I guess every state in the country is infected with them--greasy-spoon restaurants on the fringe of town. Red imitation leather, badly cracked, on the counter stools. Weary pie behind glass. A stink of frying grease in front, and tired garbage in back. Sway-backed, heavy-haunched waitresses with metallic hair, puffed ankles, and a perennial snarl. A decent toss of one of the water glasses would fell a steer. A jukebox and plastic booths and today's special is chicken croquettes, with fr. fr. pot. and st. beans--ninety-fi' cents. And the coffee is like rancid tar.
I think how one reacts to paragraphs like these will determine if you like Dead Low Tide, published by Fawcett in 1953. The waitress, Cindy, that Andy McClintock meets at this joint is no cliché but an interesting and complex character. as are most minor characters in MacDonald's pulp novels, of which he wrote many before his Travis McGee novels were discovered by John Leonard. Dead Low Tide, like all of MacDonald's novels, is full of fascinating characters who made their way to Florida from somewhere else. It is also full of insight into what the land developers are doing to the state, as they clog up waterways with shoddy construction.
Some might feel that this and other MacDonald novels are only of their time and do not transcend it. My own thoughts are that the greed, passion and love in MacDonald's novels are always relevant.
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