Travis Books

I really wanted to like this book, but it really doesn't hold up well enough after 30 years for me to recommend it. There is very little suspense in it. After I discovered that even Agatha Christie just kept writing the same book over and over, I gave up on mysteries altogether. There are some main problems with them: 1) How different can a murder mystery be than all the others 2) In a series of books, like a TV series, the hero can be battered, but never really faces the possibility of death, unless it's the last in the series, and that is announced before you even read it 4) Television mysteries became so popular since the 70s ( and especially in the 70s) and ripped off all elements of writers like MacDonald that for a 45-year-old man (me) picking up The Empty Copper Sea, published in 1978, in 2007 there is no way for this to be fresh. I have to admit that some elements of this took me back to my junior year in high school ('78) but there were three Billy Carter jokes in this novel and that kind of thing just attached it too carefully to a fleeting time in history. The reason to read this book is if you have read many or all of the other McGee novels and you want to read the one in which he deals with the self-doubt and reanalysis of middle age. It's all about the character. Even the Macguffin of this book is that nearly everyone in it is having a midlife crisis. There is plenty of male fantasy going on (McGee has no trouble bedding women much younger than he, and they are never homely, fat, or crazy like in real life). Most disappointing of all for me was that the mystery wasn't that mysterious. SPOILER ALERT: MacDonald makes nearly everyone in the novel so convinced that Hub Lawless skipped to Mexico that it's obvious he didn't, and when one character says that, it sticks out like such a sore thumb that you know the guy is dead one way or another. MacDonald also makes weird decisions about what miniscule details to put in and what big scenes to leave out. He chickens out of sex scenes like an embarassed nun and lays on the blood and gore like a 14-year-old. He also writes in a fairly old-fashioned way that just doesn't stand up. I'm sure that before every TV private eye and mystery show stole much of his good material this was an entertaining book (the title is beautiful for one thing), but the passage of time and the evolution of crime fiction has not really been kind to John D. MacDonald. Much of the political and social concern he tries to put in the novel through his characters (Meyer's hilariously out of date rant about angel dust) has been deflated by history. Even in 1978 it was cornball to refer to marijuana as "grass" and it instantly makes his characters such squares that it's hard to think of McGee as this street-toughened, shadowy, crime-fighting advocate of the down-trodden when he sounds so out of touch and country clubby. I was hoping that delving back into the mystery genre with one of the greats would be a nice experience, but the truth is that if you read any literature outside this genre, the characterizations you come to expect from top-notch writers like Faulkner, Pynchon, Wallace, Amis, McGuane, Franzen, Chabon, et al, really make a novel like this seem more like a fluffed-up pamphlet in which you start looking for paragraphs you can skip over. Or in other words, like a script for a TV show, not a novel.

Can someone, anyone, explain to me why it is impossible to get a "new" copy of this mass market paperback? This book was supposedly re-issued in the mid-90s with the other 20 McGee books...you can find new copies of the other 20 anywhere (including on Amazon), but you can't find a new copy of this book anywhere (again, including on Amazon).

I don't get it. Does this have something to do with the movie studio withholding rights to publish or something (I know this is one of the McGee books that was made into a movie)? Again, would someone please shed light on this matter for me...I'd love to get a new copy.

John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee books are something that current authors should try to emulate. They are usually 250 pages long, actually give the reader food for thought and tell a good story. There is no padding in the book, no gratuitous sex scenes (although Travis meets heaps of women) and violence is kept to a minimum.

In this novel, Travis is approached by an old friend in need of help. The story centres around the search for a man who has gone missing, presumed dead but doubts have arisen over the possible large insurance payout and rumours that the man is hiding out in Mexico.

This leads to Travis and Meyer setting out to gather more information and at the same time, making interesting observations about the human condition (a trademark of MacDonald's writings).

Warmly recommended.

What could be better than a beach book where a large chunk of the action takes place--you guessed it--on the Beach? Travis and pal Meyer endeavor to clear the name of ship captain, Van Harder. His client, Hub Lawless, was lost at sea and Harder was accused of being passed out drunk at the time of the accident. Van claims he was doped, not drunk, and now has lost his license and means of livelihood. Meyer engineers a neat scam whereby he and Trav get access to all the powers-that-be in Timber Bay, the town where the unfortunate Mr. Lawless was a king pin. His disappearance has left the town holding the bag and severely depressed. There is a serious question whether he engineered his own disappearance, and the insurance company is holding up the payment of a $2 million policy to the widow.

