one because "it was so action packed!" I whipped out my iPhone and bought the book on the spot. Just finished reading it and I'm afraid I don't see what my patient was so enthusiastic about. The character of "Doc Ford" seems a teensy bit ridiculous - a marine biologist living in essentially a beach house on Sanibel Island on the gulf coast of Florida, surrounded by a kooky bunch of beach-bum ne'er-do-wells. In his former life, however. our intrepid biologist was a Delta-Forces-marine-sniper-Navy SEAL-Army-Ranger-mercenary-gun-for-hire-all around badass with spook-type covert black mask, skunk works friends and operatives all over the world. The story is very slow to start - almost nothing of importance happens until the book is well into the 200+ page mark. The author spends 3 or 4 chapter describing the details of a very boring bar fight. The details of this book really don't matter, except to say that in the entirety of the book, the "Twelve Mile Limit" is mentioned exactly once and has absolutely nothing to do with the story. I suspect that all the "Doc Ford" stories have the same or similar details; I won't be reading any of them so I guess I'll never find out. After reading this book, my brain ached a little like my teeth do after eating too many sweets.

[Brett Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tagged this "sci-fi" although it is not because the fun part of this book is the science. The protagonist, a marine biologist, brings up how things work all the time: technology, ocean currents, biology, and even the tendencies of human groups. The wishy-washy suburban "libertarian liberal" outlook of the character, and the Austinite Utopia of Sentinel Bay and its "Cannery Row" list of oddfellows and eccentrics, does not resonate as real; it fits within the "cozy" realm where some out of work young lady whose boyfriend just cheated on her after promising to marry her for eleven years defies her parents, rent, and economics itself in order to make a cake shop in the tiny town of Bittersweet, Oregon prosper while solving a murder mystery linked to the dark history of the region. The unbelievable stuff is matched by Men's Adventure(tm) style unbelievable combat stuff. Suspend your disbelief, and you get a fun story about a guy who just wants to study ocean creatures thrown into a brutal revenge sequence. In my view, the strength is that he sees a logical world that sometimes overlaps with the religion and materialism around him, but by being a believer in nothing, is open to keeping the debate alive. The slow build to the adventure portion had its moments but dragged on, and then the adventure portion managed to be slow with lots of stock characters but at least one gratifying non-boss villain. I would read another one of these, which is more than I can say for most books of this sub-sub-genre.

[Carl]

This is the ninth in Randy Wayne White's popular Doc Ford Mystery series. White bases the “Twelve Mile Limit” on an actual incident that occurred in 1994. A group of divers – one of them is a friend of Doc’s - while exploring the wreck Baja California, end up stranded when their boat sank. Doc and his friends from Dinkin's Bay marina on Sanibel Island start a search for their friend, which ultimately leads Doc into fishing issues and even international flesh-trade businesses, white slavery, and smuggling of illegal aliens.

Randy Wayne White has become one of my more enjoyable modern authors. White's stories are normally carefully crafted which is part of his ability of being a good story teller. At times, as in parts of this story, his plot does bog down a little, but it is still a good story. His characterization is outstanding as he creates characters that you like or hate - that you find interesting! His development of local color makes the island life come to life. This entry is darker, more personal, as people missing at sea, human trafficking, travel into the jungles of South America complete with battles. I enjoy his inclusion of Florida geography, marine biology, history and local color and folklore, and how White takes the time to explain it in a way that makes it relevant and interesting. This story is a good read complete with action, mystery, and other events that keep the reader engaged.

[Keith Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ninth entry into the Doc Ford thriller series is a winner. Based on an actual event, White weaves an engrossing tale of a shipwreck where three of the four passengers go missing, not even their bodies are found. Where the hell did they go?

Randy Wayne White always manages to weave science and history into his stories; One can almost feel what he’s been reading and learning in his off hours while writing a new tale, and ‘Twelve Mile Limit’ pulls in more learning that most. The facts of the shipwreck, for instance, are exactly the same as a real shipwreck that occurred involving four seasoned divers who sailed 52 miles off the Florida coast to view the wreck of the Baja California in 110 feet of water when something sank their boat. One diver managed to swim four miles to a lighthouse tower but the three disappeared, and despite wearing lifejackets, they were never recovered. This is where White’s imagination takes over and the science and history bits come in. I learned about the Gulf Of Mexico gyre, hypothermia in tropical waters, revolution and terrorism in modern-day Columbia and the white slave trade. But most of all, White assembled and white knuckle ride of a story and adds further insight into Doc Ford’s past that does much to explain the man he’s become. Four Stars.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve Mile Limit Randy Wayne White. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2002. 304 pages. Book 9 of 28 in the Doc Ford series.

