Table of Contents
WHITE HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID OF TAKING CHANCES when it comes to creating push-the-limits plots and loathsome bad guys. But hes never gone as far on either score as he does in Dead of Night:
-Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Written in a crisp, lean, and muscular style ... Whites ability to evoke the feel of South Florida is second to none. The Miami Herald
Plenty of action and danger ... mov[ing] quickly to a violent climax.The Tampa Tribune
[A] horrific but shockingly realistic thriller plot.
Booklist
Deliciously addictive and nail-bitingly suspenseful.
Publishers Weekly
Full of fast-paced action... Whites electrifying tale offers superb, scary, high-powered entertainment. It makes episodes of Fear Factor seem like childs play.
Lansing State Journal
Dead of Night takes readers on a thrill ride. Its hard to beat... White for action and suspense.
Omaha World-Herald
Edge-of-the-seat suspense... Dead of Night quickly kicks a terrifying plot into gear. Tallahassee Democrat
Randy Wayne White can write. And his Doc Ford character models what it takes to be a man. The entire series is excellent. Contra Costa Times
RANDY WAYNE WHITE TAKES US PLACES THAT NO OTHER FLORIDA MYSTERY WRITER CAN HOPE TO FIND.
Carl Hiaasen
Praise for
tampa burn
More double-crosses than an 1-40 interchange.
The Raleigh News & Observer
I wrote that [Whites] first Doc Ford novel created a character fit to walk beside Travis McGee, and nine books later, I can gloat about how right I was.The Washington Times
Engaging, funky... a thrilling story... Zooms along... at accelerating speed.St. Petersburg Times
The action is unstoppable.Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
A spellbinding story-spinner... [Tampa Burn] is highly suspenseful, with strong characters and a complex moral dimension.St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Starts off at the speed of light and only gets faster.
Midwest Book Review
Best sheer storytelling in years. Kirkus Reviews
Compelling action.Publishers Weekly
Keeps the suspense churning. Booklist (starred review)
[RANDY WAYNE WHITE] RAISES THE BAR OF THE ACTION THRILLER.
The Miami Herald
Praise for the novels of Randy Wayne White
Whites writing is as muscular as ever.
The Tampa Tribune
Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford join my list of must-reads. It is no small matter when I assert that White is getting pretty darn close to joining Carl Hiaasen and John D. MacDonald as writers synonymous with serious Florida issues and engaging characters. Chicago Tribune
Enough twists to satisfy any hard-boiled but intelligent detective fan. The Dallas Morning News
One of the hottest new writers on the scene.
Library Journal
Packed with finely drawn characters, relevant social issues, superb plotting, and an effortless writing style.... The best new writer since Carl Hiaasen.The Denver Post
White is the rightful heir to joining John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen, James Hall, Geoffrey Norman.... His precise prose is as fresh and pungent as a salty breeze.
The Tampa Tribune
Whites Doc Ford series... can always be counted on for an entertaining mix of character interplay and straight-ahead action adventure. Booklist (starred review)
A series to be savored.The San Diego Union-Tribune
Titles by Randy Wayne White
Sanibel Flats
The Heat Islands
The Man Who Invented Florida
Captiva
North of Havana
The Mangrove Coast
Ten Thousand Islands
Shark River
Twelve Mile Limit
Everglades
Tampa Burn
Dead of Night
Dark Light
Hunters Moon
Black Widow
Nonfiction
Batfishing in the Rainforest
The Sharks of Lake Nicaragua
Last Flight Out
An American Traveler
Tarpon Fishing in Mexico and Florida (An Introduction) Randy Wayne Whites Gulf Coast Cookbook (with Carlene Fredericka Brennen)
This book is for my daughter, Kate, a dear and gifted young lady.
authors note
On Friday the thirteenth, August, in the year this book was written, the eye of a category 4 hurricane made landfall on Pine Island, west coast of Florida, and the storms northeasterly tornado wall savaged the village of Pineland, where Ive lived for many years.
It was as if a five-hundred-pound bomb exploded overhead. My 1920s Cracker house, built on an Indian mound overlooking the bay, had to be gutted because of water damage. My guesthouse was crushed, the houses of neighbors leveled, and acres of old tropical growth were flattened, including avocados, poinciana, key limes, and also three gumbo-limbo trees that were several hundred years old.
The irony that, five years earlier, Id written about Marion Ford climbing an Indian mound to escape a category 4 hurricane with the same name (Charles) did not mitigate the difficulties that followed.
It was a month before I got water, six weeks before my power was restored, and, as far as I know, my phone at Pineland still doesnt work. I dont know because, three months later, I am still homeless, as are several neighbors.
Here is what Ive learned: A hurricane is just bad weather, unless you are touched by the eye. But if you are in the path of that tornado phalanx, your life is forever changed.
I am happy to report that a disaster of Charleys magnitude mobilizes a lot more good people than the few who became profiteers. Many dozens offered me help, even their homes. I will forever be in their debt.
I am especially grateful to Jill Beckstead and Dean Beckstead, and the staff at Palm Island Resort, Cape Haze, Florida, a barrier island hideaway south of Sarasota and north of Fort Myers. Palm Island is a Florida classic: miles of beach, classy Gulf Coast architecture, few automobiles, swimming pools long enough for laps, and a fine restaurant, Rum Bay, where much of this book was written. During many busy lunches, the staff kindly tiptoed around me as I typed away. Chef Khoum, Jennifer Graham, Phyllis. Muller, Walt Mintel, Dave Comello, Campi Campese, Capt. Blackie, Jay Hodges, Liam Crowley, and others were very supportive.
Other places where people went out of their way to provide me a place to write include Doc Fords Sanibel Rum Bar and Grille, Sanibel Island, Matt Asens Sanibel Grill, the staff of Pine Island Library, the staff of Holmes Beach Library, Sharkeys Steak on Bradenton Beach, the staff of Sanibel Library, and people associated with the Queen Mary 2, especially Ms. Mary Thomas, Sara Andersson, Jennifer Schaper, Laura Penfold, and Capt. Ronald War-wicks brilliant staff.
Others who were generous beyond the expectations of friendship include Sandra McNally, Gary and Donna Terwilliger, Mrs. Iris Tanner, Tom and Sally Petcoff, Capt. Steve Stanley, George and Michelle Riggs, Craig and Re-nee Johnson, Kevin and Nadine Lollar, Moe Mollen, Dr. Brian and Kristan Hummel, Capt. Craig Skaar, Bill Gutek and his Nokomis pals, the Wells family of Cabbage Key and Pineland, Bill Spaceman Lee, Diana, Ginny Amsler, Allan W. Eckert, and Jennifer Holloway. Wendy Webba gifted singer and songwriterprovided much-needed musical relief, and Erin Edwards, and the band AMERICA, gave me an emotional lift when it was much needed.
