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Doc Ford #18
Night Vision
Doc Ford is on a collision course with death in this extraordinary new novel from the New York Times bestselling author.
Alot is going on in the trailer park known as Little Guadalajara, inhabited principally by illegal laborers. The park manager is the hired gun of a financial syndicate that wants to develop the property, and he's prepared to do whatever it takes-but he can't figure out what to do about the teenage girl, the one the laborers believe has some sort of gift.
When she witnesses him killing a man, though, and runs, there's nothing left to figure: He's got to find her fast and shut her up good. Her only hope for survival: a marine biologist (and sometimes more) named Doc Ford, who along with his friend Tomlinson, must undertake a search through an underground, invisible nation...and just hope he reaches her first.
Alot is going on in the trailer park known as Little Guadalajara, inhabited principally by illegal laborers. The park manager is the hired gun of a financial syndicate that wants to develop the property, and he's prepared to do whatever it takes-but he can't figure out what to do about the teenage girl, the one the laborers believe has some sort of gift.
When she witnesses him killing a man, though, and runs, there's nothing left to figure: He's got to find her fast and shut her up good. Her only hope for survival: a marine biologist (and sometimes more) named Doc Ford, who along with his friend Tomlinson, must undertake a search through an underground, invisible nation...and just hope he reaches her first.
351 pages, Hardcover
First published February 22, 2011
333 people are currently reading
818 people want to read
About the author
Randy Wayne White
77 books1,584 followersaka 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
August 25, 2025
If you are a fan of well-written action-filled crime thrillers AND Southern Florida as a setting, you are guaranteed to enjoy Randy Wayne White. His recurring hero, Doc Ford, is a marine biologist who moonlights as private eye/commando/super-spy.
"Night Vision", White's latest in the Doc Ford series (there are well over a dozen now), pits Ford against redneck trailer trash operating an illegal steroid lab in their trailer, a Mexican coyote who enjoys kidnapping young Mexican women in order to make porn and snuff films, and a crocodile named Fifi.
When a young Guatemalan girl is kidnapped from the trailer park, Ford sets out to find her, but the young girl, raised by nuns and prone to visions that she claims to be from God, is much more resourceful than anyone thinks.
White has a darker streak than fellow Floridian Carl Hiaasen, a darker and more "gallows"-type humor than Dave Barry, and he avoids the big-city Miami troubles that Edna Buchanan tends to write about. White likes to stick to the wilds of the Everglades.
If you've never read a Doc Ford book, you can probably pick this one up and start reading without feeling like you've missed a lot of back-story. I recommend, though, that you read some of his early ones. You'll most likely want to, anyway, after reading this one.
"Night Vision", White's latest in the Doc Ford series (there are well over a dozen now), pits Ford against redneck trailer trash operating an illegal steroid lab in their trailer, a Mexican coyote who enjoys kidnapping young Mexican women in order to make porn and snuff films, and a crocodile named Fifi.
When a young Guatemalan girl is kidnapped from the trailer park, Ford sets out to find her, but the young girl, raised by nuns and prone to visions that she claims to be from God, is much more resourceful than anyone thinks.
White has a darker streak than fellow Floridian Carl Hiaasen, a darker and more "gallows"-type humor than Dave Barry, and he avoids the big-city Miami troubles that Edna Buchanan tends to write about. White likes to stick to the wilds of the Everglades.
If you've never read a Doc Ford book, you can probably pick this one up and start reading without feeling like you've missed a lot of back-story. I recommend, though, that you read some of his early ones. You'll most likely want to, anyway, after reading this one.
May 22, 2017
A profound entry in a great series. The Amazon.com user reviews of the latest Doc Ford mystery have been overwhelmingly negative, for a classic ridiculous reason. Oh, you can read all the reasons contrary to what I'm going to say, but the reasons the reviews are negative is because Randy Wayne White expresses a religious faith through this narrative.
The action is slow but steady, and when a Nicaraguan teen girl who idolizes Joan of Arc is kidnapped by a steroid-manufacturing bodybuilder, whom she had witnessed an accidental killing, she overwhelms him with her religious convictions and her honest assessment that he is not an evil man, that there is goodness beneath. Nobody in this man's life has ever praised him.
In a moment of crisis, he defies several dangers to become her protector. It's a wonderful literary transformation.
And of course, this is a Doc Ford mystery, and Tomlinson has compelled Doc to use his secret skills to find the kidnapper and kidnapped girl, while remaining ignorant of the true situation.
This is one of the very best of the series, even if it's not typical. Doc is shown in his darkest hour. The author nicely switches from 1st person Doc and third person subplot perspectives. And again, the character transformation is very satisfying. I only wish we lived in an era where religious beliefs expressed through fiction didn't blind people to seeing the merits of a good novel.
The action is slow but steady, and when a Nicaraguan teen girl who idolizes Joan of Arc is kidnapped by a steroid-manufacturing bodybuilder, whom she had witnessed an accidental killing, she overwhelms him with her religious convictions and her honest assessment that he is not an evil man, that there is goodness beneath. Nobody in this man's life has ever praised him.
In a moment of crisis, he defies several dangers to become her protector. It's a wonderful literary transformation.
And of course, this is a Doc Ford mystery, and Tomlinson has compelled Doc to use his secret skills to find the kidnapper and kidnapped girl, while remaining ignorant of the true situation.
This is one of the very best of the series, even if it's not typical. Doc is shown in his darkest hour. The author nicely switches from 1st person Doc and third person subplot perspectives. And again, the character transformation is very satisfying. I only wish we lived in an era where religious beliefs expressed through fiction didn't blind people to seeing the merits of a good novel.
April 4, 2018
I enjoyed a book that came after this one in series order, but this was pretty outlandish, disturbing, sick and exploitive of innocent Guatemalan girl who has the night visions and is guided by Saint Joan of Arc? And then there was the giant alligator. So much not to like.
Maybe some day I will try a book earlier in the series. Maybe.
Maybe some day I will try a book earlier in the series. Maybe.
