John D Macdonald Popular Books

John D Macdonald Biography & Facts

John Dann MacDonald (July 24, 1916 – December 28, 1986) was an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers. MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida. One of the most successful American novelists of his time, MacDonald sold an estimated 70 million books. His best-known works include the popular and critically acclaimed Travis McGee series and his 1957 novel The Executioners, which was filmed twice as 'Cape Fear', once in 1962 and again in 1991. Early life MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, where his father, Eugene Macdonald, worked for the Savage Arms Corporation. The family relocated to Utica, New York in 1926, his father becoming treasurer of the Utica office of Savage Arms. In 1934, MacDonald was given a choice by his father: spend another year in school as a post-graduate, or go to Europe for several weeks. He chose Europe and this began an interest in travel and photography. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, but he quit during his sophomore year. MacDonald worked at menial jobs in New York City, then was admitted to Syracuse University, where he met his future wife, Dorothy Prentiss. They married secretly in Pennsylvania in 1937, and had a public ceremony in Utica later that year. He graduated from Syracuse University the next year. The couple had one son, Maynard. In 1939, MacDonald received an MBA from Harvard University. MacDonald later used his education in business and economics in crafting his fiction. Several of his novels are either set in the business world or involve shady financial or real estate deals. In 1940, MacDonald accepted a direct commission as a first lieutenant of the United States Army Ordnance Corps. During World War II, he served in the Office of Strategic Services in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations; this region featured in many of his earlier short stories and novels. He was discharged in September 1945 as a lieutenant colonel. "Dear Dordo: The World War II Letters of Dorothy and John D. MacDonald" was published by Peppertree Press in 2022. In 1951 he moved his family from Utica, New York to Florida, eventually settling in Sarasota. Writing career Early fiction MacDonald's first published short story, "G-Robot," appeared in the July 1936 Double Action Gang magazine. Following his 1945 discharge from the army, MacDonald spent four months writing short stories, generating some 800,000 words and losing 20 pounds (9.1 kg) while typing 14 hours a day, seven days a week. He received hundreds of rejection slips, but "Cash on the Coffin!" appeared in the May 1946 pulp magazine Detective Tales. He would eventually sell nearly 500 short stories to various mystery and adventure fiction magazines. Selections from MacDonald's early magazine fiction, somewhat revised, were later republished in two collections, The Good Old Stuff (1982) and More Good Old Stuff (1984), Starting with The Brass Cupcake in 1950, McDonald wrote more than forty standalone crime thrillers and domestic dramas, most published as paperback originals and many of them set in Florida. Among them was The Executioners (1957), which was filmed twice as Cape Fear and later republished under that title. MacDonald also wrote three science fiction novels, including The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1962), which was filmed for television. After introducing his series character Travis McGee in 1964, MacDonald concentrated mostly on that series, although he did publish four additional standalone novels. Travis McGee In 1964, MacDonald published The Deep Blue Good-by, the first of 21 novels starring Travis McGee, a self-described "salvage consultant" who recovers stolen property for a fee of 50 percent, and who narrates his adventures in the first person. McGee originally was to be called Dallas McGee, but MacDonald dropped that name after the Kennedy assassination, borrowing instead the name of Travis Air Force Base. The McGee adventures, each of which has a color in the title, mostly play out in Florida (where McGee lives a hedonistic bachelor life on a houseboat), the Caribbean, or Mexico, and many of them feature his friend and sidekick Dr. Meyer ("Just 'Meyer', please") Meyer, a renowned economist who helps Travis deconstruct elaborate swindles and cases of business corruption. Death Following complications of coronary artery bypass surgery, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10, 1986. He died at the age of seventy, on December 28, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is buried in Poland, New York. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard. Media adaptations MacDonald's novel Soft Touch was the basis for the 1961 film Man-Trap. His 1957 novel The Executioners was filmed during 1962 as Cape Fear featuring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. Martin Scorsese directed the 1991 remake of Cape Fear starring Robert DeNiro and Nick Nolte. Because of the success of the films, The Executioners has been republished under the Cape Fear title, even though the novel is set in Florida and does not mention Cape Fear, North Carolina. His 1963 novel The Drowner was adapted as an episode of the television series Kraft Suspense Theatre entitled "The Deep End," which aired in January 1964. The novel Cry Hard, Cry Fast was adapted as a two-part episode of the television series Run for Your Life during November 1967. A 1970 film adaptation of the novel Darker Than Amber was directed by Robert Clouse from a screenplay by MacDonald and Ed Waters. It featured Rod Taylor as series character Travis McGee with Theodore Bikel as his sidekick Meyer. The film earned positive reviews but lost money, causing producer Jack Reeves to abandon his plans to continue the series. The novella Linda was filmed twice for television, in 1973 (with Stella Stevens in the title role) and in 1993 (with Virginia Madsen). The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything was adapted for a 1980 TV film. It resulted in a 1981 sequel, The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite. The 1980 TV film Condominium, based on MacDonald's novel, featured Dan Haggerty and Barbara Eden. Sam Elliott played Travis McGee in the TV adaptation of The Empty Copper Sea, titled Travis McGee (1983). It relocated McGee to California, eliminating the Florida locales basic to the novel. The 1984 film A Flash of Green featured Ed Harris. Victor Nuñez, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film, was nominated for Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. A planned film of The Deep Blue Good-by to star Christian Bale as Travis McGee was cancelled by Fox in 2015 after Bale sustained a knee injury. It is not known whether the project will be revived.Influence Most current Floridian mystery writers acknowledge a debt to MacDonald, including Randy Wayne White, James Hall, Les Standiford, Jonathon King and Tim Dorsey. In.... Discover the John D Macdonald popular books. Find the top 100 most popular John D Macdonald books.