The book is fast paced with excellent dialogue, and if that isn't enough--Enter the Girls! First Trav hooks up with the lady piano player in a bar. He and MacDonald dance around for a few pages trying to absolve Trav of taking advantage of the dreaded, non-sensitive One Night Stand. Then come two good-time girls, Mishy & Licia who were on the boat at the time of the disappearance. Licia, though lovely, has a teeth problem. Much to her dismay one crude fellow told her "with teeth like that, you could eat a Big Mac through a venetian blind." (Not our Trav, of course). Then, saving the best until last, Gretel who brings Trav to his knees in instant adoration. I always get nervous when Trav finds true love; they seem to have a very short life span.

"The Empty Copper Sea" is vintage Travis McGee with more turns than a corkscrew and surprises to match. MacDonald sets up one of his trademark scenes of macabre horror right when you least expect it. He wipes that smile off your face, just in case you thought this was going to be only a lighthearted ramble. Recommended.

Over the years I've read hundreds of novels in a variety of genres, but for pure fun and enjoyment it's hard to beat Travis McGee. Some of the books are better than others, but they're nearly all worth a couple of lazy summer days. They are the ultimate summer time, quick-read beach books. At their core, they're good mysteries and this is one of the best. But Travis McGee is such a great character, with such a wry outlook on life, that often the mystery seems secondary to McGee's views on whatever topic author John D. McDonald has selected for his soap box. Most of them take place in Florida, (a Florida no one will ever see again given they were written mostly in the 60s and 70s) and all have a color in the title. Don't take them too seriously, just have fun in the sun.

When you read this novel it will begin to give you a fuller story of Star Wars, its not as simple as Bad and Good.

I played the KOTOR game and loved it, So when I heard they were making a comic book that was going to take place during the mandalorian wars I was very excited. This comic is different enough from the game to be a separate story, but still have that KOTOR feeling. I really enjoyed reading it and will probably start collecting the comics.

This story reads like a precuel to Lucas' Knights of the Old Republic video games. It is excellent. In it you can FEEL the rot in the Republic and the weakness and stupidity of the Jedi Order. The Jedi all come out as idealists. And all are in the wrong paths. Except for the young Jedi apprentices. It is as if as they grow all Jedi IN the Order become twisted.

It's nearly 3,900 years before Episode IV. On the city-planet Taris, Jedi padawan Zayne Carrick is about as big a bumbler as one can get - in fact, he's so inept that he's become a running joke not only with his fellow padawan, but with their masters as well. However, the laughter's over once Zayne's classmates are found murdered on the night they are to be promoted to Jedi Knights - and Zayne is the prime suspect. What ensues is a chase through the many urban levels of Taris and the surrounding solar system as Zayne tries to figure out how he became framed for the crime and discover the true killers. Along the way he befriends the wily smuggler Gryph and a pair of offbeat scofflaws as the evidence mounts - and points to a solution no one expected.

I have to be honest - I didn't expect very much out of this volume; I picked it up on a whim. What drew me to it was Brian Ching's pencil work (those of you familiar with his art on the Clone Wars series know what I'm talking about - it is dramatic and reminiscent of the conceptual work of Ian McCaig; Ching pencils most of this volume), but I also found myself interested in the story. Certainly, it is not an original plot by any means - this kind of tale is about as standard as any you'll find. Additionally, none of the characters are too relatable or innovative. However, the dark thoroughfares that this Star Wars yarn takes you down are surprisingly compelling, and the ending quite unexpected, and none too tidy. I'll be interested to take a look at Vol. 2. Recommended for the Star Wars fan and those looking for some great artwork.

It seems no one is able to come up with a fresh angle on Star Wars.

Here we have a new series set four millennia prior to the Anakin/Luke saga, a wonderful opportunity to do something different, to try on some new clothes, to even do an extensive makeover. What we get is a rearrangement of the essential elements: a Jedi-centric story featuring a white teenage boy set in the midst of a galaxy-wide war populated with the same old species playing the same tired roles.