March 7, 2021
A good Doc Ford tale although quite bloody and dark. Guatemalan girl looking for her mother is kidnapped by a pervert and threatened by two other perverts before Doc comes to the rescue. The kicker: the girl thinks her patron saint (joan of Arc) talks to her and guides her actions. This one is a little different but I do recommend it to Doc Ford fans.
March 20, 2011
"Night Vision" is a good, not great, Doc Ford story. It is more violent and sexually graphic than more recent entries in the series and that cost it a star from the benchmark of last year's "Deep Shadow," which received four stars. Why then, you might ask, did I give "Night Vision" a seemingly incongruous five stars?
Context.
Carol and I started listening to "Night Vision" as we were leaving Captiva / Sanibel after another fantastic visit. Great company for our 7 hour drive. Since Doc Ford and the author, Randy Wayne White feature many references to Captiva and Sanibel ... it allowed us to keep fresh the islands' powerful allure. Worth at least a star.
As with other recent entries in the series -- most notably 2009's strong "Dead Silence" -- the reader for "Night Vision" is the incomparable, George Guidall. I have liked Guidall ever since my first Tony Hillerman cassette, which I listened to on a 1995 cross-country roadtrip from Ann Arbor to Lake Arrowhead. Worth another star.
"Night Vision," by revolving the story around a spiritual young Guatemalan girl, Tula, helps us to understand the reality for illegal aliens ... not so much for what they gain in coming to America, but for what it makes them loose. Learning something new is never a bad thing. Another star.
I'm already up to a possible six stars. Nuf said.
Context.
Carol and I started listening to "Night Vision" as we were leaving Captiva / Sanibel after another fantastic visit. Great company for our 7 hour drive. Since Doc Ford and the author, Randy Wayne White feature many references to Captiva and Sanibel ... it allowed us to keep fresh the islands' powerful allure. Worth at least a star.
As with other recent entries in the series -- most notably 2009's strong "Dead Silence" -- the reader for "Night Vision" is the incomparable, George Guidall. I have liked Guidall ever since my first Tony Hillerman cassette, which I listened to on a 1995 cross-country roadtrip from Ann Arbor to Lake Arrowhead. Worth another star.
"Night Vision," by revolving the story around a spiritual young Guatemalan girl, Tula, helps us to understand the reality for illegal aliens ... not so much for what they gain in coming to America, but for what it makes them loose. Learning something new is never a bad thing. Another star.
I'm already up to a possible six stars. Nuf said.
March 22, 2017
I finished the book. I have problems NOT finishing books! Too bad. Night Vision felt like White wrote it under a tight deadline or had an apprentice writing it for/with him. I have always enjoyed his novels, but this one will be the last of the Doc Ford ones I read. It just did not rise to the level of previous writing of White’s, including the topic, the telling, and devices used. Doc Ford ‘fell in love’ too quickly. A 13 year old ‘saint’ felt too artificial. The details of ‘using’ illegal immigrant women and girls for pornography and sex games was almost too much. And the ‘bad guys’ were too many and too shallow. Meanwhile Doc’s friend, Tomlinson, is portrayed more and more as a special person, moving him away from his drug-induced, hippie reality.
August 18, 2011
Only two Doc Fords have truly disappointed me- I think one was The Man Who Invented Florida which if I recall correctly went on far too long about Florida real estate dealings and now this one. About 2/3 of the way through listening to this audio it occurred to me that there had been no Doc, no Tomlinson, no other Dinkin's Bay folk at all in the story since the opening bits. Tula was an OK character with that slight mystical touch that I enjoy (that's one of the main things I like about Tomlinson) but I got tired of her and her "giant" being constantly front and center. It was only when Doc reappeared and some ACTION finally began that the book got interesting again. Too much talking! And the ending was kind of fuzzy- it just petered out as if White got that far and lost interest- as I sort of did. Still love Doc but I'd prefer he got back to being the heart of the book.
March 25, 2011
Again a book I would probably give 3.5 to except for the last 100 pages when it deserved a 5. I couldn't put it down until I was done. This is the first book I've read by this author. He has written 18 books in the series and I just read the newest. I'm going to read the first one sometime soon. The main character and his sidekick seem to have very intriguing story lines. Doc Ford evidently has quite a background in something that was only touched on in this book. I want to find out more about him.
April 20, 2011
Another Doc Ford novel. Less of the "marine biology for novices" that attracted me to his series in the first place, and a little weird with the middle 70% of the book. Not as entertaining as others of his that I've read. I skipped quickly through most of it without really reading it for effect. I wouldn't recommend it.
December 2, 2015
You can always expect a 4 or 5 star Doc Ford series book by Randy Wayne White and he didn't disappoint with "Night Vision"! Very enjoyable and entertaining from start to finish. I am looking forward to finding and reading books under the pen name Randy Striker.
March 30, 2016
An interesting story. Doc is up to his usual. Helping the good and punishing the bad.
November 18, 2022
A compelling, sometimes disturbing addition to the Doc Ford series. It definitely kept my attention from beginning to end, as it plunged Doc Ford and Tomlinson into the world of those who risk everything to come to the US seeking to escape terrorism and murder in their home countries in South America, only to find a new type of exploitation and terror here. The story is centered on a very young teenage girl, seeking what remains of her family here. Doc Ford finds himself in grave danger as he endeavors to find the young girl and rescue her from those who wish to harm her. Fighting to keep herself alive and free from serious harm, she speaks and prays to her patron, Joan of Arc. This was an unusual, riveting case for Ford and Tomlinson, that brings to light a very serious and troubling issue. It was a difficult read at times, but also a reflection of the experiences of far too many who fear for their lives daily, whether adults of children. I enjoyed it and am glad I read it!
July 28, 2019
I am a fan of Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford novels but this one was strange to put it mildly. Wasn't sure if White even wrote this book. White writes about Florida. This book, he takes us to the dark, seedy, sick side with all the perverse criminal elements. shudder.
March 15, 2022
Another thriller in the Doc Ford series, Tomlinson becomes interested in helping a very young girl, here illegally from South America, and he wants to help her, so he invites Ford to go with him to meet her. Of course all hell breaks loose, and the whole situation gets complicated.