Best Seller John D Macdonald Books of 2024

  • Condominium synopsis, comments

    Condominium

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    Welcome to Golden Sands, the dream condominium built on a weak foundation and a thousand dirty secrets.Here is a panoramic look at the shocking facts of life in a Sun Belt communit...

  • The Last One Left synopsis, comments

    The Last One Left

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    Murder at sea. No survivors, no evidence, no loose ends. Only a boatload of cash left for the taking. In this explosive novel from the author of the Travis McGee series, nothing is...

  • A Deadly Shade of Gold synopsis, comments

    A Deadly Shade of Gold

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    “John D. MacDonald was the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”Stephen KingWith an Introduction by Lee ChildWhen Travis McGee picks up the phone and hears ...

  • A Purple Place for Dying synopsis, comments

    A Purple Place for Dying

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, A Purple Place for Dying is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Tra...

  • The Deep Blue Good-by synopsis, comments

    The Deep Blue Good-by

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Deep Blue Goodby is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travis ...

  • X Platoon synopsis, comments

    X Platoon

    Steve Heaney MC & Damien Lewis

    For three decades one of the most secretive units in the British military has been a mystery force known as X Platoon.Officially there was no X Platoon. The forty men in its elite ...

  • The Red Hot Typewriter synopsis, comments

    The Red Hot Typewriter

    Hugh Merrill

    Although John D. MacDonald published seventy novels and more than five hundred short stories in his lifetime, he is remembered best for his Travis McGee series. He introduced McGee...

  • The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper synopsis, comments

    The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat....

  • Bright Orange for the Shroud synopsis, comments

    Bright Orange for the Shroud

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Bright Orange for the Shroud is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.  ...

  • Death Trap synopsis, comments

    Death Trap

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    Death Trap, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.   As a t...

  • Eine Leiche zum Advent synopsis, comments

    Eine Leiche zum Advent

    Otto Penzler, Barbara Röhl, Axel Franken, Winfried Czech, Thomas Schichtel, Dietmar Schmidt, Rainer Schumacher, Daniela Jarzynka, Stefanie Heinen, Stefan Bauer & Dr. Helmut Pesch

    Das größte WeihnachtskrimiBuch aller Zeiten als hochwertiges Geschenk für alle Krimifans mit teils raren GeschichtenVerdächtige Weihnachtsmänner, skrupellose Nikoläuse, tödliche We...

  • Great Maritime Achievers in Science and Technology synopsis, comments

    Great Maritime Achievers in Science and Technology

    George MacBeath

    Generations of practical and ingenious Maritimers have given the word great things. Since the midnineteenth century, scientists have fanned out into the world from colleges and uni...

  • Free Fall in Crimson synopsis, comments

    Free Fall in Crimson

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Free Fall in Crimson is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat. He was rich, m...