The story is the film prequel in reverse. Our "hero," Zayne Carrick, is the evil chosen one, a padawan feared by a secret group of Jedi seers to be the next Sith Lord. Framing Carrick for murder, the Jedi cabal intends to arrest and then liquidate him - and all on a very flimsy pretense. In a seance-like trance, the seers have a joint vision of a Sith in a red suit. And, by gosh, Garrick has a red environment suit that looks eerily similar, in a trance induced dream-like way. Even George Bush had more credible evidence for his adventure in Iraq.

Zayne turns the tables by escaping and promising to hunt down every last one of the seers in order to clear his name. So rather than a chosen one who turns out to be the Jedi's nemesis, we have a supposed Sith Lord who appears set to save the Jedi - and the universe.

Admittedly, this is a clever plotting twist and not the only surprise writer John Jackson Miller has up his sleeve. In fact, given the warmed-over flavor of the concept, it's Miller's scripting and plotting chops that rescue the series from utter mediocrity. Besides a sharp wit and deft sense of comic timing, his writing is crisp and cinematic, with no exposition to slow the pace of events. He's aided and abetted by Brian Ching's pencils, some very sharp art that is sorely missed in Travel Forman's anime-style fifth chapter.

To be fair, Dark Horse and Miller may not be entirely to blame for the repackaged characters and plot devices. With two best-selling video games built around this era, Lucas Arts no doubt also had a say. While you need not have played the games to enjoy these comics, it might help if you haven't read or watched too much Star Wars. For those that have, you can play spot-the-retread:

+ Jedi obsessed with the reappearance, after a long period of inactivity, of the Sith
+ A Jedi council that despite its collection of big brains doesn't have a collective idea of what goes on among its members
+ Yoda leading the Jedi academy (actually, he has another name and a little more hair, but otherwise he's Yoda)
+ The Jedi council chamber looking the same as 1000 years later
+ A junk heap of a ship that breaks down at inopportune moments
+ Spaceships escaping pursuit in asteroid fields
+ Self-absorbed drifters and shady merchants who abandon the hero, only to return to rescue him from certain death

While Star Wars fans have come to expect this kind of patchwork storytelling in the EU, it would be of great service to the Star Wars universe as a whole if writers didn't borrow every latest addition and shoe-horn it into stories set in the far past. It makes for a static universe. In Commencement, for example, we have a Jedi talking about the "Living Force," a concept first introduced through Qui Gon Jinn. By the time it appears now in The Phantom Menace it is a tired and perhaps even trite conception. The same goes for "Shatterpoint," from the Clone Wars novel of the same name. Mace Windu's ability to perceive the universe as a woven object with points of stress, weakness, vulnerabilities - shatterpoints - is as a result of the millennial retrofit now stripped of any special associations with Windu or the Clone Wars. This same process of over-drawing from the idea-bank applies as well to species. One of Commencement's minor characters, a restaurant manager, is a Besalisk, who fans know most commonly as the four-armed biped Dex, the diner proprietor from Attack of the Clones. Besides robbing this species of a history that might have involved being discovered in the four thousand years between KOTOR and the Clone Wars, the Besalisk are now under threat for the next four millennia of being relegated to service in the food and beverage industry.

Miller and Dark Horse aren't the only ones guilty of this kind of clumsy universe crafting and I mention it here only because this volume offers a few choice examples. Despite its flaws, though, Commencement is a better than average comic and a lot more entertaining than the current novel series, Legacy of the Force. I'm looking forward to the next chapter - and hoping to see a little more originality.

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Emotional Branding is many things, but it's not everything. It's not boring. It's not without insight. It's not heavy (weight-wise, that is). It doesn't even give you the impression that you're trudging through another business book. It's definitely not disappointing.

Daryl Travis spins his anecdotes about successful - and not so successful - brands and his encounters with Harry into a web of inspiring lessons that teaches you how to win and keep customers. He shows you how brand promises can soar as high as a hot-air balloon, or sit idle on the tarmac like a broke-down plane. If you're a marketing professional, picking up and sharing any number of Travis's examples with your clients will strengthen your pitch and make you look smart. And if looking smart and being successful are important to you, you really ought to read Emotional Branding.

Emotional Branding is exciting. It's insightful. It's practical. It's deep in a fun way. It's an easy read. It makes you feel good. It's worth every minute you spend learning from it.

This is a rehash of everything you've read in every other book about advertising. And, in an affront greater than that of a motion picture company citing reviews from an imaginary critic, ...

Emotional Branding hits the bullseye on what true branding is all about...what promises do you make to your customers? what values do your company live by? and how do your truly serve your customers? Without this foundation, a brand is built on quicksand.

This book cuts through the fluff of superficial advertising, logos and corporate images and authentically connects a company's beliefs and behaviors to its customers. I loved it!

In my business as a veterinarian, emotions strongly influence the behavior of my clients but this often seems overlooked in business literature. Emotional Branding is the first management book I've seen which tackles this critical issue to any business today... how your customers FEEL about your business.

This book helped me see how everything my clinic says and does influences by brand promise. I've shared the book with my staff and it has sparked us to make many simple changes to enhance our brand (and to stop doing some of the little things that were not true to our brand promise). We've already seen great results.

If you are looking for another typical college 101 academic text filled with positioning maps, SWOT diagrams and simplistic charts-then this book is NOT for you. But, if you want to see your business in a fresh light and feel like being inspired, then I highly recommend this lovely book.

As the glut of companies rises to a feverish pitch, all vying for attention with the same dull messages for e-commerce ranking,this book comes as a welcome relief.Very few books focus on what truly motivates the consumer to take action. Many of them offer quantifiable analysis which although helpful, still leaves a void.It might be tempting to dismiss Emotional Branding as much fluff but a closer look would reveal considerable substance.Written in a light hearted prose it delivers the central question: How does it make you feel? This at once causes the reader to ponder the effect of all of our suppositions and disarm many of them.This part of the equation needs to be addressed more extensively by Internet marketers.If brand building on the Internet is truly about creating lasting,long-term relationships, then appealing to the emotional side is essential for our messages to be heard in the transparent world of cyberspace.

I think this book was good and had a lot of info .

this book was a good and funny book. I realy liked this book.

This is a rhyming story about handy Bob, a janitor at Lakeside school. He has to constantly mop or "swab" the floor in the gym in order to clean after the children and their activities. He gets at his wits end when his clean-ups are short lived. The school band comes to the rescue and helps Bob to solve the problem. Teri Daniels' use of rhyming every two lines gives an upbeat rhythm to this humorous story. The brightly colored illustrations by Travis Foster contribute to the setting and plot of the story to allow the reader to become a part of Bob's world. My three year old, Brandon and myself really liked this story. We have read it several times. I think it will be read and enjoyed by many children over and over again!

This is such a cute book. I discovered it when I was babybsitting. Such a great book for any aged kids!! I liked it soo much that I went out and bought it for my dad. He is a teacher for 2nd and 3rd grade, and the kids in his class love the book too! I would totally recommend everyone to get this book!

Handy Bob, custodian at Lakeside school, works hard to keep his school spotless. He washes walls, dusts dim lightbulbs and shines doorknobs. But his hardest job, by far, is keeping the gym floor clean. No matter how often he mops and swabs the dirty footprints away, kids just keep tracking more grime and goo through the gym. From the kindergartners who shuffle by and the brownies who leave cookie crumbs behind, to Mrs Milton's dancing class and the art students dripping paint, Handy Bob's job is never done. And, just as he reaches his wit's end, the marching band troops through and ingeniously saves the day..... Teri Daniels has written a delightful and amusing story that will charm all youngsters 3-8. Her witty text, told in rhyme that children can help "read" and easily follow, is beautifully complimented by Travis Foster's bold, bright and expressive illustrations and kids will love watching the chaos unfold as Handy Bob tries to stay ahead of the ever-mounting mess on the gym floor. Complete with humorous ending that will have kids laughing out loud, The Feet in the Gym is a winner and makes a nice addition to all home bookshelves.

With 10+ years programming in LabVIEW this book was very useful and on the mark with explaining internet technologies. Well worth the money in time you'd spend looking for this info all over the net.

This book provided me with much more knowledge than I expected when I bought it. It covers networking and internet basics and explains technologies such as TCP, IP, and UDP for a beginner a well as the various networking tools provided by LabVIEW in detail. It is a perfect mix of background and general info with LabVIEW detail. This is definitely a great book to get into networked apps with.

This book filled in the gap for me on many questions I had about Web servers, security, Web pages, etc. Great resource.

With 10+ years of LabVIEW programming experience I found Jeff's book to be an excellent and compact source of internet and network applications in LabVIEW. The background was excellent and not overly in depth. The sample programs on the CD consumed hours of my time examining all the great examples it contained. My copy is littered with underlines, highlights and post-it notes marking the good spots! (he should have simply printed the pages in yellow paper!)

For LabVIEW programmers it's an excellent timesaver for internet info and apps in LabVIEW.

this book is dense and packed with more information than you probably will use, but i gave it five stars because it does have everything you need, theory and examples, for controlling your vis over the web. you learn to use java and activex, step-by-step.

with the software and examples in this book, i was able to set up a web browser control of my chemistry lab.

When does the action stop? It doesn't. Science fiction at it's best! It's
about time a book is written like this. Science written so believeable you
are in the cockpit firing the guns yourself. The characters are cool. Sometimes a little to overboard with the call-signs but I understand why
trying to keep the reader in touch with the feel of the military jargon.

Just one question can the main character and some help from the marines
save mars from terrorists? They're marines aren't they?!? Get the book already! And why you are at it buy the second one too!

One day on Mars by Travis S. Taylor is a really defining book on military science fiction. That's a broad claim, I know, but by golly if there's a technology he didn't cover in this wildly exciting book I'd like to know what it is! The best thing about the writing is that much of it is extrapolation of present day technology. No, I take that back; the best thing about the writing is that it's good! Excellent! Superlative! If you like military science fiction you can't do better than this extremely fast paced book of action on Mars a couple of centuries from now. I can't wait to read the sequel, The Tau Ceti Agenda.

Travis Taylor excells at blending the hard science with a throughly enjoyable story. While the scientific concepts depicted did force me to think outside of what I thought I knew, it was still an exciting read and a hard book to put down.

Travis S. Taylor's ONE DAY ON MARS tells of one day which will change history not only for Martian citizen bent on breaking the Sol System government but for the entire solar system as a whole. Swift action and confrontations mark a military and political adventure.

I've read Travis Taylor's 'Vorpal Blade' and 'Manxome Foe', pretty entertaining and well written efforts with John Ringo.

I'm struggling with getting past Chapter 2 of this 'One Day On Mars'. My guess is that Baen Publishing was unable to provide an editor for Taylor on this book.

The grammer, syntax, sentence structure and perhaps especially the punctuation is so flawed - or missing - as to make reading this a punitive experience.

I'm sure Travis Taylor came late to the mysteries of writing prose; and I'm also certain he's done little literature reading.

Finally, for the genre of military sci-fi (much less military per se), some accuracy is necessary: has anyone ever heard of a Lieutenant Colonel being addressed as "Lieutenant Colonel" rather than "Colonel"?

Travis' book is funny, sensitive, to the point and full of words of wisdom. He made me stop and think about my own life and my actions. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat. Whether you're a fan or not, Travis' book is worth reading.

Seeing how Travis' life has changed so much over the years, he really should think about writing a sequel. We want to know how he has matured over time and through various circumstances and where he is at both professionally and personally today. This book was a great read. It proved that he has more depth and talent than people know. Look deeper folks! This man simply doesn't get anywhere near the credit he deserves. Thanks for the inspiration to be about substance instead of image.

If you have even a passing interest in Travis Tritt I recommend this book. There is nothing like first hand accounts of events to shed some light. I found Travis's attitude toward the "business" to be intelligent. I also was glad to see many of his personal attitudes to be grounded and not what many fans of country music have begun to expect from the stars - arrogance. I wish the book would have been a little longer and delved into things with a little more detail. But overall this was worth reading.

I have been looking all over for this book, and I finally found it! I love this book, as it reads just like you were having a conversation with Travis. It's great to read about his beginnings, and his struggle with success. Keep up the great work, Travis! We love you!

i liked hearing about how Travis Tritt got started and about his life. I laughed and even sometimes cryed. I couldn't put the book down.

Received this item in excellent conditions and in a very timely matter.
Thank you

I admire all of John D. MacDonald's work, and certainly the Travis McGee series was his most powerful creation. Few, if any, popular mysteries are of such high quality.

Though this book is entertaining, and well crafted, it is not my favorite McGee. There are perhaps three reasons for this:

1) It follows the pattern of a standard mystery from the fifties or early sixties, and hence seems a bit derivative. I think MacDonald was experimenting with moving McGee away from his native habitat, perhaps to make use of a plot he had invented in other circumstances. I'm not sure the experiment was successful.

2) McGee is far from the water, and I think the sense of warmth and good will found in many of the other books in this series comes from MacDonald's love of the water in general, and Florida in particular. McGee was out of his habitat, and seemed a bit strained and depressed as a result.

3) McGee (and MacDonald) really don't like the female lead in the book very much, and one of the things that holds MacDonald's books together is the main character's and the author's obvious attraction and sympathy for women. Here the lead is prissy, overly intellectual, and distasteful to MacDonald and McGee. As a result, the book feels a bit sour, and lacking the good will and sense of joy found in the best of the other McGees.

Nevertheless, this is a Travis McGee book from the early sixties, a time when MacDonald was at the height of his remarkable powers. As such, it is not to be missed. I, however, will confess to having missed the Busted Flush, the sandy rumped sun bunnies, and the sleazy streets of Florida. A good book, but not at the top of my list of McGees. (I've read them all several times, a few of them many times.)

Travis McGee does it again, with attitude. These books are loads of fun and this one is no exception. I had it sort of figured out pretty early on, but enjoyed watching the whole thing unfold. These books are so funny with their 1960s male perspective, and I love the little details that MacDonald includes. Suspenseful, funny and a good read.

A Purple Place for Dying is the third book in John MacDonald's Travis McGee series, and McGee comes upon his most troubling case yet. McGee is brought to the Midwest by a big, brassy, bossy Blonde who needs help. Mona Yeoman suspects that her husband has pilfered her trust fund, and she wants a divorce. McGee's job is to find out what happened to the money. McGee doesn't particularly like Yeoman, but is tempted to take the case because he needs the money. But before he even has a chance to say yes, Mona is murdered right in front of his eyes, and this changes everything. What makes things even more mysterious is that her body disappears when the police are called to the scene of the crime.

McGee could simply take his return plane ticket and fly home to his native Florida. But for whatever reasons, he decides to stick around and do some snooping. There are many twists and turns and also a few more mysterious murders. As usual, McGee finds himself in danger the closer he comes to the truth. And the truth comes as a complete surprise.

Each MacDonald book gets better than the previous one. We also get to see McGee become more fleshed out as a character. Still, it seems that the early books in this series are more of a novella length, but MacDonald corrects this with later books.

Overall, the McGee series is a true gem, and I'm glad to have discovered these wonderful mysteries.

A Purple Place of Dying is the second novel by John D. MacDonald featuring Travis McGee. McGee has been summoned to the country by Mona Yeoman to try and force a divorce and financial settlement from her tycoon husband. McGee is not inclined to go for it but before the meeting ends, Yeoman takes a bullet to the spine and falls to the ground dead. Before long, the body has disappeared and Travis learns that everyone assumes the woman has run off with a college professor she's been having an affair with. Away from his home turf and not sure who he can trust, McGee digs in to try and find out who killed Mona Yeoman.

John MacDonald knew how to tell a story and tell it well. His use of language is clear and concise. The dialogue is crisp and intelligent and includes the snappy patter that any self-respecting detective series must have. At just under 300 pages, A Purple Place for Dying is certainly not padded, the story moves along well and keeps the reader guessing at a solution to the mystery until the reveal. The characters were well developed and interesting. Mona's husband was particularly enjoyable and Travis McGee manages to be both tough without becoming a caricature of a hard-boiled detective. He's decent, honest for the most part, and the kind of guy you'd want on your side when in trouble.

In any review, I try to point out the good along with the bad. In this case, I can't really find any flaws or weaknesses in the book. It's well written, the story is interesting, and the characters were strong. This was the first novel of MacDonald's that I have read but I can see why he was recognized as a master of the craft of writing. If you're looking for a good detective novel, this one is an excellent choice.

I normally don't read nonfiction but this book was recommended to by a friend and I am glad that I picked it up. Although a general knowledge of the legal system is required to appreciate the outcome of the story, the author does an excellent job of explaining the details of the legal system that the reader will need to know. The banter of the judge presiding is witty and very enjoyable to read. I also really enjoyed a look into the world of rare book and manuscript collections. This is a book that is very easy to pick up and get caught up in. If you have an interest in our legal or books this is a book that you should enjoy.

This book has more typos than an 8th grade essay on What I did For My Summer Vacation. It is redundant in the extreme; the author states the same material over and over until you're asleep.There are extraneous chapters on jurisprudence and other distantly related topics. Spiegelman, the thief, was a creep, no doubt, but he stole a pile of Columbia U stuff, got caught and spent less time in jail than you will spend reading this over-priced, overblown "book." This incident could be covered in 25pp. Especially annoying was the author's statement that there was no point in interviewing the criminal!!! Guess he wouldn't want to talk to Lee Harvey Oswald either.

This is the incredible but true story of a dramatic crime, in which the victims are rare and beautiful old books, letters and manuscripts. The heroes are the librarians, book collectors and dealers who work with the police to pursue the thief across international borders in an attempt to rescue the stolen manuscripts and letters and bring the thief to justice.

It would be impossible to understand the story unless you are familiar with a couple of key legal principles, including how and why judges decide how much jail time a convicted criminal should serve. McDade presents these concepts clearly and concisely, and skillfully weaves them into the narrative. This is a delicious mix of serious scholarship and a thrilling true crime story. If you love books, you'll enjoy The Book Thief.

McDade recounts this true and serious crime well. Mixing in the feeling of a mystery novel with academic scholarship (both from the rare-book field and the legal arena), this book sheds light on our impending need to protect some of our greatest assets--the knowledge contained in books and records. Definitely a page-turner.

I found this book extremely interesting and easy to read. Being a fictional mystery reader I found this a fascinating true story with quite a character in Daniel Spiegelman.

Travis really has his work cut out for him this time. Happily, he finally handles the dangerous situation perfectly.

I do not even remember when I first read this book, it is only that I like Mr.McGee's style of meetig the world face-on so much that I bought the book again. I liked it like before. It was like joining the gang on the Busted Flush for an easy evening of music and laughter.

A bit overplotted and maybe resolved just a little too neatly, "The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper" nevertheless transcends its dated, Spillane-esque title and serves as a entertaining, mid-level McGee adventure.

After two excellent introductory sections (a cool short section about Trav *actually* working in his supposed field -- salvage consulting; and a amusing backstory about his affair with an older woman), we gear into the breadth of the plot which involves a beautiful, unhinged blonde with a bottomless trust fund and her husband, a monied sociopath who's both more and less dangerous than he seems.

Somewhere along the way, we find Trav actually experiencing genuine feelings for a woman (and the *wrong* woman, no less; this is one instance in which most readers can finally say *they* know better than MacDonald's endlessly shrewd, canny protagonist).

The final third is a little too much Q&A, with Trav extracting exactly the information he needs from relative strangers; the fairly obvious examination of race-relations may be accurate but hasn't aged too well; and the ending -- in which MacDonald actually has to step back and explain the twists step-by-step to the reader through a deposition -- feels like a writer tip-toeing out of the corner he's painted himself into.

But nevertheless, this is a vivid little page-turner with some nicely rendered characters (Pike, Biddy, Nurse Penny, screwed-up lawyer Holton and his alluring wife and especially Detective Stanger) and an apt air of melacholy, regret and loss.

Well, I'll keep this short & sweet. I'm not much of a mystery reader but this series was recommended to me by several people. I picked this one randomly to start the series. I liked it...the story was quick-moving, had good character development, some humor, a lot of action, and tied up nicely at the end. At 250 pages it's a quick read, perfect for an airplane ride. If you like Dick Francis, Robert Parker, et al, then you'll like this series.

Travis McGee gets a check for $25,000 (a lot of dough for 1969) and the dying wish of an old friend, to look after her suicidal daughter. So McGee goes to Fort Courtney to observe the daughter, her sister and her husband. What McGee encounters is a series of unusual circumstances, including dead bodies, cheating spouses, and the evidence that somebody is spying on him. Could all of these things be connected? Sure - but only McGee could figure out the complicated connection. True to most McGee novels, justice is served in the end, although in a form the reader does not expect.

This is my 11th McGee novel. Clearly MacDonald writes in a more sophisticated style than 98% of the mystery writers today. A new reader may find it annoying that one must suffer through a good 100 pages before the action really begins, but this is typical MacDonald style. Not only do you get a complex mystery, but you get a lot of philosophy along the way.