September 22, 2017
This is a decent Doc Ford entry. But knowing what's coming, I could see the signs of the series' decline. Less about Doc Ford the marine biologist, more about Doc Ford the CIA (?) trained killer.More about Tomlinson as--well, I'm not sure what, but definitely less of Tomlinson as a stoned hippie psychic. Much more darkness, much less of the Florida background of the earlier novels. It is what it is, I guess, but I miss the early days.
November 22, 2021
One of the best of the series.
July 22, 2011
Doc Ford goes all medieval in his own back yard.
We are, by now, accustomed to the Superman-like quality of Randy Wayne White’s answer to Travis McGee. By day, Doc Ford is a mild-mannered, bespectacled marine biologist living a monk-like existence on an island on Florida’s southwest coast. At night, especially in some Third World hellhole infested with tyrants, perverts and their minions, he is a ninja in a linebacker’s body.
You can’t read about his stilt house on Dinkins Bay, a gathering place for fishing guides and sun-bronzed ladies within earshot of the Friday night parties at the nearby marina, without being reminded of Slip F-18 at Bahia Mar. The echoes, and White’s literary adoration of his Southwest Florida home, are what make him the acknowledged successor to the late John D. MacDonald.
In truth, White’s best work is nothing like MacDonald’s. As a novelist, MacDonald built monsters from ordinary people asked to forego the deadly sins in order to remain part of the human tide McGee was all-too-happy to rescue. White’s monsters are more broadly drawn, as though a crack in the earth delivers a new batch of walking evil each time he plugs in his laptop and goes to work.
The irony is that White the non-commercial writer, goes places MacDonald could never reach. His sense of place is impeccable. His essays and columns from Outside magazine display a gift for the language that’s as clear and bracing as the shallow flats that surround his Pine Island home. He is a keen observer of human nature, including his own, I suspect. He’s able to match MacDonald in capturing the glimmers of insight that only a careful observer can, but his styling and the elegance of his language lift him far beyond the model he so obviously has emulated.
But . . .
When it comes to sustaining a stream of commercial fiction, MacDonald remains the king. With each new success, White and cohort James W. Hall reveal themselves to be gifted challengers but nowhere near the master. That remains true, even as they work to inject more depth and substance into their growing string of hits.
In Night Vision, Doc Ford is roped by his hippy-dippy buddy Tomlinson/Meyer into rescuing a 13-year-old Guatemalan refugee with a Joan of Arc complex. She disguises herself as a boy, but she can’t fool the twisted sister of a steroid-freak body builder with an insatiable appetite for sweet young bodies who lives with the manager of the trailer park where she’s staying. Add the harpy’s roid-raging boyfriend, a 12-foot gator, a Mexican gang-leader who shoots porn on his iPhone, and you have the ingredients for a perfect summer beach cocktail. Just sit back and watch Randy mix it up for you.
What’s different about this tall drink? The action takes place in Fort Myers Beach and near the Everglades east of Immokalee. And Ford spends more time talking about Glocks and Sig Sauers and his new favorite, a palm-sized Kahr .380, than he does the biological specimens he collects as his day job.
Would I buy this book and read it again? Nope. But I’m sure White knows that, too. He’s too fine a writer not to.
He knows that selling specimens like Night Vision is just his day job.
We are, by now, accustomed to the Superman-like quality of Randy Wayne White’s answer to Travis McGee. By day, Doc Ford is a mild-mannered, bespectacled marine biologist living a monk-like existence on an island on Florida’s southwest coast. At night, especially in some Third World hellhole infested with tyrants, perverts and their minions, he is a ninja in a linebacker’s body.
You can’t read about his stilt house on Dinkins Bay, a gathering place for fishing guides and sun-bronzed ladies within earshot of the Friday night parties at the nearby marina, without being reminded of Slip F-18 at Bahia Mar. The echoes, and White’s literary adoration of his Southwest Florida home, are what make him the acknowledged successor to the late John D. MacDonald.
In truth, White’s best work is nothing like MacDonald’s. As a novelist, MacDonald built monsters from ordinary people asked to forego the deadly sins in order to remain part of the human tide McGee was all-too-happy to rescue. White’s monsters are more broadly drawn, as though a crack in the earth delivers a new batch of walking evil each time he plugs in his laptop and goes to work.
The irony is that White the non-commercial writer, goes places MacDonald could never reach. His sense of place is impeccable. His essays and columns from Outside magazine display a gift for the language that’s as clear and bracing as the shallow flats that surround his Pine Island home. He is a keen observer of human nature, including his own, I suspect. He’s able to match MacDonald in capturing the glimmers of insight that only a careful observer can, but his styling and the elegance of his language lift him far beyond the model he so obviously has emulated.
But . . .
When it comes to sustaining a stream of commercial fiction, MacDonald remains the king. With each new success, White and cohort James W. Hall reveal themselves to be gifted challengers but nowhere near the master. That remains true, even as they work to inject more depth and substance into their growing string of hits.
In Night Vision, Doc Ford is roped by his hippy-dippy buddy Tomlinson/Meyer into rescuing a 13-year-old Guatemalan refugee with a Joan of Arc complex. She disguises herself as a boy, but she can’t fool the twisted sister of a steroid-freak body builder with an insatiable appetite for sweet young bodies who lives with the manager of the trailer park where she’s staying. Add the harpy’s roid-raging boyfriend, a 12-foot gator, a Mexican gang-leader who shoots porn on his iPhone, and you have the ingredients for a perfect summer beach cocktail. Just sit back and watch Randy mix it up for you.
What’s different about this tall drink? The action takes place in Fort Myers Beach and near the Everglades east of Immokalee. And Ford spends more time talking about Glocks and Sig Sauers and his new favorite, a palm-sized Kahr .380, than he does the biological specimens he collects as his day job.
Would I buy this book and read it again? Nope. But I’m sure White knows that, too. He’s too fine a writer not to.
He knows that selling specimens like Night Vision is just his day job.
