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Nightmare in Pink
John D. MacDonald Book Review

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Plot Summary of Nightmare in Pink
"This 2nd of the Travis McGee series is place in New York City where Travis fits about as well as Crocodile Dundee. John D. has not yet quite found his way with Travis yet, and it shows.

Travis is enjoined to look out for a buddy's little sister in the big bad city. His little sister is a babe (surprise!) and has her share of troubles. Her fiancé has just been murdered, and she has found a stash of $10,000 that she fears he scammed. Nina is distressingly a “will you respect me in the morning” type of young lady that rings no truer now than it did in the early ‘60s, and Travis' famous philosophizing is really put to the test, however enchanted he is.

“Nightmare in Pink” is worth the price of admission just for the middle third of the book where Travis is captured in a private mental hospital and loaded with psychedelic drugs. His hallucinatory terrors are brilliantly and horrifyingly described, and the after-effects linger through the entire book.

The plot is a convoluted financial scam that MacDonald loves, but doesn't suit Travis too well (Meyer is not yet on the scene). Also cold, urban settings are not kind to a knight errant beach bum. Grade C-
"

sweetmolly, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Nightmare in Pink
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Time/era of story: - 1960's-1970's
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
The antagonists are: - big business leader(s)

Setting
City? Yes

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - rotating 1st
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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