A Deadly Shade of Gold

A Travis McGee Novel, Book 5

By: John D. MacDonald

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

When McGee picks up the phone and hears a voice from the past, he can't help it. He has to meddle. Especially when he has the chance to reunite Sam Taggart, a reckless, restless man like himself, with the woman who's still waiting for him. But what begins as a simple matchmaking scheme soon becomes a bloody chase that takes McGee to Mexico, a beautiful country - and one from which he hopes to return alive.

©1965 John D. MacDonald Publishing, Inc. Renewal © 1993 Maynard MacDonald (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[T]he great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." (Stephen King)
"[M]y favorite novelist of all time." (Dean Koontz)
"[W]hat a joy that these timeless and treasured novels are available again." (Ed McBain)

The Narrator doesn't quite work for me.

Robert Petkoff a good narrator generally, but he has too soft an edge to his voice and his reading to pull off Travis McGee. McGee is a man's man, and the audiobook publisher should find a reader that sounds like a tough guy. (And McGee, as the first person narrator, can quote women without doing a female voice.)

McGee grows on you

I suppose it is only fair: some books are chick lit, and some appeal equally to all. This one, however, was overloaded with testosterone. Yet, I did become involved in the story.

Travis McGee is clearly the right agent for the right job...and the right job had nothing to do with money. For him it has more to do with loyalty and doing what is right. But sometimes what is right may not look that way to others.

Robert Petkoff did a good job on the narration

The author keeps coming up with such great plot twists

I am continuously impressed by the narrator. He has marked skills of making all the separate characters more alive by giving them individual voices , And he does it very well. I look forward to reading more of the Travis McGee mysteries.

Busted Flush

The narration was excellent. The story itself is a little weak with a lack of credibility for some parts. Still the book is an enjoyable diversion overall.

Travis is Elvis

Good long prose from Mr MacDonald.
McGee fightin’, fxxin’, and philosophy of the con , nobody beats Travis McGee

Woo wee what a ride!!

Extremely entertaining. gritty and still a solid look into a time gone by, I am never disappointed by John D. MacDonald, as his insights in to the world and society are just a relevant today as they were almost 60 years ago.
This Travis McGee novel takes our hero into almost superhero status. He has developed from a some what undisciplined hero into ALMOST a kill 'em all let god sort 'em out vigilante. Lives and loves are lost but our hero swallows it all with a stiff drink and a grim determination to face the next day what ever it brings.
If anyone could come up with the proper voice and attitude of McGee it is definitely Robert Petkoff. He sounds and projects the exact voice and attitude I heard in my head when I first read these books back in the 70s.

great book love t maghee

Love the narrator and gobble up all the books in this series I can. Still relevant.

Confusing but enjoyable

I’m working my way through all the Travis McGee books. I liked this one but there were a lot of characters and you have to pay close attention.

Surprisingly Good

Enjoyed the story-
Even though it was seven years old- well done & interesting . Would recommend

J Dickey's prose + I Fleming's narrative flourish

John D MacDonald presents a combination of James Dickey's prose with Ian Fleming's narrative flourish. With John D. MacDonald, however, you are also likely to find weird paragraphs sprinkled into the novel that deal with economics, politics, love, lust, the John Birch Society, and the ethics of hunting. Reading MacDonald is like having a surprisingly lucid conversation with a drunk economics professor who you recently discovered just killed a man with his golf club. You can't pull away from the conversation and aren't quite sure if the story is going to continue, or if he is going to explore a tangent more appropriate for an economics class or his therapist. HIs brain is amazing and his stories definitely titillate on several levels at once.