This is the first book in the Travis McGee series; Random House just began republishing the whole series.
I’d read one other book by John D. MacDonald, and was not overly impressed, but decided to try the first McGee book. Wow! This guy can write!
McGee signs on to help a young woman recover some gems which her Dad illegally brought back after the Pacific War, and which another guy stole. I was quite engrossed, and know that I’ll be devouring more MacDonald books.
When I was growing up, I remember seeing MacDonald books on bookracks in grocery stores and elsewhere, usually with risque covers. They went alongside Mickey Spillane and Sidney Sheldon books with similar covers. So I just figured MacDonald’s books were very racy.
But this first Travis McGee book isn’t that way at all. Sure, there’s some sex, but the plot and very fine writing predominate.