  • The Empty Copper Sea synopsis, comments

    The Empty Copper Sea

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Empty Copper Sea is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.Asking for help...

  • Cape Fear synopsis, comments

    Cape Fear

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    How far would you go to save your family? In John D. MacDonald’s iconic masterwork of suspense, the inspiration for not one but two Hollywood hits, a mildmannered family is torment...

  • Dress Her in Indigo synopsis, comments

    Dress Her in Indigo

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Dress Her in Indigo is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travis M...

  • Soft Touch synopsis, comments

    Soft Touch

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    Soft Touch, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.   J...

  • The Good Old Stuff synopsis, comments

    The Good Old Stuff

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    The Good Old Stuff, a classic collection of short fiction from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an e...

  • Pale Gray for Guilt synopsis, comments

    Pale Gray for Guilt

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Pale Gray for Guilt is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travis M...

  • The End of the Night synopsis, comments

    The End of the Night

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    The End of the Night, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook...

  • Wine of the Dreamers synopsis, comments

    Wine of the Dreamers

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    Wine of the Dreamers, a classic science fiction novel from John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.  ...

  • Nightmare in Pink synopsis, comments

    Nightmare in Pink

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Nightmare in Pink is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travis McG...

  • Finderlohn synopsis, comments

    Finderlohn

    Stephen King

    Besessen bis zum MordJohn Rothstein hat in den Sechzigern drei berühmte Romane veröffentlicht, seither aber nichts mehr. Morris Bellamy, ein psychopathischer Verehrer, ermordet den...

  • The Lonely Silver Rain synopsis, comments

    The Lonely Silver Rain

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Lonely Silver Rain is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travi...

  • The Beach Girls synopsis, comments

    The Beach Girls

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    The Beach Girls, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook. &#x...

  • Nur einmal werden wir noch wach synopsis, comments

    Nur einmal werden wir noch wach

    Otto Penzler, Barbara Röhl, Axel Franken, Winfried Czech, Thomas Schichtel, Dietmar Schmidt, Rainer Schumacher, Daniela Jarzynka, Stefanie Heinen, Stefan Bauer & Dr. Helmut Pesch

    Verdächtige Weihnachtsmänner, skrupellose Nikoläuse, tödliche Weihnachtsbraten und Leichen unter Mistelzweigen vergessen Sie den Einkaufsstress, achten Sie nicht auf das ungewohnt...

  • Operation Barras synopsis, comments

    Operation Barras

    William Fowler

    The inside story of the most daring SAS rescue mission everIn September 2000 eleven British soldiers were captured by a notorious militia gang in Sierra Leone. The socalled 'West S...

  • Cinnamon Skin synopsis, comments

    Cinnamon Skin

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    When Travis McGee's friend Meyer lent his boat to his niece Norma, and her new husband Even, the boat exploded out in the waters of the Florida Keys. Travis McGee thinks it's no ac...

  • All These Condemned synopsis, comments

    All These Condemned

    John D. MacDonald & Dean Koontz

    A television star wilting under the limelight. An adman with a stiff upper lip. A rising New York artist. A desperate housewife. All are victims of a cruel puppet masterand one of ...

  • The Long Lavender Look synopsis, comments

    The Long Lavender Look

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    "McGee has become part of our national fabric."SEATTLE POSTINTELLIGENCERA lovely young girl steps in front of Travis McGee's headlights. McGee misses the girl but lands in ten feet...

  • The Dreadful Lemon Sky synopsis, comments

    The Dreadful Lemon Sky

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Dreadful Lemon Sky is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Aroun...

  • One Fearful Yellow Eye synopsis, comments

    One Fearful Yellow Eye

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    "To diggers a thousand yeasrs from now...the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen."Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.How to you extort $600,000 fr...

  • The Green Ripper synopsis, comments

    The Green Ripper

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Green Ripper is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travis McGe...

  • The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived synopsis, comments

    The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived

    Tom Shroder

    The Washington Post Book Club's October PickOne of Washington Independent Review of Book's Favorite Books of 2016“A grandson of writer MacKinlay Kantor unravels the tangles of his ...

  • Darker Than Amber synopsis, comments

    Darker Than Amber

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Darker Than Amber is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   A fishing ...

  • The Turquoise Lament synopsis, comments

    The Turquoise Lament

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Turquoise Lament is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Funny t...