I think that this was my favorite Doc Ford book to date; a solid 4-stars if not the 4.5 I gave it. I am not sure if the beginning of the story was fully explained or not, and the ending had a "to be continued" quality, but I felt this book progressed better than many of the others. I like all the Randy Wayne White characters, but Marion can be a whiny little bitch at times, and he didn't have a lot of time to do so in this one; I don't recall any particular, tangential philosophizing, and only a very little commiserating on his woman problems, problems he is generally guaranteed to make in each book in the series.

The storyline wasn't too over the top, maybe a bit out there, and most events worked as put forth. There was crazy good storylines developing around all of the residents of Dinkins Bay that was a real added benefit. Again, this was a really good one. ( )

Read it as a friend handed it off and it was about Sanibel. Just couldn’t get into the main character, etc. action packed but not for me ( )

Started out good but for me the dialog was awkward. I lost interest then some where in the middle I had to skip to the end.

Synopsis: Doc is pitted "against David Abdel Cashmere, a Chicagoan turned terrorist who features as the executioner of three hostages in several videos. Ford travels to the Yucatan, where his target is staying at a seaside resort, but things don’t go as planned. He finds his facilitator, known only as K.A.T., with one of Cashmere’s supposed victims, Winslow Shepherd, in an eighth-floor hotel room. When Ford confronts the pair, they both fall from the room’s balcony, and Ford is forced to flee back home to Sanibel Island, Fla. Cutting-edge drones appear on the island, which are controlled, he soon discovers, by Winslow’s son, Julian (aka the Black Knight of the Internet). Ford rallies his allies, chief among them Tomlinson, his “boat-bum hipster” sidekick with ESP powers, and Brazilian Vargas Diemer, a wealthy jet-setter of questionable loyalty."
Review: This was a good story with several plot twists. The last few books have brought the occult into the stories, a different aspect of White's writings. ( )

On a moonless night on Sanibel Island, Florida, marine biologist Marion "Doc" Ford carefully watches a video of a hooded man executing three hostages. The man is an American working with ISIS, and in the next few days, it'll be Ford's job, as part of his shadowy second life, to make sure he never kills anybody else again. But a lot can go wrong in a few days, and Ford has no way of knowing that not only will the operation prove to be a lot more complicated than he has anticipated, but that he'll end up bringing those complications back with him to the small community of boaters, guides, lovers, and friends in Dinkin's Bay, where he's long made his home.

Doc Ford is a marine biologist when he’s at home in Florida. When he’s on assignment from the government, he assassinates the bad guys. There were surprises and excitement as he strategized and carried out his assignment. His home on Sanibel Island had a laid back atmosphere with quirky and somewhat odd but likeable characters. It contrasted nicely with the tension of the job he was doing. Although a bit over the top, a fun read. ( )

I listened to this based on the fact that the narrator was George Guidall who many people think is a great narrator. Unfortunately I did not agree with that opinion and the book itself was poorly written. I see that this is the 23rd book in the Doc Ford series so obviously somebody thinks there is something worthwhile in the series. Maybe it appeals to male readers more; certainly there is quite a bit of discussion about various women falling into bed with various men.

Doc Ford is a marine biologist who seems to moonlight as a gun for hire. He is in Mexico to kill a terrorist who is staying as a guest at a luxurious resort. He discovers that a man who was ostensibly killed by the terrorist, a math professor from Australia, is still alive and staying at the same resort. Not only that but the woman who is his local contact is sleeping with the Australian. Ford decides to kill the terrorist by cutting the parachute strings while the man is parasailing using a laser but the man comes down in a mangrove swamp and survives. Ford decides to confront the Australian and the woman in their suite but botches that and only kills the woman. The Australian is the father of a cybernetics genius although father and son had a falling out some time ago. Nevertheless the son sends drones to the marina where Ford lives and then hacks the computers of everyone in the marina when Ford captures the drones. The son wants his father dead but also wants Ford dead and hatches an elaborate plot to accomplish both aims. This all takes place in the few weeks before Christmas so at least the book had the virtue of being appropriate for the time of year I was listening to it.

Guidall attempts to do Kiwi and Aussie accents for various characters but they didn't sound like any person from the Antipodes that I have ever met. He is a little more successful with Brazilian and Cuban accents but still not great.

Not recommended at all. ( )