November 2, 2011
A solid offering in the on going Doc Ford series. The first half of the book establishes some great new characters and a timely and interesting story line involving a young girl from Guatemala living in a trailer park filled with Mayan Indians, a couple of nasty rednecks making and selling steroids out of said trailer park and a gang of Mexicans involved in drugs and prostitution and what amounts to slavery. Our young heroine is deeply religious and sophisticated well beyond her age with an uncanny ability to influence those around her. In fact, some people believe she has a direct line to God, when it is really Joan of Arc she talks to.
I am somewhat concerned about a shift in Randy White's writing style that has taken place over the last several books. Gone is a lot of the banter and familiarity that exists between Doc and Tomlinson, or the other members of Dinkin's Bay Marina. A new reader would hardly know anything about Doc's and Tomlinson's friendship and the degree of intimacy they have achieved over the years. The writing has lost some of the lightness, become almost clinical in a way, and most of Doc's personal life has been minimized. This story for instance focuses primarily on his past associations with the black op group he belonged to and very little else save a potential new romantic involvement. It makes Doc seem more one dimensional.
This is not to say there aren't some great lines and a well developed plot. Doc admits to Tomlinson that he is the only one he would trust his life to but there is no context for this statement unless you have followed the series. I miss the older style of writing and would like to see some of the other characters continue to appear in the new stories. I think the potential exists to bring our young heroine, Tula, back for further adventures. She was a fantastic character and deserving of future involvement.
I don't know what Randy White's plans are for future stories, but he is slightly off track in my opinion and might want to think about rereading some of his earlier work. In spite of these comments, Night Vison was a worthwhile read with a great finale.
I am somewhat concerned about a shift in Randy White's writing style that has taken place over the last several books. Gone is a lot of the banter and familiarity that exists between Doc and Tomlinson, or the other members of Dinkin's Bay Marina. A new reader would hardly know anything about Doc's and Tomlinson's friendship and the degree of intimacy they have achieved over the years. The writing has lost some of the lightness, become almost clinical in a way, and most of Doc's personal life has been minimized. This story for instance focuses primarily on his past associations with the black op group he belonged to and very little else save a potential new romantic involvement. It makes Doc seem more one dimensional.
This is not to say there aren't some great lines and a well developed plot. Doc admits to Tomlinson that he is the only one he would trust his life to but there is no context for this statement unless you have followed the series. I miss the older style of writing and would like to see some of the other characters continue to appear in the new stories. I think the potential exists to bring our young heroine, Tula, back for further adventures. She was a fantastic character and deserving of future involvement.
I don't know what Randy White's plans are for future stories, but he is slightly off track in my opinion and might want to think about rereading some of his earlier work. In spite of these comments, Night Vison was a worthwhile read with a great finale.
March 7, 2011
Once more we discover truly evil people up to truly evil deeds and we need the 13 year old Guatemalan girl, Tula, protected by Doc Ford, his hippy-dippy friend Tomlinson, and everyone she comes in contact with to overcome the bad with their good.
Could she really be connected with Joan of Arc? What do all the Mexican and South American field workers see in her that they venerate. Can she succeed in her mission to get her people to return to the mountains of Guatemala?
Full of action and mystery, this is a very explicit novel about trafficking in humans and all the mess that follows with drugs, prostitution, pornography and other evil that is fueled by greedy people.
Mr. White has an eye for detail and the tropical locale and people come alive in this sordid tale. While this would make an exciting film, I would not go see it.
Could she really be connected with Joan of Arc? What do all the Mexican and South American field workers see in her that they venerate. Can she succeed in her mission to get her people to return to the mountains of Guatemala?
Full of action and mystery, this is a very explicit novel about trafficking in humans and all the mess that follows with drugs, prostitution, pornography and other evil that is fueled by greedy people.
Mr. White has an eye for detail and the tropical locale and people come alive in this sordid tale. While this would make an exciting film, I would not go see it.
May 4, 2016
This book doesn't follow quite the typical pattern I've seen in Doc Ford books, but he does help a helpless person in distress with his special skills. My main negative is the extremely unpleasant nature of the distress. It portrays in graphic detail horrific events that I'd prefer to be ignorant of. It left me feeling as dirty as the "jelly boy". Because the book dwells so long in the mire of this underworld I don't get enough of the thoughtful and almost poetic musings of this black-ops scientist. There are glimpses of it, such as night time visitation by some dolphins, but not near enough for me.
November 29, 2014
I do like this series, especially to listen to. Doc Ford has an unassuming appearance, but appearances deceive. He travels the world using his Sanibel Island home as his base. He is a marine biologist, but that's his cover. It allows him to travel the world and take care of business for a shadow agency. This gives him the abilities and training to help his friends when they need it.
Here he helps his buddy Tomlinson rescue a young teen. There's drug running, human trafficking, thugs, a genuine thrill-ride.
This is book 18 of this series and I'm not tired of it yet. I can recommend
Here he helps his buddy Tomlinson rescue a young teen. There's drug running, human trafficking, thugs, a genuine thrill-ride.
This is book 18 of this series and I'm not tired of it yet. I can recommend
March 9, 2016
Doc Ford really isn't in this book very much, as it focuses on a young girl who believes she hears spirits like Joan of Arc, and a roided up criminal. The girl is an illegal immigrant, so we have to hear all about White's views on immigration.
There's the usual Florida craziness, with a gator attack and all, but I didn't like it as much as the rest of the series.
There's the usual Florida craziness, with a gator attack and all, but I didn't like it as much as the rest of the series.
February 12, 2018
Not bad!
I’ve been to Sanibel, and eaten at Doc Ford’s restaurant - named for the title character in this series, and owned/operated by the author. The book was better than expected, and a perfectly respectable example of Florida Contemporary Noir - if that’s not a thing, it should be!
I’ve been to Sanibel, and eaten at Doc Ford’s restaurant - named for the title character in this series, and owned/operated by the author. The book was better than expected, and a perfectly respectable example of Florida Contemporary Noir - if that’s not a thing, it should be!
