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Doc Ford #12
Dead of Night
New York Times bestselling author “Randy Wayne White spins another terrific Florida tale”* in this thriller of bio-terror and extreme revenge. It starts with a simple request: check up on the mysteriously reclusive biologist brother of an old friend. But what Doc Ford stumbles upon in the doctor’s secluded island home is a nightmare. He has hanged himself—and his body is host to a rare strain of feeding, breathing parasites. It’s not an accident. Neither is the fact that the flesh eaters are multiplying in the infested Florida waters. A biological catastrophe has arrived. And only Doc Ford can find out why, and stop it from spreading further…
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 17, 2005
262 people are currently reading
830 people want to read
About the author
Randy Wayne White
77 books1,582 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 117 reviews
August 25, 2025
Randy Wayne White's "Doc Ford" series is a treat for those who like fun, action-filled crime thrillers.
White's protagonist, Ford, is a marine biologist who also happens to be a retired CIA assassin (although he's not really retired). Imagine a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond, with a lot of Travis Macgee thrown in. White sets his books in the Florida Everglades and the Keys, where Ford lives and works, along with his nutty hippy neighbor/friend, Tomlinson, and his computer-whiz son, Lake.
In "Dead of Night", Ford tackles a group of ruthless eco-terrorists who are unleashing deadly animal species into the ecosystem of central Florida, in the hopes of scaring off tourists and, in the process, bringing down the evil Satanic Mega-Corporation known as Disney.
Not a big fan of Disney himself, Ford nonetheless finds himself saving the day for that magical rodent. Think "Snakes on a Plane" at Disney World.
Suspenseful, witty, and replete with lots of icky creepy-crawly bugs, snakes, and germs, White scores a win with this novel. Word of warning: you may not want to read this if you are at all squeamish about the afore-mentioned creepy-crawly stuff, as there are lots of graphic descriptions of different animal species and what they can do to human beings.
White's protagonist, Ford, is a marine biologist who also happens to be a retired CIA assassin (although he's not really retired). Imagine a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond, with a lot of Travis Macgee thrown in. White sets his books in the Florida Everglades and the Keys, where Ford lives and works, along with his nutty hippy neighbor/friend, Tomlinson, and his computer-whiz son, Lake.
In "Dead of Night", Ford tackles a group of ruthless eco-terrorists who are unleashing deadly animal species into the ecosystem of central Florida, in the hopes of scaring off tourists and, in the process, bringing down the evil Satanic Mega-Corporation known as Disney.
Not a big fan of Disney himself, Ford nonetheless finds himself saving the day for that magical rodent. Think "Snakes on a Plane" at Disney World.
Suspenseful, witty, and replete with lots of icky creepy-crawly bugs, snakes, and germs, White scores a win with this novel. Word of warning: you may not want to read this if you are at all squeamish about the afore-mentioned creepy-crawly stuff, as there are lots of graphic descriptions of different animal species and what they can do to human beings.
December 29, 2021
I give this one a 4.5. The plot was one of the scariest. The idea of using living organisms from microscopic to large reptiles to reclaim the earth is a frightening concept. This is still one of the best series I have read. If you have not read any of the Doc Ford books, they should be read in order.
April 12, 2017
Doc Ford is very busy right now, but he does a friend a solid and checks on her twin brother, only to find him getting tortured by some Russians. After Ford breaks things up, the twin commits suicide.
This propels Ford into a conspiracy to introduce noxious and venomous creatures into the US.
At the same time, Tomlinson is getting rich by being a religious guru.
Pretty good stuff, with some scenes that will make you wince.
This propels Ford into a conspiracy to introduce noxious and venomous creatures into the US.
At the same time, Tomlinson is getting rich by being a religious guru.
Pretty good stuff, with some scenes that will make you wince.
March 6, 2012
This may have been the creepiest Doc West novel yet. There are villains who are putting horrible creatures into the waterways of Florida and appalling deaths in which parasites are attempting to escape from the remains. Doc reverts back to his previous life as a Government agent and has no problem with dealing with these villains. His son and Tomlinson are also primary protagonists in this tale. Don't start this unless you plan to stay up late to finish it.
