FORGOTTEN BOOKS #216: A FLASH OF GREEN By John D. MacDonald





It looks like Ed Gorman will be heading home from the Mayo Clinic. Our best wishes go out to him. In the March issue of Mystery Scene magazine, Ed wrote an article on “My 10 Favorite John D. MacDonald Standalone Novels.” And here’s the list:
1. Dead Low Tide
2. Soft Touch
3. Deadly Welcome
4. Murder in the Wind
5. The Executioners
6. Slam the Big Door
7. The End of the Night
8. A Key to the Suite
9. A Flash of Green
10. The Drowner

Last week, I reviewed Number 10, The Drowner. This week, it’s Number 9, A Flash of Green from 1962. A Flash of Green is set in the 1960s when the Florida real estate market was exploding. A conservation group managed to turn back a group of developers who wanted to turn a pristine bay into a housing development. But now, two years later, another group of businessmen wants to develop the bay. A Flash of Green shows how politics and business interests can subvert the common good, how corruption at the highest levels blurs the ethics of even Good People. Although this novel is set in the Sixties, the political techniques are no different now than they were back then. Only now we have Facebook and Twitter to help the process along. Bill Crider says a movie based on A Flash of Green came out in the 1980s, but I haven’t seen it. I will be looking for it. You can read Roger Ebert’s review of the movie version of A Flash of Green here (thanks for the link, Bill!)

10 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #216: A FLASH OF GREEN By John D. MacDonald

    1. george Post author

      Patti, Ed’s list excludes the Travis McGee series. Many mystery readers only know JDM from his successful Travis McGee novels and not his standalone novels.

      Reply
  1. Jeff Meyerson

    I was going to mention the movie too. It is definitely worth seeking out, though I don’t remember the details after all this time. Ed Harris, Blair Brown and Richard Jordan starred in the 1984 American Playhouse production.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Not to tip my hand, Sergio, but Ed’s list of John D. MacDonald standalone novels is right on the money. I have a few quibbles with Ed’s rankings, but in general this is a solid list of great books.

      Reply
  2. Todd Mason

    I think it was Ed who first referred to McGee as a Rotarian’s idea of how to aspire to be a hippie. The best McGees are good, but the best of his other work is better…

    Reply

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