July 31, 2018
Another good Doc Ford adventure. How does he manage to get into so much trouble? An even bigger question is how does he manage to survive the big messes? Like James Bond and other action heroes, Doc and Tomlinson somehow manage to triumph against all odds and end up on their feet, usually with a beer in hand with a lovely woman heading off into the sunset! Good fun read.
February 5, 2013
Pretty interesting and well done story after a longer than necessary beginning. Stick with this and you will be rewarded with 7 of 10 stars.
April 9, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “NOBODY DESCRIBES A GATOR ATTACK LIKE RANDY WAYNE WHITE!”
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Randy Wayne White’s latest *DOC FORD* saga barely gives the reader time to sit down… start turning pages…. be introduced to some of the main characters… including Tula Choimha, a thirteen-year-old girl, who is a recently arrived illegal immigrant from Guatemala, (Who most people at this juncture think is a boy.) and is living with scores of other illegal Guatemalan’s at the Red Citrus Mobile Home Park… which is non-affectionately dubbed “LITTLE GUADALAJARA”… when almost simultaneously and coincidentally… as Doc and his semi-trusty psychic sidekick Tomlinson arrive from their not too distant home… the air is filled with anguished screams and squeals that are hard to differentiate between animal and human. What then transpires is an edge of your seat battle for life between a humongous alligator and a local resident who has a special relationship with young Tula. As any experienced *FORD* fan would expect… Doc and Tomlinson jump in the water and throw caution to the wind in an attempt to save the man that is literally in the jaws of this slithery beast. Only White can make each bump on the Gator’s back seem important… no one can match White in creating the fear and angst-creating dives under the water by both man and beast…
Another main character who is on the beach and runs his Mother’s slimy mobile home park is introduced during the melee in the water…. his name is Harris Squires, who is not only a giant steroid abuser… giant in the amount he uses… a giant in his size… between six feet five and six feet six and two-hundred-eighty-pounds… but also a giant lowlife who not only resells drugs… but abuses the poor immigrants who live in his mobile home park. He is also involved in porn… both adult and child… with his scary-scary-girl friend and fellow huge steroid abuser (both size and usage) Frankie. Frankie likes women and kids in porn and hurting them to death. Throughout this engrossing tale you will find out that Frankie scares everyone… not only Harris who is devoid of any self-respect… but also “THE V-MAN”… Victorino, the gangbanger, head of the Latin Kings. The V-Man not only provides drugs and girls of all ages as prostitutes… but he also produces real “snuff” films… and the age of the victims don’t matter to him… so there’s a perverse attraction between the “V-MAN” and Frankie.
In the midst of all this depravity… which is literally a hell on earth… is the aforementioned thirteen-year-old Tula. Tula is not your ordinary thirteen-year-old… she communicates with her patron saint-Joan of Arc. She is led through the ugliness of her and our world by the hand of Joan of Arc’s spiritual guidance. She speaks like no other child you’ll ever encounter. In the face of death… torture… abuse… and hopelessness… her words have a calming effect on even the most animalistic of tortured souls. The other immigrants start believing she’s an instrument of the Lord… even a doubter like Doc has to admit something is awful unique about this child. Perhaps the most touching sub-plot in this story is Tula’s effect on Squires.
When Tula goes missing, the already hypnotic tale raises up a few notches. If you’ve read the last few Doc Ford installments you’ll also enjoy how Doc reveals more of his clandestine-undercover-background… through self-thought that he shares with the reader. His self-analysis is quite telling when he narrates to himself and the reader: “WE ARE A SPECIES THAT RELIES ON CEREMONY TO PROVIDE ORDER, YET I HAVE NEVER ALLOWED MYSELF TO EXPLORE OR INSPECT MY HABIT OF APOLOGIZING BEFORE KILLING A MAN.”
Though there are a handful of typos… and I believe Doc becomes a little too quickly smitten with a woman… this is a great read and leaves me counting the days till the next episode!
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Randy Wayne White’s latest *DOC FORD* saga barely gives the reader time to sit down… start turning pages…. be introduced to some of the main characters… including Tula Choimha, a thirteen-year-old girl, who is a recently arrived illegal immigrant from Guatemala, (Who most people at this juncture think is a boy.) and is living with scores of other illegal Guatemalan’s at the Red Citrus Mobile Home Park… which is non-affectionately dubbed “LITTLE GUADALAJARA”… when almost simultaneously and coincidentally… as Doc and his semi-trusty psychic sidekick Tomlinson arrive from their not too distant home… the air is filled with anguished screams and squeals that are hard to differentiate between animal and human. What then transpires is an edge of your seat battle for life between a humongous alligator and a local resident who has a special relationship with young Tula. As any experienced *FORD* fan would expect… Doc and Tomlinson jump in the water and throw caution to the wind in an attempt to save the man that is literally in the jaws of this slithery beast. Only White can make each bump on the Gator’s back seem important… no one can match White in creating the fear and angst-creating dives under the water by both man and beast…
Another main character who is on the beach and runs his Mother’s slimy mobile home park is introduced during the melee in the water…. his name is Harris Squires, who is not only a giant steroid abuser… giant in the amount he uses… a giant in his size… between six feet five and six feet six and two-hundred-eighty-pounds… but also a giant lowlife who not only resells drugs… but abuses the poor immigrants who live in his mobile home park. He is also involved in porn… both adult and child… with his scary-scary-girl friend and fellow huge steroid abuser (both size and usage) Frankie. Frankie likes women and kids in porn and hurting them to death. Throughout this engrossing tale you will find out that Frankie scares everyone… not only Harris who is devoid of any self-respect… but also “THE V-MAN”… Victorino, the gangbanger, head of the Latin Kings. The V-Man not only provides drugs and girls of all ages as prostitutes… but he also produces real “snuff” films… and the age of the victims don’t matter to him… so there’s a perverse attraction between the “V-MAN” and Frankie.
In the midst of all this depravity… which is literally a hell on earth… is the aforementioned thirteen-year-old Tula. Tula is not your ordinary thirteen-year-old… she communicates with her patron saint-Joan of Arc. She is led through the ugliness of her and our world by the hand of Joan of Arc’s spiritual guidance. She speaks like no other child you’ll ever encounter. In the face of death… torture… abuse… and hopelessness… her words have a calming effect on even the most animalistic of tortured souls. The other immigrants start believing she’s an instrument of the Lord… even a doubter like Doc has to admit something is awful unique about this child. Perhaps the most touching sub-plot in this story is Tula’s effect on Squires.