February 14, 2022
This was a little to dark for me. Some gross stuff that can bring on nightmares, but mixed in was the good part, the interaction between Doc Ford, Tomlinson, and Doc's son. Without that interaction and part of the story, I would have thrown the book across the room. (Something I learned from a friend of mine.)
December 4, 2021
I had been away from Sanibel Flats for some time so it was good to get to a Doc Ford Mystery. This one was a bit different but still held me. I don't think I'll stay away so long this time.
March 21, 2020
Number 12 in the Doc Ford series, and one of my favorites thus far. White keeps coming up with new and interesting plots, well-drawn characters, and infuses each story with factual information, usually of sea life. Looking forward to the next one.
July 25, 2011
Stayed up until 4am to finish this book, not because it was great but because it was so dry, I worried that if I stopped, I might not get motivated to pick it up again. The summary on the jacket seems interesting enough, in that a biologist, Doc Ford, is asked to meet with a fellow biologist who shares a mutual interest in research topics, but when he arrives, Ford finds the man dead and the body infested with tropical parasites not native to their Florida environment.
If the author would have stuck with trying to investigate these parasites and eliminate them when they are found to be intentionally introduced into non-native habitats along with other parasites elsewhere in the US, this might have been a really good book. Instead, he cuts back to scenes involving a Russian security specialist working in Cuba whose employer is the one behind the eco-terrorism and the torturous things she and her comrades do in order to keep this all under wraps. Plus, we are introduced to Ford's best friend, a hippie-esque head of an online religious following with a very shady past. Even Ford himself isn't simply a biologist, but used to be involved in some special operations unit for the government. So the book focuses a lot more on the company the Russian works for, Ford reconnecting with the special-ops unit to take these terrorists down, and the odd workings in the head of his best friend, rather than any attempts to rid the area of these parasites before they take over and destroy the ecosystem.
Apparently, there are earlier books that feature Doc Ford and his friend, and maybe if I'd read them, I would have liked this book better, but at this point, I'm not sure I'll be picking up this author's work again.
If the author would have stuck with trying to investigate these parasites and eliminate them when they are found to be intentionally introduced into non-native habitats along with other parasites elsewhere in the US, this might have been a really good book. Instead, he cuts back to scenes involving a Russian security specialist working in Cuba whose employer is the one behind the eco-terrorism and the torturous things she and her comrades do in order to keep this all under wraps. Plus, we are introduced to Ford's best friend, a hippie-esque head of an online religious following with a very shady past. Even Ford himself isn't simply a biologist, but used to be involved in some special operations unit for the government. So the book focuses a lot more on the company the Russian works for, Ford reconnecting with the special-ops unit to take these terrorists down, and the odd workings in the head of his best friend, rather than any attempts to rid the area of these parasites before they take over and destroy the ecosystem.
Apparently, there are earlier books that feature Doc Ford and his friend, and maybe if I'd read them, I would have liked this book better, but at this point, I'm not sure I'll be picking up this author's work again.
July 29, 2024
I loved this book. I guess I’m easy to entertain. There are paragraphs where I could hardly breathe I laughed so hard. There’s a scene where Doc Ford’s hippy friend, Tomlinson, takes a pee outdoors near a stream. A tiny fish-like creature, attracted by the uric acid emanating from his stream, follows it up to his tallywhacker and crawls inside it. The pain is acute, to say the least, and the disjointed phrases Tomlinson utters as he watches the tiny fish disappear into him add to the laughter. I read that scene some 16 hours ago, and I’m laughing now at its memory as hard as I did when I encountered the original scene. Wow! To be able to write like that. Because this book takes place in Florida, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that similar incidents have occurred in Florida before. Read that and any desire you ever had, be it ever so fleeting, to urinate outside, will abandon you instantly.
As to the book itself, the plot is memorable throughout and strong. This is a magnificent installment to the series.
A group of ecoterrorists believes it can destroy Florida’s economy by introducing various snakes, spiders, and parasites into the state’s ecology. Once tourists know they could acquire Guinea-worm disease from swimming in Florida, they’ll quit coming. Soon, valuable land prices will tumble to nothing, and the ecoterrorists will be able to snap up the land for pennies, or so they believe.
