From Publishers WeeklyStarred . In White's intelligent, fast-paced 18th Doc Ford thriller (after Deep Shadow), Doc's hipster friend, Tomlinson, persuades Doc to help an extraordinary 13-year-old girl, Tula Choimha, recently arrived at a Florida trailer park from Guatemala. Tula, who speaks with God and whose patron saint is Joan of Arc, is determined to find her mother and brother, who came to America months earlier but have disappeared. People who get to know Tula believe she is special, blessed, even a saintexcept for the sleazy, steroid-infused trailer park landlord, Harris Squires. Fearful that the discovery of some human remains inside an alligator carcass will implicate him in a crime witnessed by Tula, the paranoid Harris kidnaps Tula and takes off. Doc sets out to rescue Tula, but standing in his way is a menacing gangbanger, Victorino, and Harris's vicious girlfriend, Frankie. White balances the sordid criminal activities with plenty of intriguing wildlife lore. The bond that Tula forms with her captor adds poignancy. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.From BooklistTrouble is brewing at a Florida trailer park populated by illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America: the parks manager, a steroid freak who dabbles in snuff movies, draws his expendable talent from the immigrant population, but hes managed to offend a drug lord, who isnt pleased that his female customers are turning up dead. Matters are further complicated when an adolescent girl, Tula, rumored to possess mystical ability, sees the manager feeding a body to his pet gator. Doc Ford, Sanibel Island marine biologist and sometime black-ops agent, is drawn into the trailer-park trauma by his longtime friend Tomlinson, the aging hippie whose own mystical inclinations have brought him into contact with Tula. When the steroid freak kidnaps Tula, Ford is forced to go full commandonight-vision goggles and allto track down the girl and dispatch the numerous bad guys. As always, White handles the action scenes superbly, writing with both precision and dramatic flair, but he gets inside the heads of his characters, too, not only Ford, the conflicted warrior, but also Tula, who sees herself as Joan of Arc, and even the steroid freak, who just may have an inner life beneath his biceps. A must for series fans. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: It took Whites Doc Ford series a while to draw a mainstream audience, but the books started turning up on New York Times best-seller lists several years ago and are likely to remain there for the foreseeable future. A three-week author tour will give the charismatic White, a former fishing guide and veteran real-life adventurer, plenty of opportunity to spread the word still further. --Bill Ott Praise for Deep Shadow: "A heart-stopping, fast-paced thriller that's one of the best Doc Ford novels yet." -Associated Press "Outstanding...a nail-biter that's virtually impossible to put down." -Publishers Weekly what is the best genre of books Night Vision (A Doc Ford Novel)
56 of 57 people found the following review helpful. Not A Typical Doc Ford EffortBy TMStylesHaving read every Doc Ford novel, I am disappointed in "Night Vision". I am not as jaded as other early reviewers but 3 stars is the lowest I have ever given a Doc Ford novel. Remember, an average Doc Ford read is better than many other writers' better efforts. "Night Vision" has a great opening including a breath holding battle with a huge alligator that is trying to eat an elderly man. It concludes with an intense and deadly confrontation between Doc and a half dozen gang banger/bad guy types in the dead of night deep in the forest. But between these two notable events, very little of consequence or interest occurs.It is hard for long time Doc Ford readers to accept that he could fall so quickly in love for someone he barely knows or that such a thin plot could confuse Doc. Additionally, Tomlinson is relegated to a small role as a spectator and conscience tweaker for Doc, 40% of the novel does not even have Doc or Tomlinson in it, there is no Doc puzzling through thorny mysteries and dilemmas, no Doc struggling with his inner demons, and the whole book seems devoted to the spiritual mysticism of a 13 year-old girl who "talks" to her patron saint, Joan of Arc.In summation, a young, apparently "gifted" illegal Guatemalan, Tula Choimha, who lives in the Red Citrus Mobile Home Park, sees the steroidal freak who runs the park, Harris Squires, disposing of a body in the lake where he keeps his pet 'gator. Squires and his girlfriend, Frankie, an-out-of-control steroidal slut manufacture and sell illegal steroids and make porn films using illegal females. They work closely with the V-man, Victorino, leader of the Latin Kings street gang. Soon, Harris kidnaps Tula with the intention of killing her to silence her and in short order, Frankie, Victorino, and assorted gang bangers show up to disrupt Harris' plans and to implement their own viscous plans. Enter Doc, who has been prompted by Tomlinson to help search for the missing girl. Doc discovers the entire group at an isolated camp and all hell breaks loose.Doc will always be Doc and Tomlinson will always be his conscience and the barometer for his life. But in "Night Vision", neither has much to do and Doc, while becoming the deadly warrior that he futilely tries so hard to repress, is hardly challenged as mentally or physically as we have come to expect in past experiences. While the book is a decent read, it is not up to the bar that Randy Wayne White set so long ago for his signature character, Doc Ford.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Supremely DisappointedBy DougWriting from multiple points of view is tough.The first task is to create characters the reader will care about, either positively or negatively. Well-crafted nasty villains, after all, can be a hoot to read about.In Night Vision, Randy Wayne White not only fails that mission, but manages to diminish the presence of the series hero, Doc Ford and turn his usually intriguing supporting character, Tomlinson, into no more than a one-dimensional ride-along.Bad guys must have substance. Just making them evil isn't enough. Evil is pretty banal when you think about it.And banality describes the entire mid-section of Night Vision.Even the young girl whose visions, and then kidnapping, sets the plot in motion is given far too much "screen time" for the little that's accomplished writing from her point of view.A number of reviewers have asked what is going on with White's recent books, some speculating that ghostwriters have taken over the series. Rather, I suspect White has allowed his editors to run amok with helpful suggestions designed to win acclaim from the professional critics (and, indeed, Night Vision received a prestigious starred review from a respected magazine).Such atta-boys allow authors to rise to the top of the charts but they don't help much if the work in question is so bad that the rest of us decide White isn't worth our future investment.14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. No VisionBy DonzMomNormally I can't wait to read one of Randy Wayne White's outstanding novels and so I purchased this one the day it was released. I will not be so fast next time. White's characters are so slimy you feel dirty just reading about them. His normal cast of characters is a salty but interesting group. Not so this time around. Also, the plot is entirely too dependent upon devices to move the text. In this case the device is a "saint" in the form of a young girl. It's simply too much of a leap to suspend credibility in this case, and doesn't make the reader warm up to the character much either. So, without very good characters and without a plot that moves naturally, what else is there. Not much. Sorry Randy. Better luck next time.