When Tula goes missing, the already hypnotic tale raises up a few notches. If you’ve read the last few Doc Ford installments you’ll also enjoy how Doc reveals more of his clandestine-undercover-background… through self-thought that he shares with the reader. His self-analysis is quite telling when he narrates to himself and the reader: “WE ARE A SPECIES THAT RELIES ON CEREMONY TO PROVIDE ORDER, YET I HAVE NEVER ALLOWED MYSELF TO EXPLORE OR INSPECT MY HABIT OF APOLOGIZING BEFORE KILLING A MAN.”
Though there are a handful of typos… and I believe Doc becomes a little too quickly smitten with a woman… this is a great read and leaves me counting the days till the next episode!
February 18, 2025
The 13-year-old girl is simply known as Tula. She searches for her mother and other family members in hope of returning with them to Guatemala. Tula is unusual. Folks around the trailer park, a collection of illegal immigrants, say she can shape thoughts and make you change your mind about things including your belief in a higher power. Tula would tell you she hears the voice of Joan of Arc. It is that voice that governs her behavior and provides her with the resources she needs to remain free from rape and virginal throughout the harrowing, dangerous trip into the United States.
The trailer park’s landlord and his filthy wife operate a variety of businesses that include drug smuggling and human trafficking. The children and young women whom they force into employment become stars in the sleaziest of porn films.
When Tula inadvertently sees the landlord murder another man, she knows he will kill her if he learns what she knows. Her only hope is Doc Ford and his hippy friend, Tomlinson.
Usually, books about young people who hear voices from dead saints get the old remorseless delete routine quickly. I’m stunned by my hypocrisy. I have no problem whatsoever believing ardently that a 14-year-old kid in western New York communicated with beings who announced themselves as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more-than two centuries ago, and that those individuals provided him with both comfort and direction. So, why am I so quick to trash books about characters who have mystic experiences or visions or whatever? I don’t know except that’s normally how it is for me. But not so with this book. I’ve thought about it a lot as I read the book, and I can only conclude that it’s all about White’s writing style and his commitment not to portray the teenage girl as mentally unbalanced or a stark raving hellfire-warning young woman. Instead, White portrays Tula in a positive light, and he writes her with so much skill I can at least believe she believes she hears Joan of Arc. I may not share her belief, but White writes this in such a way that I can easily respect it and hope for her safety and success as I read. She teaches the concept of redemption and second chances, and I’m always a fan of that approach.
Admittedly, there are parts of this that feel a bit slow, but the high degree of suspense when Doc Ford must stave off attempts on his life as he searches for the girl means the slower parts are more forgivable.
I enjoyed the ending, but above all, I enjoyed the positivity White assigned to young Tula. Significant numbers of fiction authors seem to have an almost-palpable dislike for anything that portrays faith in a positive way. They craft child-abusing, screaming Christians, most often men, who betray every tenet Christ taught while the author smugly points out the status of the wild-eyed fanatic as just another typical Christian. White deliberately provides a positive perspective of the teenage girl without bogging you down in weird new-age woo-woo stuff. In the hands of a lesser writer, this plot would have been a failure without parallel. I enjoyed the book and finished it in two listening sessions today.
The trailer park’s landlord and his filthy wife operate a variety of businesses that include drug smuggling and human trafficking. The children and young women whom they force into employment become stars in the sleaziest of porn films.
When Tula inadvertently sees the landlord murder another man, she knows he will kill her if he learns what she knows. Her only hope is Doc Ford and his hippy friend, Tomlinson.
Usually, books about young people who hear voices from dead saints get the old remorseless delete routine quickly. I’m stunned by my hypocrisy. I have no problem whatsoever believing ardently that a 14-year-old kid in western New York communicated with beings who announced themselves as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more-than two centuries ago, and that those individuals provided him with both comfort and direction. So, why am I so quick to trash books about characters who have mystic experiences or visions or whatever? I don’t know except that’s normally how it is for me. But not so with this book. I’ve thought about it a lot as I read the book, and I can only conclude that it’s all about White’s writing style and his commitment not to portray the teenage girl as mentally unbalanced or a stark raving hellfire-warning young woman. Instead, White portrays Tula in a positive light, and he writes her with so much skill I can at least believe she believes she hears Joan of Arc. I may not share her belief, but White writes this in such a way that I can easily respect it and hope for her safety and success as I read. She teaches the concept of redemption and second chances, and I’m always a fan of that approach.
Admittedly, there are parts of this that feel a bit slow, but the high degree of suspense when Doc Ford must stave off attempts on his life as he searches for the girl means the slower parts are more forgivable.
I enjoyed the ending, but above all, I enjoyed the positivity White assigned to young Tula. Significant numbers of fiction authors seem to have an almost-palpable dislike for anything that portrays faith in a positive way. They craft child-abusing, screaming Christians, most often men, who betray every tenet Christ taught while the author smugly points out the status of the wild-eyed fanatic as just another typical Christian. White deliberately provides a positive perspective of the teenage girl without bogging you down in weird new-age woo-woo stuff. In the hands of a lesser writer, this plot would have been a failure without parallel. I enjoyed the book and finished it in two listening sessions today.
November 22, 2021
As this series progresses, it seems to me to become more formulaic, negative, and violent. What I like about the Doc Ford books is that Doc is smart and objective. He has the intelligence, training, and experience to solve most problems without resorting to shooting, so why the rising body count? Perhaps the author was in a hurry and had to take the easy, quick, gunfire route to meet a deadline. It is also a bit bothersome to me that there seems to be a formulaic woman in each book, and a few children spawned, while life moves on. Sort of like Travis McGee, back in the 70's.
Many authors of thrillers seem to feel obligated to escalate the degree of evil/menace/horror with each book they write, as though seeking the ultimate horror. I hope that Randy Wayne White changes his trajectory and gives us more human stories.