These ruthless terrorists murder an Autistic scientist who was working on a cure or a prevention for Guinea-worm disease. His sister dies brutally at their hand days later when they strive to get the autistic guy’s laptop. But Doc Ford has seen the dead man's files, and he’s tracking the terrorists to prevent them from further harming people.
The final chapters feel a bit contrived but are wonderfully satisfying, nonetheless. It may make sense to read the entire series ahead of this. That’s what I’ve done, and I think it added much to this book to know at least something of the previous books.
The first 11 books are excellent, and it will be well worth it if you can eventually get to this one.
As to the book itself, the plot is memorable throughout and strong. This is a magnificent installment to the series.
A group of ecoterrorists believes it can destroy Florida’s economy by introducing various snakes, spiders, and parasites into the state’s ecology. Once tourists know they could acquire Guinea-worm disease from swimming in Florida, they’ll quit coming. Soon, valuable land prices will tumble to nothing, and the ecoterrorists will be able to snap up the land for pennies, or so they believe.
These ruthless terrorists murder an Autistic scientist who was working on a cure or a prevention for Guinea-worm disease. His sister dies brutally at their hand days later when they strive to get the autistic guy’s laptop. But Doc Ford has seen the dead man's files, and he’s tracking the terrorists to prevent them from further harming people.
The final chapters feel a bit contrived but are wonderfully satisfying, nonetheless. It may make sense to read the entire series ahead of this. That’s what I’ve done, and I think it added much to this book to know at least something of the previous books.
The first 11 books are excellent, and it will be well worth it if you can eventually get to this one.
July 29, 2019
This is the second Doc Ford mystery I've read. The story is as full of twists and turns as the first so it works as a thriller. I also enjoyed more of the details of Ford's day job as a marine biologist. The passages about his home life (or lack of same) were less effective. Possibly this aspect of the tale would have worked better for me if I read White's books in sequence. The main problem is that Ford has a sort-of girlfriend who has fled to Iowa to give birth to their child. She also greets a former lover who may have plans to move back in. Messy private lives are always welcome with fiction heroes. The problem for me is Doc's passivity. As the rest of the novel makes clear, he does not approach any other part of his life in a passive way so why here? Why is he staying loyal to a woman who obviously does not like him much when two other (much more likable) ones make it clear they would like to get to know him better. I'm going to chalk this up to a bad outing but if this is the way the other Doc Ford stories play out I doubt I will finish the series. Four stars for the thriller, two for romance.
September 3, 2021
As a favor for a friend, Ford heads to a remote inland island near Orlando to find out her the brother is okay. When he does, he finds himself involved in investigating the illegal importation of dangerous exotic plants and animal to the states to underground bio-terrorists.
This has some really gruesome ideas and scenes in it involving methods of death. But I love the ‘Captain’s Log’ that Ford keeps his daily accounts in. The excerpts provide extra flavor.
Footnote: 1) It was interesting to read in the author’s note about how in 2005 he went through almost the same experience with a hurricane as his character did in the previous book “Ten Thousand Islands’ written 5 years earlier. Same name hurricane too. Mr. White, I hope you’re okay now.
Fave scenes: the water ski ramp, Applebee’s diorama, walking the shark and Tomlinson in the operating room.
This has some really gruesome ideas and scenes in it involving methods of death. But I love the ‘Captain’s Log’ that Ford keeps his daily accounts in. The excerpts provide extra flavor.
Footnote: 1) It was interesting to read in the author’s note about how in 2005 he went through almost the same experience with a hurricane as his character did in the previous book “Ten Thousand Islands’ written 5 years earlier. Same name hurricane too. Mr. White, I hope you’re okay now.
Fave scenes: the water ski ramp, Applebee’s diorama, walking the shark and Tomlinson in the operating room.
June 1, 2018
WOW! Outstanding read that one comes to expect from Randy Wayne White. Doc Ford is simply magnificent in combating bio-tech warfare, envy, greed, the loss of two good friends in a very fast paced story. From his home base in Sanibel Island, to Cuba, to Bahama Islands and through out Florida this one will grab a reader and will not let go to the final page. The Russians are back doing their haunting, killing and keeping Doc and company on their quest of finding truth in the parasite world.