The 9th Doc Ford mystery open with a scuba diving tragedy that takes the life of Janet Mueller, one of Doc Ford's Dinkins Bay neighbors and friends. White based the story on a real-life incident that occurred in 1994, down to the details of the search for the real victims and using real quotes from people involved in the real investigation, but he adapted the true story to accommodate the fictional Janet and her three companions. The Canadians who disappeared in the true story were never found, however, and White's hypothesis of what happened to them provides the rest of the plot for this dark story. The plot revolves around human trafficking and the international sex slave trade, and it requires Ford to mount a rescue mission to the jungles of Colombia. Published in 2002, it tackles the subject well before human trafficking became as big a part of our public awareness. Ford is dragged into a large and violent international conspiracy that threatens his life and those lives of people close to him. Another good Ford thriller.

[Lee Fritz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was absolutely fun! Having just traveled to the Sanibel island area this month I was in the spirit for the low key waterfront setting, and this was a great introduction to the world of Doc Ford by Randy Wayne White. Perhaps because this is the 9th in the series I missed a lot of set up info on Doc and his compatriots. Even still, it read as an entertaining beach book with dastardly drug dealers and quick romance.

I had a hard time wrapping my head around just who Doc “is” between his various expertise and flexible age descriptions. Is he old enough to have completed extensive university learning, plus intense military action (of the secret variety) and still have relationships with women of the various ages described? Once I stopped rationalizing and instead thought of him as “James Bond of the Keys” it was simpler to enjoy the Clancy style adventure.

I will look to go back and try to read a few in chronological order to see whether the world makes a little more sense.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a boat with one of their own onboard is missing all of Dinkin’s Bay head out to help the Coast Guard rescue them. One of the passengers was found clinging to a buoy light, but after days there was no sign of the rest. Then after the survivor talks to Ford a lot of unusual details begin to not add up and he decides to investigate.

Also, Dinkin’s Bay is threatened with being closed to boat traffic to save the manatee even though there’s never been a manatee in the bay and a ‘Save the Manatee’ group is involved. Very interesting information.

For a second time Ford reluctantly ends up going to Columbia. Very exciting.

Footnote: 1) The background info is way too detailed. It distracts from the story. By the time the explanation is over you’ve grown bore and forgotten the storyline.

Fave scenes: Ford’s conversation with Yaeger, the classified photos, the chopper switch and Ford taking revenge.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Twelve Mile Limit” book #9 in the Doc Ford series was another good one. Doc from his stilt house at Dinkin’s Bay manages to get caught up in quite an adventure.
Doc is a marine biologist and he collects specimens of ocean life to study and he ships some off to certain schools who request them. One of the mysteries he has to solve is his crab specimens are coming up missing out of their tanks.
Mystery number two is four divers go out to dive a shipwreck site and their small boat sinks. One of the divers, Janet, was a good friend of Doc and others. The Coast Guard conducts an air and boat search for the divers but cannot locate any sign of them.
They eventually find one of the divers alive (I won’t spoil it as to how they find her) and Doc is able to talk to her eventually. The story she gives him puts him into investigator mode and he starts looking into the sinking of the divers small boat.
This leads Doc into some dangerous places and to some dangerous people.
A good read.

[Rick Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent second half - vintage Doc Ford

The complete first half of this book was an absolute bore - hashing over tide tables, multiple takes on what happened to the divers and their boat. Re-telling the story over and over again. This literally consumes the first 56% of the book. The second half was pretty much vintage Doc Ford - the mission, Doc’s investigation, the colorful characters met along the way. Doc is pretty much a flawed genius, and - without any spoilers - his decision to allow his new girlfriend to accompany him on his “mission” in Columbia was an eyebrow raiser, with a very predictable outcome. Otherwise, decent plot with several themes - the vastness & cruelty of the ocean, subverting science for political gain, and the plight of the Amazon rain forest. A respectable read, especially the second half, but will not go down as one of my favorite Doc Ford novels. (A note: reading the author’s note at the end lends more value to the first half of the book, but doesn’t make it less boring….).