In this book, Doc is very negative about Tomlinson, his best friend. The humor that usually infuses his musings about his friend is gone, replaced by edginess.
My take-away from Doc Ford books is usually a ton of new-to-me information about marine biology and other things, and I love it! Not so with this book. Here's hoping for better in the future.
Many authors of thrillers seem to feel obligated to escalate the degree of evil/menace/horror with each book they write, as though seeking the ultimate horror. I hope that Randy Wayne White changes his trajectory and gives us more human stories.
In this book, Doc is very negative about Tomlinson, his best friend. The humor that usually infuses his musings about his friend is gone, replaced by edginess.
My take-away from Doc Ford books is usually a ton of new-to-me information about marine biology and other things, and I love it! Not so with this book. Here's hoping for better in the future.
July 21, 2011
White’s latest defines ‘shadow society’
By John Hood
Miami Herald 2/27/11
Apply the old adage “write what you know” to Randy Wayne White, and you’d have to say the author knows a thing or three about U.S. intelligence, especially the National Security Agency. Add the universally held belief that a novelist’s primary protagonist generally resembles its creator, and you might conclude that the crime scribe knows what he knows from the inside.
Whether White was ever a spy like his main man Doc Ford has never been confirmed — and neither of them are saying. What is certain is that White’s long-running suspense series captures the essence of his beloved Mangrove Coast with the alacrity of one who not only lives it, but loves it. And who is both eager and pleased to share its extraordinary charms.
In Night Vision (Putnam $25.95), the 18th Doc Ford novel, White — who appears Wednesday at Books & Books — threads an immigrant song to the particularly Florida story and winds up delivering the thriller equivalent of an opera. We trekked across Alligator Alley to the writer’s Sanibel Island home on the morning of the launch of his Sunshine State onslaught and got him to expound a bit on the book, meeting Peter Matthiessen and the search for the Florida yeti.
Q. Wow [noting the four bottles of Doc Ford’s hot sauce sitting on White’s dining room table], I never knew you had your own line of hot sauce.
“Yes, I’ve been importing hot sauce from Colombia for 13 years now.”
Q. So you got into the sauce before opening the Doc Ford Rum Bar & Grille?
“Yeah, in fact that kinda led to it. I’m not a great business guy, but I learned early on that when people buy hot sauce they buy about a bottle a year so... it’s like selling cars except you only make three cents.”
Q. How many eateries do you have now?
“There are two Doc Fords — one’s on Sanibel, the other’s on Fort Myers Beach.”
Q. Is Doc Ford’s Dinkins Bay an actual place?
“Dinkin’s Bay Marina is actually Tarpon Bay, where I was a fishing guide for 13 years. I did more than 3,000 charters there. It’s right down the road.”
Q. Do you still make it out fishing?
“No, I stopped as a fishing guide back in 1990, and more than 3,000 charters was enough. I paddle surf and paddle board now.”
Q. Your whole history with the Mangrove Coast springs from you working at The [Fort Myers] News-Press, right? Did you go there straight out of school?
“Not straight out of high school; I traveled for five years prior to that. I was very lucky because I had no college or background in journalism, but the four years I spent at The News-Press were hugely educational. It was a very positive environment. The editors, rather than saying ‘No, don’t do this; no, don’t do that,’ they’d say ‘go ahead and give it a try,’ which is unusual.”
Q. How did you meet Peter Matthiessen?
“I had come up with this idea to go in search of the Swamp Ape, the Florida Yeti. So I sent out invitations to people. It was a joke; it was an excuse for me and my buddies to go out to the Glades and drink beer. Matthiessen called me and said, ‘I understand you’re going out in search of the yeti.’ And I said ‘uh, yeah...’ And he said ‘Well, my name’s Peter Matthiessen, and I’d really like to go along.’ So I asked, ‘Is this the writer?’ He said, ‘Yes, it is.’ And I said, ‘You don’t want anything to do with this; it’s complete bulls---.’ He came anyway, and we had a great time. From thereafter Peter and I did a trip one or two times a year down to the Ten Thousand Islands in one of my small boats. He’s just a marvelous, decent, funny man.”
Q. The new book’s cast includes 13-year-old Tula, a trailer park landlord named Harris Squires, gangbanger Victorino and a particularly awful woman named Jackie. Are there any real-life parallels to any of the above?
“In Florida, as well as the rest of the United States, there’s a growing demographic of people from Latin America who have come here both legally and illegally, so I find that both intellectually and emotionally interesting, that shadow society who come from foreign lands and work under the radar to send money home to their families.”
Q. Have you noticed a marked increase even on the West Coast?
“No, not a marked increase. But I’ve always been aware of their presence because I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Central and South America. I find it interesting that most of them are very hard workers, and most of them live under the radar, which means they don’t get in trouble with the law. It also means that they are very easy targets, potential victims, not only as workers but in the sex trade, and some of them are slaves, by any definition.”
Q. Did Tula simply take over the story while you were writing?
“She became one of my favorite female protagonists, without a doubt, and I was charmed by her and fascinated by her devotion to her family and also to her spiritual mandate, which was to come to the United States, find her family and take her safely home.”
Q. How’d Joan of Arc come into play in the story?
“Well, the character required divine guidance, and I found it quite interesting that Joan of Arc came into history as a teen, she too heard voices, she too had a spiritual mandate and calling.”
Q. You continue to encourage others to write, whether it’s professionally or not. Is that something you’ve always done?
“It’s generally within the last two years. Because I have been published I’m often contacted by people who want to write a story, and I find that touching, and it also motivates me to urge people to anchor their lives on paper.”
Q. Did a personal event spark this practice?
“No, quite the opposite. And it’s much to our family’s loss. My father, for instance, was in the 101st Airborne during WWII; not one word about what he experienced. My maternal family, who are all from the Deep South; not one written word, and they lived through unusual and fascinating times in history.”
John Hood is a writer and correspondent in Miami.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/27...
