Sex, drugs, pretty women, island boys, and a tropical island sounds like paradise, but is it? Randy Wayne White’s, Doc Ford swims back into action in Black Widow. This time someone has videotaped Doc’s adopted god child, Shay Money doing some not so nice activities on an island in the Caribbean. Needless to say, the villain of the story would like some compensation to keep from going public with the videotape.
Doc Ford runs a Biological Supply Company located in Dinkin’s Bay on the beautiful Sanibel Island on Florida’s Gulf Coast. White knows this area well, since he worked as fishing guide for thirteen years in the Gulf of Mexico, and he now has a restaurant in the area. He also writes and plays on Sanibel Island. His love for the water and a life spent on the water comes through in his stories, and that is part of what makes them so enjoyable.
This is the fifteenth installment of the Doc Ford books, and just as pleasurable as the others. White seems to have trouble getting this one started, but then maybe it is because his main character has gone respectable – sort of. Doc is now doing legitimate research for the government rather than covert activities. It could be Doc misses the action. His partner, Tomlinson has also gone legit, and having trouble with this new persona. Tomlinson has a very small role in this book, and hopefully Randy is not preparing to write him out.
White introduces a new partner in Black Widow. An aging but very fit, Sir James H. Montbard of the British Royal Marines, and of the Defence Intelligence and Security – Psychological Warfare Operations comes to Doc’s aid in this island caper. The reader may even surmise that Sir James could be that famous or infamous well known British Spy, James Bond. While Tomlinson is missed, White does a very good job of making Sir James believable, a good fit for the story, and an important part of the story that Tomlinson could not have contributed.
In this story, Shay and her bridesmaids have gone to the islands for a bachelorette party. They were sorority sisters at the University of Florida, and have been working at careers for a couple of years. They are now engaged, and preparing to begin life as grown-ups. While in the Islands they spend an evening with three island boys on the deck by their pool. The activities are filmed, and now someone wants money to keep from going public with the videotape. Doc discovers that the girls may have been drugged, and that this was not a onetime blackmail deal by the villain. Indeed several other influential and rich people have been being blackmailed. Doc, our knight in shining armor, rides to the rescue.
The story takes a while to develop, but once Ford leaves Florida and lands in the Caribbean the story goes full throttle. Randy Wayne White provides another action packed adventure story that appeals to anyone longing for a swashbuckling life style. Ford gets the opportunity to have several fights, get knocked around a bit, and save several damsels in distress. He assists a few villains to their untimely demise. The story has several twists and turns which prohibits giving too many details for fear of giving things away.
BGS 4/27/2008