[Ryan Cautrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first discovered the Doc Ford novels, oddly enough, when I visited Sanibel Island, the very real island that the fictional titular character comes from. On a lark I decided to read the first book of the series, and in it I discovered books that were full of mystery and action, with a splash of Florida, Caribbean, and South American history and culture thrown in. They're like James Bond meets Jimmy Buffett, and in a way that's at times pulpy and cliche but always feels like comfort food. And this novel is no different.

I've seen multiple reviews on here where people have said this is their first Doc Ford novel, and it's not a bad place to start, though there are some minor character arcs and some back history that you're missing out on if you don't start at the beginning.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, you don’t need to read the previous books in the series to enjoy this one. It helps a little, but White explains things you might need to know.

This is a good story well told. Doc Ford’s lab assistant, Janet, apparently drowns when a boat she is on sinks near a frequently used diving site. Janet was one of four people who visited the site that night, and only one of them apparently lived. She turned up the following day alive, but the other three disappeared. Predictably enough, Ford and the survivor get cozy as he begins to question her story. Doc Ford gets satellite imagery that indicates his friend and assistant may well be alive after all.

Before this ends, you’ll journey with Ford into a South American heart of darkness deep inside the jungles of Columbia.

[Saul Baisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I live in the area this book starts off in it is interesting to read someone else interpretation of the world I see everyday. To hear about land marks and streets that I am familiar with made it so I could really get sucking into the story.

This is the first Doc Ford novel I have read. While it took some time to get to more action and page turning events, I enjoyed it. The characters are believable, especially if your familiar with the people of south west Florida. And to find out that the story was based on, at least in part, real events and quotes was awesome. I will definitely be reading more of the Doc Ford series.

[Darrel Hotmire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall one of the better reads in the series, although there are some weak plot elements. This story is based on some factual occurrences so adds interest from now historical events. The main character/plot weakness has to do with characters relationship weakness. The author has consistently killed off women that the main character gets closest too, apparently finding it hard to have serious long term relationships for his main characters. There are no married couples in the whole series that come to mind. As the series progresses, the characters age, but do not seem to be maturing. 2 plot inconsistencies exist as well. Trauma with no mention of recovery or effects from those who experienced human trafficking, and the main character exposing his previously hidden spy past to his friends without any reaction.

[Delacole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost a four, maybe higher. I love Randy Wayne White's writing style. It's clear, full of interesting information that's relevant to the story, flows well and pulled me through the story eager to read the next chapter. I didn't love the Bonanza syndrome, that is on the old western TV series if you and one of Adam Cartwright's son fell in love, you might as well be served a death certificate. This was my first Doc Ford suspense book, so I hope there are more in the series that don't require the good Doc to go so macho. If neither the Bonanza syndrome or the macho action bothered me, then this is a 5 star.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ohhhh. myyyy. godddd. could this have taken me any longer to read? Here's the deal. It's interesting, it is. But it's just not my jam. It wasn't a bad book, so I guess 2 stars is harsh. It's really just my own personal disinterest in the topic. What started as a diving mystery took a turn into human trafficking, cool! But once I start reading words like SEAL, M-60 and stinger missile, my eyes glazed over. Still, there was a lot packed in this book. I can see why the 60 year old dude who recommended it to me was all about it.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first novel by Randy Wayne White, featuring his Doc Ford character. I found the character and his environment and supporting cast of characters - a small Florida fishing village - engaging, but White is far too extravagant with his exposition. Towards the latter part of the novel, as the violent quotient dramatically increased, my attention began to wander, and some of the deaths felt tiresome. The novel does have many positive qualities and readers who are more violence-engaged than I am would probably enjoy it.

[Suzanne Pixley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doc White at his best

One thing the reader can be assured of when you read any of Randy White books is that you will learn so much about southern Florida and it's waterways, the people that live there and so much about the fish and animals. In many of his books you will also learn about crime that plagues the area and in this case South America as well as those who try to stop it. Books are always action packed and hard to put down till you finish. This book is no exception! Can' t wait to read the next one.

[DemetraP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fascinating view of what could have happened when 4 people are scuba diving and their boat sinks.

Also, I felt bad for Jeth and Janet. She survived all of that only to come home and find her boyfriend fell in love with her sister while she was presumed dead? Awkward.

And I'm not sure if Doc Ford adopted the teenage Shayna or if she's supposed to be living with his cousin, Ransom. It's unclear.

I am binge reading this series and loving it, though.