This was a good one owing to the central character 14-year-old Will "Pony" Chaser. He's whip-smart, tough as nails, and snarky. Hailing from an Indian reservation in Oklahoma, here is an example of his take on residents in this newfound home after being shipped off to Minnesota:

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[Their] "Faces might crack if they smiled and not because of the damn windchill factor - windchill being Minnesotans' way of bragging about their shitty weather while sounding smart enough to move south if they wanted.

Great Falls registered the lowest temperature in the nation this morning, 30° below, not counting windchill.

They were proud of that?"

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Will Chaser’s foster grandfather Otto "Bull" Guttersen was pretty good value too.

Otherwise, the story is convoluted, and contains a lot of weird premises; of course, that all centers around Randy Wayne White’s Number One evil place Cuba.

Marion "Doc" Ford does his usual number pinballing around various locales and crossing paths with all the other characters, and then ultimately stumbles around long enough to save the day as well as solve several old mysteries much like Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt.

Tomlinson doesn't factor too much into this book (although we do learn a lot more about him and his past), and the other new or old characters are more of a passing reference.

Anyway, this was so engaging that it must have been one of my fastest reads ever. ( )

Great series. ( )

The first third and last third of the book make this a good read. Not the best Doc Ford, but not the worst either. I' look forward to reading Randy Wayne White's next Doc Ford book. ( )

I'm usually quite fond of Mr. White's Doc Ford books. This one, not so much. I see some of my fellow GR readers were disappointed too. Both Ford and Tomlinson seemed unfamiliar to me. Colder, jaded and the writing lacked its usual lushness. Maybe it was all a side effect of the wintery NY setting. ( )

A New York senator is kidnapped and held for ransom. Ford and his helpful friend Tomlinson must venture to the Florida Keys to rescue her and capture the culprit. ( )