The Man Who Invented FloridaRandy Wayne White |
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 6/22/2011 |
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Usually when Doc Ford is dragged from his marine biology work, it's to put him to work using his old skills working with the National Security Agency. But this time, it's his bragging, con artist, story-telling Uncle Tucker. Tuck Gantrell may be harder to elude than any jungle sniper. Doc is studying the turpidness of the water flowing into Dinkin's Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico near Sanibel Island. His uncle is further south, at the edge of the Everglades. Tuck claims to have found water that is medicinal. Is it the Fountain of Youth? Tuck won't go that far, but... First Tuck finds his best friend, Joe, a large Caloosa Native American - possibly the last of his race. Joe has been consigned to an county old folks home. After Tuck gives hims the water, he starts feeling better. Soon he sneaks out of the home and joins Tuck at his rickety home by the shore. Tuck keeps trying to contact Doc; Doc keeps trying to avoid Tuck. Then Tuck takes his cause out on the road. Soon he and Joe get a following. Joe knows Tuck has some schemes going on, but this is the best he's felt in years so he doesn't care. Tuck gets his way - Doc is pulled in as well. Most of the Doc Ford stories I've read are edge of the seat type thrillers. But in The Man Who Invented Florida, Randy Wayne White takes a lighter turn. People are in trouble; a few fishermen are missing; a woman (there's always a woman) spurns Doc; horses are stolen; and people rally around one of Tuck's causes. At times the book drags in the middle. Even so, it's worth stick with it just for the enjoyment and watching Tomlinson. There's also a twist at the end to yank a little on the reader's emotions. While it's not a normal Doc Ford novel, The May Who Invented Florida is a nice break. Notice: Suggestive dialogue or situations |
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The Series:
Sanibel Flats |
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