Rating: 
Summary: God, I love Doc Ford
Review: Although often compared to John D. MacDonald, Randy Wayne White is fully capable of standing on his own whether writing the incredible Doc Ford novels or his equally exciting non-fiction essays. Doc Ford, Tomlinson, indeed all the characters who inhabit Dinkin's Bay, are deftly drawn and always welcome on my bookshelf. Technically based on a true story, 10,000 Islands quickly takes readers on a journey of greed and retribution packed with adventure and glimpses into Doc's former shadowy life as a secret operative.
While he is not a Florida Native, White truly cares about this state and, I feel, harbors some righteous anger against those who have carved it up for the highest bidder. Doc Ford, in his current life as a marine biologist, studies his sea creatures and worries about their health and survival, when he isn't righting wrongs. I applaud Randy Wayne White for taking a stand in defense of Florida and nature in general.
White's writing is tight and can make a reader laugh on one page and cry on the next. His stories are just plain entertaining and I can't for the life of me understand why they are not always on the bestseller list.
Good Work Randy! Keep it up!
Rating:
Summary: Classic thriller
Review: Doc Ford is a classic cynic who has seen the darkest sections of hell on earth before returning to America to remake himself. He works in Dinkin's Bay Sanibel Island, Florida as a marine biologist. Though he lives a structured life, trouble always visits him.A friend asks Doc to help a woman whose child's grave was opened many years after the girl died. The daughter was special since she had the ability to find valuable, often historical, artifacts in places where no one would normally look. When she was found dead with a rope around her neck, the official opinion was suicide. She was buried with two very valuable artifacts, which is believed why someone desecrated her grave. Doc, feeling an unexplainable connection to the girl, vows to learn the full truth about Dorothy in life, death, and after-death. Randy Wayne White guides his audience to a beautiful, primal part of Florida rarely visited by tourists. The anti-hero Doc, in his seventh appearance, is a quixotic mix of spiritual goodness and violent virility that is difficult to understand but enjoyable to observe. The adventure is exciting and frightening, as the plot seems so real that it is happening to the reader. Thus, the story line and its star turn TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS into an unforgettable work that will require Mr. White to write an eighth Ford tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: The best so far
Review: Doc Ford is a Marine biologist living in Dinkin's Bay Marina on Sanibel Island down in the Florida wilderness. Before he'd stepped into that life, however, Ford had lived another life as a government agent--and maybe, according to his good friend Tomlinson, who experiments with recreational drugs and New Age philosophies, he'd had a life before that. Fifteen years ago, Dorothy Copeland was a child prodigy, a finder of lost things with an uncanny knack for discovering treasures from the Calusa Indians that had once lived in the Ten Thousand Islands. Several of the findings the young girl made ended up in museums, and they attracted the unwanted attentions of treasure hunters looking for gold. Then, mysteriously, Dorothy was found dead, hanging in a tree branch. No one knew if she was murdered or she accidentally took her own life while trying to get away from the voices she'd always heard in her head. A mutual friend of the girl's mother asks Doc to look into the situation after a break-in at the mother's house that is tied to the dead girl. Ford's investigation into the matter involves deadly lies, power, corruption, and the darkest evil in men's hearts amid the spectacular backdrop of the Florida Keys. Randy Wayne White is the author of several Doc Ford novels, including TWELVE-MILE LIMIT, SHARK RIVER, SANIBEL FLATS, and NORTH OF HAVANA. He's also authored books on travel and fishing in Florida, BATFISHING IN THE RAIN FOREST, THE SHARKS OF NICARAGUA, and LAST FLIGHT OUT. He's also regularly contributed articles to OUTSIDE magazine and MEN'S HEALTH magazine. Doc Ford is a deep and moving character. White's first-person narrative draws the reader in and makes him or her feel as though he or she is peering over Ford's shoulder during his adventures. Besides the driving narrative, the descriptions of the places in the book, the people met there, and the tidbits of information on the flora and fauna make for an enjoyable and enlightening read. White's description of the horrific cenote kept by the book's villains will not soon leave the mind's eye or fail to send a chill up the spine. This is a hero with a history, but not all of that history is laid out for casual inspection. Although Doc has been around his regular cadre of friends, the reader still makes discovers about Doc's past as well as his connection to present-day friends. White paints Doc on the page like a real person, complete with flaws and weaknesses. The book starts off a little slow, necessitating an out of place prologue showing the coming threat and violence coming. Still, White is so readable that the pages fly by, and those action junkies needing a quick fix of violence will be amply rewarded by sticking with the book. For those that love deep characterization and a peek at the real world a hero lives and works in, as well as the tangled mess they make of their emotional lives, the opening chapters are an excellent way to get to know Doc. Readers of any of the Florida crime writers will enjoy White's skill and verve, and his tough-guy characterization, philosophy, and internal questioning are on a par with Robert B. Parker's Spenser, James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux, and Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels. As with those three writers, White makes his character's environment as big and expansive as his hero.
