Everglades

Rating:
Summary: Doc Ford Rebuilt
Review: Just as Doc goes through the process of recovery from failures in the previous adventure (Twelve Mile Limit) so the author seems in the process of recovering his hero. As the novel progresses, Doc has a growing awareness of his physical limitations and the effects of depression. Gradually he works his way through these problems while solving a mystery in familiar surroundings. This novel is built around the use of a cult as a front for development in the everglades, including but not limited to casino gambling. Doc Ford gets back to his roots in the sea of grass with a childhood friend whose husband has disappeared, the offspring of Tucker Gatrell's sidekick, Joe Egret, and old pal Tomlinson, whose undergraduate musings on an acid influenced philosophy paper have been posted and become an internet phenomenon.

White too has trimmed down. He plays his strong characters and has eliminated much of the annoying "black helicopter" paranoia of his recent novels. While there is still a lot of violence, but perhaps not as abrasive as in Twelve Mile Limit. I do, however, hope that the coda of a Nicaragua trip might come to an end here. As usual White could probably cut some of the repetition, but sometimes his pictures are right on, as in his account of the disorientating effect of airboats or the case of a fine description of the buzzard trees along the old Tamiami Trail. All in all, it's a good three day read.

Rating:
Summary: A unique Eveerglades mystery.
Review: Randy Wayne White's "Everglades" is an intriguing ride from start to finish.

Sanibel marine biologist Doc Ford (whose clandestine past involved covert government spook ops) is recovering from recent tribulations. He is both depressed and out of shape---and attempting to come to terms with his violent former life.

Nevertheless he remains the avenger to those who hurt his friends.

Former flame, Sally Carmel, shows up asking Doc's help. She does not buy the report of her husband's boating death.

Her husband was the moneyed partner with Bhagwan Shiva, the head of a crooked religious cult whose cash flow is in jeopardy.

The cult is an eco-terrorist front for developing casinos and condos in the Everglades. To get the support of the Seminoles, Shiva must convince them he possesses mystical powers.

With his venomous henchman Izzy, Shiva orchestrates an earthquake in the Everglades to demonstrate his powers.

While Doc, his best friend Tomlinson and an ex-cop turned PI team up to expose Shiva's conspiracy before the Seminoles are duped, Izzy kidnaps Sally, adding a ticking clock subplot.

Colorful characters, richly atmospheric (you will find yourself swatting the imaginary mosquito), great story telling and the possibility of permanent romance for Doc Ford make this an excellent addition to the Doc Ford saga.

"Everglades. This is the real Magic Kingdom."

Rating:
Summary: a great summer read
Review: Randy Wayne White's latest Doc Ford novel is equal parts psychological thriller, south Florida tarvelogue, and action novella. The perfect summer read. In Everglades, Doc Ford wrestles with his personal failures while finding an old friend in trouble with a New Age spiritualist. The story soon involves Ford's deep-thinking (and heavily spaced out) friend Tomlinson, who has had encounters of his own with the villian.

White is really maturing as a writer, as this book demonstrates. His characters have a greater degree of depth, and his narrative flows between sequences flawlessly. Of course, as one would expect from a RWW novel, he has much to say about his beloved south Florida and life in general as he does about the story line. A strength of this book is that these points only ehance the plot rather than detract from it. The only sticky point about the book is that the nature of the sub-plot requires readers to have read at least the previous book, Twelve Mile Limit in order to clearly understand whats going on. Nonetheless, a recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: This new installment in the Doc Ford series is a good one, and
it is well worth reading. Some characteristics of a few of the
leading characters are a bit over the top, and that can be a bit
much, but in general, the mystery is well developed and moves
along nicely.
Here, Doc returns to his home-on-stilts to find an old girl friend waiting on him, and she uses his shoulder to cry on, telling about the disappearance of her husband. And, lo-and-behold, right that minute, she tells him she is being followed by someone who is right then hiding in the mangrove, watching them. Doc pulls a trick to get out of sight and sneak up on the
watcher, and they have a tough run-in that results in a strange
friendship, as they both want to help the lady in distress.
While trying to locate the missing husband, they run into a strange, power-hungry religious guru, who seems to be putting together a genuine cult, and they begin to suspect the man's disappearance has some connection with his interest in the new
religion.
Of course, this leads to another strange, unexpected meeting, this time with a small group of Seminole indians who turn out to
have a bizarre connection with Doc.
There is a lot of action here, with many characters--and we do
mean "characters" in this one--and there are plenty of death and
natural phenonomon to interest most readers.
As a slight criticism, many readers will find almost too much
history of Florida and their native Indian tribes here, and
while a part of the story, these elements almost take off on
their own, diverting our interest from the mystery.
But the author knows his subject, and he seemingly can't quite
get his mind fully on the mystery he is writing because of his
on-going strong interest in the history of his home region.
But this is plenty of action for anyone, with romance along for the ride, and this is a genuine interesting addition to the Doc
Ford series.