By John Hood
Miami Herald 2/27/11
Apply the old adage “write what you know” to Randy Wayne White, and you’d have to say the author knows a thing or three about U.S. intelligence, especially the National Security Agency. Add the universally held belief that a novelist’s primary protagonist generally resembles its creator, and you might conclude that the crime scribe knows what he knows from the inside.
Whether White was ever a spy like his main man Doc Ford has never been confirmed — and neither of them are saying. What is certain is that White’s long-running suspense series captures the essence of his beloved Mangrove Coast with the alacrity of one who not only lives it, but loves it. And who is both eager and pleased to share its extraordinary charms.
In Night Vision (Putnam $25.95), the 18th Doc Ford novel, White — who appears Wednesday at Books & Books — threads an immigrant song to the particularly Florida story and winds up delivering the thriller equivalent of an opera. We trekked across Alligator Alley to the writer’s Sanibel Island home on the morning of the launch of his Sunshine State onslaught and got him to expound a bit on the book, meeting Peter Matthiessen and the search for the Florida yeti.
Q. Wow [noting the four bottles of Doc Ford’s hot sauce sitting on White’s dining room table], I never knew you had your own line of hot sauce.
“Yes, I’ve been importing hot sauce from Colombia for 13 years now.”
Q. So you got into the sauce before opening the Doc Ford Rum Bar & Grille?
“Yeah, in fact that kinda led to it. I’m not a great business guy, but I learned early on that when people buy hot sauce they buy about a bottle a year so... it’s like selling cars except you only make three cents.”
Q. How many eateries do you have now?
“There are two Doc Fords — one’s on Sanibel, the other’s on Fort Myers Beach.”
Q. Is Doc Ford’s Dinkins Bay an actual place?
“Dinkin’s Bay Marina is actually Tarpon Bay, where I was a fishing guide for 13 years. I did more than 3,000 charters there. It’s right down the road.”
Q. Do you still make it out fishing?
“No, I stopped as a fishing guide back in 1990, and more than 3,000 charters was enough. I paddle surf and paddle board now.”
Q. Your whole history with the Mangrove Coast springs from you working at The [Fort Myers] News-Press, right? Did you go there straight out of school?
“Not straight out of high school; I traveled for five years prior to that. I was very lucky because I had no college or background in journalism, but the four years I spent at The News-Press were hugely educational. It was a very positive environment. The editors, rather than saying ‘No, don’t do this; no, don’t do that,’ they’d say ‘go ahead and give it a try,’ which is unusual.”
Q. How did you meet Peter Matthiessen?
“I had come up with this idea to go in search of the Swamp Ape, the Florida Yeti. So I sent out invitations to people. It was a joke; it was an excuse for me and my buddies to go out to the Glades and drink beer. Matthiessen called me and said, ‘I understand you’re going out in search of the yeti.’ And I said ‘uh, yeah...’ And he said ‘Well, my name’s Peter Matthiessen, and I’d really like to go along.’ So I asked, ‘Is this the writer?’ He said, ‘Yes, it is.’ And I said, ‘You don’t want anything to do with this; it’s complete bulls---.’ He came anyway, and we had a great time. From thereafter Peter and I did a trip one or two times a year down to the Ten Thousand Islands in one of my small boats. He’s just a marvelous, decent, funny man.”
Q. The new book’s cast includes 13-year-old Tula, a trailer park landlord named Harris Squires, gangbanger Victorino and a particularly awful woman named Jackie. Are there any real-life parallels to any of the above?
“In Florida, as well as the rest of the United States, there’s a growing demographic of people from Latin America who have come here both legally and illegally, so I find that both intellectually and emotionally interesting, that shadow society who come from foreign lands and work under the radar to send money home to their families.”
Q. Have you noticed a marked increase even on the West Coast?
“No, not a marked increase. But I’ve always been aware of their presence because I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Central and South America. I find it interesting that most of them are very hard workers, and most of them live under the radar, which means they don’t get in trouble with the law. It also means that they are very easy targets, potential victims, not only as workers but in the sex trade, and some of them are slaves, by any definition.”
Q. Did Tula simply take over the story while you were writing?
“She became one of my favorite female protagonists, without a doubt, and I was charmed by her and fascinated by her devotion to her family and also to her spiritual mandate, which was to come to the United States, find her family and take her safely home.”
Q. How’d Joan of Arc come into play in the story?
“Well, the character required divine guidance, and I found it quite interesting that Joan of Arc came into history as a teen, she too heard voices, she too had a spiritual mandate and calling.”
Q. You continue to encourage others to write, whether it’s professionally or not. Is that something you’ve always done?
“It’s generally within the last two years. Because I have been published I’m often contacted by people who want to write a story, and I find that touching, and it also motivates me to urge people to anchor their lives on paper.”
Q. Did a personal event spark this practice?
“No, quite the opposite. And it’s much to our family’s loss. My father, for instance, was in the 101st Airborne during WWII; not one word about what he experienced. My maternal family, who are all from the Deep South; not one written word, and they lived through unusual and fascinating times in history.”
John Hood is a writer and correspondent in Miami.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/27...
October 11, 2021
When Ford assists Tomlinson in helping a young girl migrant from Guatemala, they both get involved in a migrate trafficking/sex/drug ring. Tula is spooky, but it works for her.
Footnote: 1) This is the same horrible situation that’s going on right now at the Texas border as I read this book. It needs to be stopped and only can by keeping them from coming in in the first place. I know it won’t prevent it completely but if even a few can be saved it’s worth it. Coming here doesn’t solve the problem. We need to help them fix their own country’s problems. Not give a man a fish, but teach a man to fish.
Fave scenes: fighting the gator, the gator necropsy, the baby egret and Ford using a ‘modified boot-turn with the truck.
Footnote: 1) This is the same horrible situation that’s going on right now at the Texas border as I read this book. It needs to be stopped and only can by keeping them from coming in in the first place. I know it won’t prevent it completely but if even a few can be saved it’s worth it. Coming here doesn’t solve the problem. We need to help them fix their own country’s problems. Not give a man a fish, but teach a man to fish.
Fave scenes: fighting the gator, the gator necropsy, the baby egret and Ford using a ‘modified boot-turn with the truck.
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