Rating: 
Summary: A fun, unusual thriller
Review: "No good deed goes unpunished." This about sums up the plot of Randy Wayne White's NORTH OF HAVANA, but by itself can't do justice to the story's twists and turns, its unusual characters, and its setting in Castro's decaying Cuba. "Doc" Ford goes to Cuba to spring his old hippy buddy Tomlinson, who (for reasons not immediately clear) sailed too near the island and had his sailboat impounded. "Doc" has good reasons not to go, mostly because of his previous activities in Cuba on behalf of shadowy Federal agencies, but including service as Fidel's Yanqui catcher for an exhibition baseball game (!) during which he had a serious dispute on the mound with "El Pitcher Maximo" which Castro - notorious for nursing grudges - is unlikely to forgive or forget. A complication is the appearance of another friend who needs his help: Dewey, a lesbian athlete on the rebound from a shattered love affair. But he and Dewey, posing as a tourist couple (and with $10,000 US stuffed in a mone
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting at first
Review: A little less than a year ago I was attending summer classes at the University of Florida and I had some extra time on my hands. I had never been a big reader, but one of my roomates gave me a copy of Sanibel Flats (White's first book) to read. Since then I have read all of the Doc Ford novels and have become a huge fan. North of Havana has become one of my favorite books of all time. I am a born and raised Floridian with a love of fishing. In fact it is only a short boat ride from my house to Sanibel Island. North of Havana captured me from the beginning. I am in awe of the "world in Cuba" so there was a natural attraction to the book. I have also followed Doc Ford's relationship with Dewey Nye through the previous books. In fact I would recomend reading his previous books to fully understand the special relationship between them. I also love the way White brought back Pilar, Doc's former lover, at the end of the book. White has revived me as a dedicated reader and I can not wait for more to come.
Rating:
Summary: This is Randy Wayne White's best book.
Review: A little less than a year ago I was attending summer classes at the University of Florida and I had some extra time on my hands. I had never been a big reader, but one of my roomates gave me a copy of Sanibel Flats (White's first book) to read. Since then I have read all of the Doc Ford novels and have become a huge fan. North of Havana has become one of my favorite books of all time. I am a born and raised Floridian with a love of fishing. In fact it is only a short boat ride from my house to Sanibel Island. North of Havana captured me from the beginning. I am in awe of the "world in Cuba" so there was a natural attraction to the book. I have also followed Doc Ford's relationship with Dewey Nye through the previous books. In fact I would recomend reading his previous books to fully understand the special relationship between them. I also love the way White brought back Pilar, Doc's former lover, at the end of the book. White has revived me as a dedicated reader and I can not wait for more to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Doc Ford is better off in Florida
Review: I generally enjoy reading Randy Wayne White novels, and regard him as a good writer. This, the fifth of the Doc Ford series, comes as quite a shock. It is not only boring, boring, it is utter drivel. Here White seems to have changed his style, his informative passages feel out of place and strained, as indeed is most of the book. Doc Ford is changed, Tomlinson is changed. They come over far more believable and better when in Florida, not in Cuba where this novel is set for the most part. Sanibel Flats is also a Doc Ford novel set out of Florida. I didn't enjoy that one either, but it's not drivel. I think White, in North of Havana, has attempted to elevate his writing onto a higher plain and achieved the opposite.
Rating:
Summary: Doc Ford is better off in Florida
Review: I generally enjoy reading Randy Wayne White novels, and regard him as a good writer. This, the fifth of the Doc Ford series, comes as quite a shock. It is not only boring, boring, it is utter drivel. Here White seems to have changed his style, his informative passages feel out of place and strained, as indeed is most of the book.
Doc Ford is changed, Tomlinson is changed. They come over far more believable and better when in Florida, not in Cuba where this novel is set for the most part. Sanibel Flats is also a Doc Ford novel set out of Florida. I didn't enjoy that one either, but it's not drivel. I think White, in North of Havana, has attempted to elevate his writing onto a higher plain and achieved the opposite.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting at first
Review: I got bored halfway and lost interest. I was browsing in the library and happen to see this book. It caught my eye because it was about Cuba and I wanted to know more about the country. I wanted to visit Cuba but not now.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read, but not his best
Review: I'm a big RWW fan and enjoyed this book as well, but as stated by an earlier reviewer, I thought "North of Havana" lost a little steam midway through. It may have been the fact that Tomlinson, whose eccentricities are normally a source of mild consternation for Doc Ford, are the cause of some major problems, both to Ford and to his female companion. That those character flaws lead indirectly to several deaths makes Tomlinson less quirky and more downright irritating.
Otherwise, an action-focused entry in a great series of novels.
Rating:
Summary: A great read, but not his best
Review: I'm a big RWW fan and enjoyed this book as well, but as stated by an earlier reviewer, I thought "North of Havana" lost a little steam midway through. It may have been the fact that Tomlinson, whose eccentricities are normally a source of mild consternation for Doc Ford, are the cause of some major problems, both to Ford and to his female companion. That those character flaws lead indirectly to several deaths makes Tomlinson less quirky and more downright irritating. Otherwise, an action-focused entry in a great series of novels.
Rating:
Summary: A great read, but not his best
Review: I'm a big RWW fan and enjoyed this book as well, but as stated by an earlier reviewer, I thought "North of Havana" lost a little steam midway through. It may have been the fact that Tomlinson, whose eccentricities are normally a source of mild consternation for Doc Ford, are the cause of some major problems, both to Ford and to his female companion. That those character flaws lead indirectly to several deaths makes Tomlinson less quirky and more downright irritating. Otherwise, an action-focused entry in a great series of novels.
Rating:
Summary: The next best thing to Travis McGee
Review: If you liked MacDonald's McGee series, you'll like Randy Wayne White. And this is the best of them. Very readable, well plotted and fun.
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