The Lonely Silver Rain, John D. MacDonald - Book Review

A Travis McGee novel by John MacDonald, "The Lonely Silver Rain" is a good mystery and thriller in Florida that speaks for itself. Travis is contacted by an old million air friend, Billy Ingraham, to find his stolen 54 foot cruiser. Travis excepts and begins the search. From the air, the cruiser looks like a smiling face, so Trav had a pilot take pictures from the air and they finally hit their mark. Trav went to where the cruiser was anchored and found three dead bodies inside. One of the bodies was a female, the daughter of a Peruvian diplomat, her throat was cut and she had been raped. The diplomat was in a rage and wanted revenge. Travis' life was in danger. Assumption had it that Trav killed the occupants upon discovery of the vessel. Several attempts on Travis' life caused him to find the root of the problem and pursue information about the real killers. The trek takes him to Mexico and back which gave him the truth of the matter. They say if you shake a tree, the ripe fruit will fall. With the name of the killer exposed, a big turf war erupted between the new drug lords and the old ones. A lot of people were killed in Miami. The action was hot but Travis was going to save faith and expose the truth.

MacDonald has done a fine job with this book and to keep a character like McGee active in so many books, the reader always wins. The ending is very touching, showing that Travis is a real man.

Cinnamon Skin, John D. MacDonald

"Cinnamon Skin" is an older mystery by J. MacDonald. Macdonald is dead(1986) but his novels live on with great value and suspense for the reader of today. This is a Travis McGee story that is copyright 1982 but holds it own as a good story to this day. Starts in Florida when a boat leaving the harbor is blown up. Travis was on top of the tragedy because the boat belonged to his close friend Meyer who was supposed to be on the boat. Further investigation proved this wrong, Meyer was in Canada giving a lecture on economics, his niece and her new husband were on board. A photograph was viewed by Travis and the new husband, Evan, was not on the boat. This leads Travis and Meyer looking into the past of this man. They gathered much info on him that took them to Texas and Cancún, Mexico and back to Florida. In Cancún Travis meets a lovely Mayan princess, the color of her skin is like cinnamon. She travels back to Florida with Travis and a new relationship is born.

MacDonald writes with much fact about the location of the travels and the mystery is superb. MacDonald's stories are worth reading and easy to understand, so if you have some free time, read his Travis McGee novels. You won't be sorry.