Dead Low Tide

by John D. MacDonald

Book Overview

Dead Low Tide is an iconic early thriller from John D. MacDonald, the mastermind behind Cape Fear and the Travis McGee novels. On the coast of Florida, a working stiff is wrongfully accused of murdering his boss--and must outwit one of MacDonald's signature villains to save his life. Introduction by Dean Koontz A college graduate and amateur fisherman, Andy McClintock is stuck toiling in the office of a construction company. But when Andy tries to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081298420X
• ISBN13: 9780812984200
• Release Date: June 2014
• Publisher: Random House Trade
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Travis McGee prototype

This early MacDonald novel seems to be described as a first-person-narrative prototype of the Travis McGee series less often than The Brass Cupcake or Where Is Janice Gantry? Even so, I found Dead Low Tide not only the most enjoyable of the three pre-McGees but the one that most channels the Travis vibe. Like McGee, Cliff Bartells in The Brass Cupcake is ex-military with some special hand-to-hand combat training under his belt. Like McGee, Sam Brice in Where Is Janice Gantry? is an ex-football player sidelined by circumstance, and he's happy to set out at dawn with rod and reel to work a spinner through a snook hole. Andy McClintock in Dead Low Tide combines the similarities: he's ex-military, ex-gridiron, and an enthusiastic fisherman. All of these fictional protagonists get roughed up by Florida lawmen who take the long way around trying to close murder cases, but McClintock's experience most closely prefigures a similar aspect of The Long Lavender Look. McClintock even enlists the help of a photographic expert similar to McGee's friend Gabe Marchman. Digging deeper, Dead Low Tide contains thematic material that MacDonald visited often in the McGee series. Published in 1953, it's an early example of MacDonald's take on real estate developers whose draglines and dredges inexorably alter Florida coasts. MacDonald also explores the nature of the sociopath here. The antagonist of Dead Low Tide is a very spooky stone-cold killer of a type echoed in several of the McGee novels, especially A Tan and Sandy Silence. Most of all, Andy McClintock is quite the romantic errant knight beneath an indifferent surface. Much as he and McGee might pretend otherwise, McClintock cherishes women and justice. Any reader who appreciates the Travis McGee stories has a good chance of finding similar pleasure in Dead Low Tide.

Excellent read by the master

This was one of John D MacDonald's earliest books (1953) and I think one of his better ones. It is fairly short (160 pages) but MacDonald was not one to pad his books out unnecessarily. The storyline deals with a man who is falsely accused of murder and the ramifications of the murder and the reasons behind the killing. It is not a very complex storyline and does have some implausible moments but for a good quick read, it is certainly recommended.