A few weeks ago, while visiting with a friend, the conversation turned to favorite authors. One of my friend’s favorite authors is John D. MacDonald. He has all of MacDonald’s books and rereads these novels every ten years or so. Because I had never read John MacDonald, I decided to give him a try.

MacDonald was a prolific writer, who died in 1986 at the age of 70. He is famous for his hardboiled, detective novels and was one of the trailblazers of this genre. Travis McGee is his most well known character. His novel, "The Executioners" inspired the movie "Cape Fear". Additionally, the television series "Simon and Simon" paid homage to MacDonald’s Travis McGee by having Rick Simons boat moored at the same slip number F-18 as McGee’s houseboat Busted Flush.

I read "Tan and Sandy Silence" and gained an appreciation for MacDonald’s distinctive style of writing. I can certainly see why so many authors credit him with influencing them. Any author who writes detective stories owes a debt to John D. MacDonald.

The library only has one book by MacDonald, but there are many authors who write the type of hardboiled novels that MacDonald wrote. The list of other read-alike authors is quite long, including two men—Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett—

who influenced MacDonald’s writing and blazed the trail for many other authors. These two men really established the detective genre.

Both Carl Hiaasen and Dean Koontz acknowledge the influence MacDonald had on them. One of my favorite mystery authors, James Lee Burke, writes similar books. Although his Dave Robicheaux series is set in Louisiana instead of Florida, it reminds me of the Travis McGee books with their strong sense of place and the cynicism of the central character.

Other current writers who carry on the banner of Hammett, Chandler and MacDonald include the following:

• Robert B. Parker and his Spenser series, on which the "Spenser for Hire" television series was based
• Dennis Lehane, who wrote "Mystic River", one of my favorite books
• Bill Pronzini, who has written over 30 "nameless detective" novels

• As well as Robert Crais, Loren Estleman, Walter Mosley and many others

As I said before, the Scottsbluff Library has only one book by MacDonald. It is a compilation of five Travis McGee novels, "The Dreadful Lemon Sky", " The Empty Copper Sea", "Free Fall in Crimson", "The Green Ripper", and "A Tan and Sandy Silence". (The use of colors in the Travis McGee titles is one of MacDonald’s trademarks.) If you haven’t read John MacDonald, this one book provides a good introduction to his work. Men in particular may find a new favorite author in John D. MacDonald.

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