21 January, 2002: A Deadly Shade of Gold
A lesser entry in the Travis McGee canon, A Deadly Shade of Gold suffers from comparison not just with the rest of the series but also with real life. The elements of the novel -- a beautiful damsel, an old debt Travis owes, a map to sunken treasure -- are there, but something just sees off. Part of it is that the book is slightly off; buried treasure and Dead Calm boating scenes aren't quite right for the Travis milleu. Part of it is the villain, whose madness just doesn't seem as terrifying as it might have twenty-five years ago. It's that fabled desensitization process Tipper Gore warned us about! (Not to mention that having a main character mentally ill in precisely that manner just doesn't ring true.) I'd recommend everyone but real McGee fanatics give this one a pass.