John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels. Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard. In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
40 Books Written
Travis McGee is too busy with his houseboat to pay attention to the little old man with the missing postage stamps. Except these are no ordinary stamps. They are rare stamps. Four hundred thousand dollars worth of rare. And if McGee doesn't recognize their value, perhaps Mary Alice McDermit does, a six-foot knockout who knows all the ways to a boat bum's heart. Only it's not McGee's heart that's i
When Travis McGee's friend Meyer lent his boat to his niece Norma, and her new husband Evan, the boat exploded out in the waters of the Florida Keys. Travis McGee thinks it's no accident, and clues lead him to ponder possibilities of drugs and also to wonder where Evan was when his wife was killed...."Proves again that MacDonald keeps getting better with each new adventure."<br /
Five Complete and Unabridged Travis McGee The Dreadful Lemon Sky, The Empty Copper Sea, Free Fall in Crimson, The Green Ripper, A Tan and Sandy Silence.
How do you extort $600,000 from a dying man? Someone had done it very quietly and skillfully to the husband of Travis McGee's ex-girlfriend. McGee flies to Chicago to help untangle the mess and discovers that although Dr. Fortner Geis had led an exemplary life, there were those who'd take advantage of one "indiscretion" and bring down the whole family. McGee also discovers he likes a few members o
A beautiful woman calls Travis McGee to Arizona. She needs his help recovering the money that her good-for-nothing, soon-to-be-ex-husband stole from her. But she's not long for the world, and even though his employer dies, Travis isn't giving up. It's not often he leaves Florida, and he's not about to go home empty-handed. The third Travis McGee adventure.
An insane criminal threatens to destroy a family, and the police are powerless to protect them.For fourteen years convicted rapist Max Cady nursed his hatred for Sam Bowden into an insane passion for revenge. He lived only for the day he would be free—free to track down and destroy the man who had put him behind bars.Murder was merciful compared to what Cady had in mind—and
To ever-loyal Kirby Winter, multimillionaire Uncle Omar left nothing -- nothing but a gold watch and a sealed letter to be opened in one year. But Kirby is destined to inherit the magical power to freeze time in its tracks. Power like that promises unlimited wealth, wealth that can't buy love, but does make a down payment on a lot of deadly trouble. In a universe without time, can Kirby stay one s
Three men and a beautiful girl on a cross-country terror spree - a coast to coast rampage of stealing, kidnapping, rape and killing. Who were they? Where did they come from? Why did they do it? With chilling detail, John D. MacDonald unwraps the grotesque inner world of these four young psychopaths, and brings into terrifying focus the random, violent lusts that lie hidden between misc
Her veneer was big city … but one look and you knew that Toni Rassell’s instincts were straight out of the river shack she came from. I watched her as she toyed with the man, laughing, her tumbled hair like raw blue-black silk, her brown shoulders bare. Eyes deep-set, a girl with a gypsy look. So this was the girl I had risked my life to find. This was the girl who was going to lead me to a buried
Searching for a wealthy friend's yacht, Travis McGee puts himself square in the center of the international cocaine trade, and finds himself the target of some of the most ruthless villains he's ever met. Contemplating his own mortality for the first time, Travis McGee discovers amid all the danger the astonishing surprise behind the cat-shaped pipe cleaners someone is leaving at his door. This is
Life at the Stebbins' Marina is sunny, warm and sweet. Tanned men and women enjoy the life others dream of. Many boats bring new guests to the party until one man arrives and causes an uneasy effect on everyone. What no one realizes is that the marina will soon be shattered by murder.
Published as a paperback original in 1960, this is MacDonald's favorite among his own novels, available for the first time in a quality hardcover edition.
When Lloyd Westcott was hired to build and run the Green Oasis casino he didn't ask about the owner or where the backing came from. He didn't care, as long as the place was legit and he could run it clean as a whistle. But then the Big Man moved in.
Mystery/suspense novel set on an empty Florida key. By the author of the Travis McGee series. "A young widow goes missing, and a whole town asks.... WHERE IS JANICE GANTRY?
A classic novel by John D. MacDonald with an exclusive introduction written and read by Dean Koontz.A Flash of Green tells the gripping story of small-town corruption and two people brave enough to fight back, featuring many of the themes John D. MacDonald explored better than anyone in his legendary career as a leading crime novelist. The opportunists have taken over Pal
Dead Low Tide is an iconic early thriller from John D. MacDonald, the mastermind behind Cape Fear and the Travis McGee novels. On the coast of Florida, a working stiff is wrongfully accused of murdering his boss—and must outwit one of MacDonald’s signature villains to save his life.Introduction by Dean KoontzA college graduate and amateur fisherman, Andy McCli
From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Deep Blue Good-bye is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat. Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash r
From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Dreadful Lemon Sky is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat.Around four in the morning, Travis McGee is jarred awake by a breathless ghost from his past: an old flame who needs a place to stash a package full of cash. What’s in it for McGee? Ten grand an
2 cassettes. Total playing 3 hours
When Travis McGee discovers a face from his past lying in a pool of blood on a cheap motel room floor, he wants answers. But so far, all he has are questions--plus the dubious inheritance of his friend's vengeance-driven girlfriend, and a valuable ancient Aztec golden idol. Part rebel, part philosopher, and every inch his own man, Travis McGee plunges into a wild and perilous trek for a killer tha
Tush Bannon was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. His measly plot of land just so happened to sit right in the middle of a rich parcel of five hundred riverfront acres that big-money real estate interests decided they simply must have.It didn’t matter that Tush was a nice guy with a family, or that he never knew he was dealing with a criminal element. They squashed him like a bug and walked awa
A great bestseller starring Travis McGee, a real American hero--and maybe the star of a new movie franchise! Reissue.Helping damsels in distress is nothing new for Travis McGee--it's basically how he spends his life. But this one was different right from the start. Tossed off a bridge with cement wired to her feet, dragged to safety by Travis and Meyer, she was a hot Eurasian beauty wi
Being accused at gunpoint of hiding another man's wife is a rude shock. But it's an even bigger shock when Travis McGee discovers that the woman in question is Mary Broll, a dear old friend. Now she's disappeared, vanished without a word to anyone.
