Mixed Pickles - the Book log 2012

Travis McGee is a beach bum James Bond, lurving the ladies and dealing with villains, and all with an air of cynicism that he reckons is his nature but we, the readers, know that he adopts to cover some past hurt, and to hide what a naturally good guy he is. Written in 1964, and oh, so redolent of the times - men and women call each other "dear" and "darling", and hop into bed for pleasure or the banishment of pain. The first of the Travis McGee novels, and with a great villain straight out of the Max Cady mould, this shows its age, but not in a bad way. The plot isn't madly complicated, but it more than holds the attention. I shall re-read a few more of these, but not too frequently. Sixties swingers can become nauseaous very quickly, after all.