“The Green Ripper,” by John D. MacDonald

FM's rating:

1.      Premise 10

2.      Prose 10

3.      Plot 10

4.      Characters 10

5.      Overall 10

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)


I have known how good John D. MacDonald’s books are for years.  I have only read maybe five or six of them, but they have all impressed me immensely.  I have been curious about the title of this one for years also, decades even.  The Travis McGee novels seem to always have the name of a color in their title, but “The Green Ripper” is an unusual title even among the others in the series.  “Ripper” seems to evoke a murderer of women, as in Jack the Ripper.  I had noticed on the book covers of this book a picture of what looks like the back view of a terrorist in a white, hooded robe with an automatic rifle slung across his back, and thought maybe the title was a nickname for some professional killer.  I had to laugh when, after all these years, I found out what the title meant:  “And on the way home she would explain to me how she had outwitted the green ripper.  I had read once about a little kid who had overheard some adult conversation and afterward, in the night, had terrible nightmares.  He kept telling his people he dreamed about the green ripper coming to get him.  They finally figured out that he had heard talk about the grim reaper.  I had told Grets about it, and it had found its way into our personal language.”  Ha!  I found that I was constantly being reminded of how good MacDonald’s books are by references to him in the works of several of my other favorite writers, including Dean Koontz and Stephen King!  A whole generation or two of top-flight writers have read and greatly admired MacDonald’s books and it’s easy to see why. These novels follow the formula of many mysteries of their day in that they wind up with the protagonist getting into a really tight spot and somehow coming out of it alive.  No book does it better than this one, with Travis being forced to take out a group of highly trained killers in their own compound.  Very intense, intelligent writing guaranteed to get the reader’s heart-rate up.  Here’s hoping it won’t be another five years or so before I remember to read another one of these masterpieces!

Here’s the February line-up! 

“They Came to Baghdad,” by Agatha Christie [2-6]

“Espresso Tales,” by Alexander McCall Smith [2-13]

“The Queen is Dead,” by Kate Locke [2-20]

“Terrorist,” by John Updike [2-27] 

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for the next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to give your ratings/comments for that book!)