Rating: 
Summary: Tropical Murder
Review: Doc Ford is a Marine biologist living in Dinkin's Bay Marina on Sanibel Island down in the Florida wilderness. Before he'd stepped into that life, however, Ford had lived another life as a government agent--and maybe, according to his good friend Tomlinson, who experiments with recreational drugs and New Age philosophies, he'd had a life before that. Fifteen years ago, Dorothy Copeland was a child prodigy, a finder of lost things with an uncanny knack for discovering treasures from the Calusa Indians that had once lived in the Ten Thousand Islands. Several of the findings the young girl made ended up in museums, and they attracted the unwanted attentions of treasure hunters looking for gold. Then, mysteriously, Dorothy was found dead, hanging in a tree branch. No one knew if she was murdered or she accidentally took her own life while trying to get away from the voices she'd always heard in her head. A mutual friend of the girl's mother asks Doc to look into the situation after a break-in at the mother's house that is tied to the dead girl. Ford's investigation into the matter involves deadly lies, power, corruption, and the darkest evil in men's hearts amid the spectacular backdrop of the Florida Keys. Randy Wayne White is the author of several Doc Ford novels, including TWELVE-MILE LIMIT, SHARK RIVER, SANIBEL FLATS, and NORTH OF HAVANA. He's also authored books on travel and fishing in Florida, BATFISHING IN THE RAIN FOREST, THE SHARKS OF NICARAGUA, and LAST FLIGHT OUT. He's also regularly contributed articles to OUTSIDE magazine and MEN'S HEALTH magazine. Doc Ford is a deep and moving character. White's first-person narrative draws the reader in and makes him or her feel as though he or she is peering over Ford's shoulder during his adventures. Besides the driving narrative, the descriptions of the places in the book, the people met there, and the tidbits of information on the flora and fauna make for an enjoyable and enlightening read. White's description of the horrific cenote kept by the book's villains will not soon leave the mind's eye or fail to send a chill up the spine. This is a hero with a history, but not all of that history is laid out for casual inspection. Although Doc has been around his regular cadre of friends, the reader still makes discovers about Doc's past as well as his connection to present-day friends. White paints Doc on the page like a real person, complete with flaws and weaknesses. The book starts off a little slow, necessitating an out of place prologue showing the coming threat and violence coming. Still, White is so readable that the pages fly by, and those action junkies needing a quick fix of violence will be amply rewarded by sticking with the book. For those that love deep characterization and a peek at the real world a hero lives and works in, as well as the tangled mess they make of their emotional lives, the opening chapters are an excellent way to get to know Doc. Readers of any of the Florida crime writers will enjoy White's skill and verve, and his tough-guy characterization, philosophy, and internal questioning are on a par with Robert B. Parker's Spenser, James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux, and Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels. As with those three writers, White makes his character's environment as big and expansive as his hero.
Rating:
Summary: Ten Thousand Islands
Review: I am glad to see that Randy Wayne White is finally being promoted by his publisher. He is a top quality story teller. He writes with humor yet is able to inform or educate the reader. I live in South Florida and look forward to the learning something new about the Flora and Fauna of this unique envionment. One of his earlier books got me interested in seeing the Tarpon and learning more about this fish. I wish him the success that he deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Ten Thousand Islands
Review: I am glad to see that Randy Wayne White is finally being promoted by his publisher. He is a top quality story teller. He writes with humor yet is able to inform or educate the reader. I live in South Florida and look forward to the learning something new about the Flora and Fauna of this unique envionment. One of his earlier books got me interested in seeing the Tarpon and learning more about this fish. I wish him the success that he deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Doc Ford at his best
Review: I love Randy Wayne White books. They are all set in Florida and his love of the people, geography and habitat shines through. This latest book is his best. I had the privilege of meeting the author at a writers conference and he is as charming in person as his character Doc Ford is on paper. I am anxiously awaiting the movie version of any Doc Ford book. I have visions of Harrison Ford in the role of Doc Ford. Today's moving going public would love a protagonist who is intelligent and does not have to rely soley on high speed chases to solve the mystery.
Rating:
Summary: White's Best Yet!
Review: I started TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS on a Thursday afternoon andfinished it at 5 a.m. on Friday -- my first novel all-nighter sinceSILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Marine Biologist Doc Ford, Florida's most compelling, unromantic, anti-hero is at the top of his form. Nearly two decades ago, on Marco Island,FL, a brilliant 14-year old girl dug up an Indian grave and found a golden medallion once worn by the king of pre-Colombian Florida. A few months later, she's found dead, hanging from a tree. Now, 15-years later, someone's dug-up the grave and it's up to Ford and buddy Tomlinson to find out why. Based on a true story, the tale that follows is brilliant, compelling, terrifying and sometimes hilarious. I laughed and actually wept. Tomlinson steals the show as usual, but Ford is also elevated: He does psychedelic mushrooms and briefly re-meets his true soul mate -- two solitary islands among ten thousand in this touching, metaphorical tale. The real star, as usual, however, is the strange place called Florida and no one is better than White when it comes to capturing it on paper.
Rating:
Summary: The best so far
Review: I've been reading through the series from book #1 for the past few weeks (bought the whole set). All are good, but this one really blew me away. Some of the others have been slower paced, or Ford was so angst-ridden about the violence in his nature that I got a bit bored. Not this time. Doc's angry, and he's righteous! Don't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: First-Rate Ford
Review: I've read three of White's Ford series. I liked two of them a lot, and the other not at all. In "North of Havana" White seriously over reaches and sends Ford off on an absurd and incredible mission in Cuba. As well written as the book was-and White is a good writer-I find it annoying that Ford was misused in this way. Where Doc sticks close to home, as in "Captiva" and "Ten Thousand Islands," he is indeed the closest thing we have to Travis McGee. Too bad, though, that Geoffrey Norman's Morgan Hunt stalled out at just three books. He was the best Travis clone of all.
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