Who killed Ken Dean -- and why?Four years ago Gevan Dean found his fiancee Niki Webb in his brother's arms -- and fled his hometown for the peaceful life in the Florida sun. But now Ken is dead -- murdered by a thief, the police say -- and Gevan's presence is desperately needed to keep their company, Dean Products, from falling apart.Gevan soon sees there's more going on at Dean Produc
A young girl, left alone in a small boat off the Florida coast, holds the key to a murder mystery
Hardcover with Dustjacket. 220 pages. Author's debut novel, first published in 1950 as a Gold Medal paperback original and later in hardcover in England in 1974, features Cliff Bartells, ex-cop now an insurance investigator, hunting the thieves who stole $750,000 in jewelry and murdered a woman to do it. Set against the seedy, sensual backdrop of a Florida Beach Town.
"One of the most enduring and unusual heroes in detective fiction."THE BALTIMORE SUNNow that Linda "Pidge" Lewellen is grown up, she tells Travis McGee, once her girlhood idol, that either she's going crazy or Howie, her affable ex-jock of a husband is trying to kill her. McGee checks things out, and gives Pidge the all clear. But when Pidge and Howie sail away to kiss and make up, McG
"The professional's professional of suspense writers."THE NEW YORK TIMESVan Harder, once a hard drinker, has found religion. But that doesn't keep folks from saying he murdered his employer, Hub Lawless, whose body hasn't been found. To clear his name, and cear up the mystery, Van asks friend-in-need Travis McGee to find out what really happened. What McGee finds is that Ti
Beautiful girls always grace the Florida beaches, strolling, sailing, relaxing at the many parties on Travis McGee's houseboat, The Busted Flush. McGee was too smart--and had been around too long--for many of them to touch his heart. Now, however, there was Gretel. She had discovered the key to McGee--to all of him--and now he had something to hope for. Then, terribly, unexpectedly, she was dead.
TWO HEADLONG TALES OF INTRIGUE, SUSPENSE, AND MURDER BY A MASTER STORYTELLERBORDER TOWN GIRLOnce, Lane Sanson had been a Somebody - a war correspondent and a best-selling author. Now he was a nobody, bumming around Mexico. Lost, lonely, hungry for hope, he was a pushover for a bordertown B-girl - the perfect fall guy for a lethal frame-up.<b
Alex Doyle is a tough man on a tough assignment in Ramona Beach, Florida - the kind of place that doesn't trust strangers and is policed by a sheriff who echoes the locals' sentiments with a billy club. But Alex isn't an outsider, exactly. He grew up in Ramona Beach - until they railroaded him out of town. 'Can't trust trash,' they said. Alex has never been back, until his employer sends him home
It was the standard blackmail scheme. For years, sultry Lysa Dean's name on a movie had meant a bonanza at the box office. Now a set of pictures could mean the end of her career. When first approached for help by lovely Dana Holtzer, Lysa's personal secretary, Travis McGee is thoroughly turned off by the tacky details. But being low on cash, and tenderly attracted by the star's intriguingly remote
The Damned, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook. At a ferry stop along the Rio Conchos, the line of cars waiting to cross stretches to the horizon. Because of a bureaucratic blunder, the boat has been stalled, with no relief in sight for the drive
McGee tracks killers who brutally murder an ailing millionaire. He renews unfinished adventure with Hollywood actress who leads him into a nasty nest of murderers involving a motorcycle gang, porn movies, and mad balloonists. And Mcgee relearns old lesson. Only close to the edge of death does he feel completely alive.
Travis McGee’s permanent address is the Busted Flush, Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Lauderdale, and there isn’t a hell of a lot that compels him to leave it. Except maybe a call from an old army buddy who needs a favor. If it weren’t for him, McGee might not be alive. For that kind of friend, Travis McGee will travel almost anywhere, even New York City. Especially when there’s a damsel in distress.<
Welcome to Golden Sands, the dream condominium built on a weak foundation and a thousand dirty secrets.Here is a panoramic look at the shocking facts of life in a Sun Belt community -- the real estate swindles and political payoffs, the maintenance charges that run up and the health benefits that run cut...the crackups and marital breakdowns...the disaster that awaits those who play in
A wealthy old man laid up in the hospital is desperate to understand the last months of his daughter's life before she was killed in a car crash in Mexico. It was puzzling. She'd cleaned out her considerable bank account, left Miami and hadn't been heard from again. Travis McGee ventures into the steep hills and strange backwoods of Oaxaca through a bizarre world of dropouts, drug freaks, and kink
A lovely young girl steps in front of Travis McGee's headlights. McGee misses the girl but lands in ten feet of swamp water. As he's limping along the deserted road, someone in an old truck takes a few shots at him. And, when he goes to the local sheriff to complain, the intrepid Travis McGee finds himself arrested and charged with murder. And he can't help but ask himself, is this what they call
A Mystery Novel. A very nice collector's edition, clean and unmarked. Number k1547. Original price 40 cents.