One Fearful Yellow Eye: A Travis McGee Novel: 8

Yes he did it again. He took me to Chicago and managed to give me a piece of that city that I love but hardly know. He is a master story teller ,environmentalist, amateur psychologist, detective. Like Charles Dickens he will be read a hundred years from now because he captures midcentury America in all its tawdry splendor.

As usual a fascinating story line which grips you to the end, the descriptions in the book make you actually live the story, 1st class!

One Fearful Yellow Eye is the most complex in the Travis McGee series so far. Travis has to untangle a web of lies after the wealthy husband of a friend dies and all his money is gone. Travis' friend, the widow Glory Geis, is being blamed for stealing it and some nasty types are trying to track it down and they don't much care who they have to kill to get their hands on the loot. Travis has to unravel the mystery of the missing money while trying to keep the body count as low as possible. As usual, he finds time to help people and to wax philosophical about the world and its quirky inhabitants along the way.I wish Lee Child had written a new introduction for every book in this series because I think there is enough to say about John D MacDonald and Travis McGee for 21 introductions to books. That said, it's fascinating to read what he has to say about how much Travis McGee inspired Jack Reacher.Highly recommended.

I have yet to finish the book but it seems fine so far

I would recommend this novel, but be forewarned: it's not the typical Travis McGee adventure.I looked at the other reviews. A mixed bag. Some thought this McGee novel was one of MacDonald's best. Other's thought it was one of his lesser undertakings. As I read the novel, from start to finish, I think I came to understand the reasons for this polarity.My opinion? After having read this story twice, I would say that One Fearful Yellow Eye might be both: one his best stories, but also one of his weakest McGee stories. But please know that my final opinion rests on the side with those reviewers who liked this McGee novel. I liked the change in pace.This is the eighth volume in the Travis McGee series. Up until this volume, the locations have been southerly and predictable. The tone of the first seven volumes has been quite Florida'ish, the Busted Flush somehow playing a role in the events, the Florida characters mingling in the events as well, etc. etc. Seven volumes which firmly established McGee, his Florida/Bahamas/Bermuda lifestyle, his philosophies, his Florida friends and neighbors, and his methods of earning retirement income. And then here comes the eighth novel in the series and the location and tone is completely different.This story takes place in Chicago in the winter, the antitheist to McGee's balmy home territory. But that's not the problem. The problem is that McGee hates Chicago and throughout the novel throws in various soliloquies and many snippets which reveal his distaste for the Windy City. The reader can't help but wonder if MacDonald was expressing his own opinions, which would then border on author intrusion, something that many readers prefer to not notice. In addition, if the reader feels aligned to Travis McGee, which might be the expected outcome after reading seven of his stories, then the reader is also predisposed to dislike what McGee dislikes.As a side note, I think MacDonald made an authorial mistake in disparaging the city of Chicago. MacDonald may have, in fact, totally disliked Chicago personally, but that's not reason enough to make McGee dislike it as well. Why tell a whole story in a place that constantly gets negative comments from the storyteller. It seems so counterproductive to me. I actually think the reviewers would've responded more favorably to the story had McGee not been so critical of the city in which it took place. Especially since MacDonald had worked so hard to make readers love McGee's Florida existence, which tells me MacDonald knew the strengths and advantages of having the location presented positively and appeal to the reader. If I ever write a novel, I will make sure that I don't present the main location of the story in a negative light.Back to the story. It's a mystery, more so than any previous McGee novels. A pretty good whodunit. One of the reviewers said s/he figured out the "who" right away, which made the rest of the story anticlimactic. I'm not sure I would agree that it was so easy to figure out. There are clearly 4-5 good suspects, plus one or two remote suspects. Any amateur Sherlock Holmes who reads mysteries usually tries to figure things out and makes a guess. When there are only four possible suspects, every guesser has a 25% chance of being right. But even along those lines, I have to register a complaint. It's not kosher to introduce an important impact character late in the narrative, and this is what happens in this story. So while the reader is trying to put together the clues right along with McGee, a huge clue is left out until the very end. It sort of spoils the fun for an amateur sleuth.But in the end, if you are a fan of Travis McGee, then I think this volume is worth reading. Maybe even a must read because it breaks the mold of the previous volumes and gives new insights into McGee's character that otherwise would never be revealed in the sunny regions of Florida and the Caribbean. It's different, and I enjoyed the difference.