August 11, 2021
I'm a sucker for the setting. His house and lab are on stilts in a bohemian Florida marina. He is a marine biologist and we are treated to learning not by tedious treatises but by little marine adventures.
The book was well-written but too often veered from dark humor (poor Tomlinson) to gruesome gore and more than one rape. The book loses stars on its score for those reasons. But someone else may have different taste. They will find that the writing and storytelling are first rate.
The book was well-written but too often veered from dark humor (poor Tomlinson) to gruesome gore and more than one rape. The book loses stars on its score for those reasons. But someone else may have different taste. They will find that the writing and storytelling are first rate.
December 30, 2024
While this book is fast paced and deals with important issues of bioterrorism and the dangers of introducing non indigenous species into ecosystems, it is not redeemable. Detailed brutality, sadistic murders and worse, leave this reader wondering if this one, not worthy of the series, is best left on the shelf… although it could be partially redeemable if there is another toilet paper shortage.
The only positive reviews for this book were likely paid for by the publisher and on the book cover.
The only positive reviews for this book were likely paid for by the publisher and on the book cover.
August 13, 2020
I've read many Randy White books but this one just seemed off to me. Past Doc Ford books have been in first person and told the story chronologically. This one had places where the story jumped around and the voice changed unexpectedly. Same biology background which I enjoyed. Overall the book was entertaining just didn't enjoy it as much as previous stories.
May 19, 2025
“Doc Ford stumbles upon in the mysteriously reclusive biologist brother of an old friend. But what Ford found in the secluded island home is a nightmare. He has hanged himself—and his body is host to a rare strain of feeding, breathing parasites. It’s not an accident. Neither is the fact that the flesh eaters are multiplying in the infested Florida waters.”
May 23, 2017
Another excellent story in the Doc Ford series. In this one we learn even more about Doc's past involving his friend Tomlinson and some of the bad things that everyone's done. Plus we get to learn about parasites and bio-terrorism! Oh Boy!
January 4, 2019
Not my fav Doc Ford. I had some trouble keeping bad guys straight, and even more troubling was a reminder of how easily bioterroism could happen in Florida where I live. This book was a bit too dark for me.
April 28, 2020
I'm a Randy Wayne White fan, but this is not one of my favorites. Maybe because the guinea worms are soooo creepy. Or maybe because it's pandemic time and I'm having trouble concentrating. Thank god it's not a pandemic of guinea worms!
December 18, 2021
This entry in the Doc Ford mystery series is really good, although the ending seemed a bit too hurried, in my opinion. In fact, I even had to re-read a couple of pages to make sure I knew what was going on. That aside, it was still a very good mystery with an interesting plot.
November 1, 2022
Pretty good story with a science background of exotic species being introduced into Florida's landscape. It branches out to include bioterrorism in which Doc obviously finds himself a part of. Usual cast of characters. Nice way to spend an afternoon is with one of RWW's books.
February 9, 2024
Least favorite Randy Wayne White book, all the characters are there but this story was very scattered and the book ending left reader with feeling author just got tired of writing and just added the last page so he could get away from writing.
February 23, 2024
Not my favorite..
Some of Randy’s bad guys are creepy bad and it makes it hard to fall asleep after reading. I get that he needs to come up with new ideas but…parasites in the body… yeeesh!
Some of Randy’s bad guys are creepy bad and it makes it hard to fall asleep after reading. I get that he needs to come up with new ideas but…parasites in the body… yeeesh!
November 4, 2016
3.5 stars. This is the first book in the series I have read. It was pretty easy to get to know the characters and put them all in place. I'm glad I read this book. Well written and good thriller.
May 23, 2017
I'm glad Doc is 'back in the saddle'!
July 26, 2017
I thought the plotline with the worms was really gross (which I guess was the point)
August 19, 2017
The best book I've read so far in this series. What's a biologist to do in the face of imminent biological crisis?
Research! ❤️
Research! ❤️
October 4, 2017
Not my favorite Doc Ford in the series.
November 4, 2017
extremely good read!
April 13, 2018
Better than #11, but it didn't really jump out at me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews