The Deep Blue Good-By

The first Travis Magee novel hooked me. The image of a beach bum, living on a houseboat won in a poker game was enough. But when that bum transformed into a more modern version of Don Quixote all MacDonald had to do was to play me, gaff me, and pull me on board for the remainder of the series. Magee takes his retirement in chunks, righting wrongs and recovering that which was stolen. His life is full of brawling, babes, and bodies. All good stuff for the reader. 

John D. MacDonald is a master storyteller who always portrays fringe characters that are far from the mainstream. In this first installment of this series, we are introduced to Travis McGee, a self-described Fort Lauderdale beach bum that won the houseboat he lives on in a poker game. He only works as a “salvage expert” when he’s short on cash. He’ll find what whatever has been taken from you, as long as he can keep half of what he recovers. In this first installment he helps salvage a woman’s life from a ruthless, violent man who has left a wake… show more.

I read this, the first in MacDonald’s Travis McGee series, as a teenager, and have been hooked on the series ever since. It was the characterization that did it. McGee is a loose-limbed, laid-back knight in dented armor, living on a houseboat called The Busted Flush (yes, he won it in a poker game) in Fort Lauderdale.

He even inspired the legendary Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

The first novel in the 21-novel Travis McGee series introduces a kinder and gentler PI, a lazy beach bum who lives on a houseboat called the Busted Flush in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and drives a Rolls Royce converted to a pickup (don’t ask me, I’m just the list writer). McGee is another knight errant with a strict moral code -- that excludes babes in bikinis, of course -- who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, television. He only works when his cash runs out and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from… show more.