FFB: Son of Fletch -- Gregory Mcdonald

A while back I mentioned running across three books by Gregory Mcdonald in a thrift shop. Two of them were about a young man named Skylar, and I commented on them here and here.  The third book was Son of Fletch. I read it when it came out, about 20 years ago, and as is sometimes the case, the more I reread, the more I remembered.  

I always hoped that the later books about Fletch would recapture some of the snap and excitement of the earliest ones, but they never quite did.  I can't explain why, since they still have some of the same qualities , the snappy dialogue, the interesting characters, the clever plots.  But for me something is missing.  It's like hearing the cover version of a favorite song.  Same words, same melody, but it's not the same.  Maybe it's just me.

In this one, a young man shows up at Fletch's house and claims he's Fletch's son, whose name is Jack Faoni.  He also claims that he's just escaped from a  nearby prison, along with three other men, all of them very bad.  His own crime was trying to shoot a cop.  Or so he says.  After all, if he's Fletch's son, he might have his father's disregard for the truth.

Fletch goes along for the ride (literally and figuratively) and finds himself mixed up with a bunch of neo-nazi racists, and as so often happens in Mcdonald's books, things turn very dark.  There's always an interesting contrast between the light and breezy style of the books and some of the content, and that adds to their interest.

If you've never read Fletch and Confess, Fletch, you're missing some of mysterydom's great pleasures.  Son of Fletch is okay, and I enjoyed reading it again, but I wish I'd read one of the earlier ones instead.  What some enterprising filmmaker should do is get Chevy Chase to play Fletch again and some whippersnapper to play Jack.

FFB: Skylar -- Gregory Mcdonald

I thought the first couple of books in Gregory Mcdonald's series about Fletch were terrific but that they went downhill after that.  I also liked the books about Flynn, but having been pretty disappointed in several of the later Fletch books, I hadn't read anything by Mcdonald in years.  Then, as happened with the book I mentioned last week, I ran across unread paperbacks of Skylar and Skylar in Yankeeland.  These were  in a thrift store instead of on eBay, but the principle is the same.  I couldn't just leave them there.  So I bought them.

The setting of Skylar is Greendowns County, Tennessee.  The title character has just graduated from high school and plans to remain in Tennessee for the rest of his life, though his grades are higher than anyone else's in his school.  His Boston cousin, Jonathan Whitfield, has been sent to visit to while he recovers from a bout of mono.  Skylar and Jonathan don't take to each other.  

Skylar is also irresistible to women.  It seems that his touch is electric, and just looking at him makes women want to jump his bones.  There's more sex in the first chapter of this book than in the entire soft porn book from last week.  What a difference a few decades makes. 

Unfortunately for Skylar, he's soon arrested for the murder of the young woman that the entire county believes he's practically engaged to.  Skylar breaks out of jail, and then her brother is murdered.  He's in big trouble.

Don't try to figure out the mystery.  It's not likely that any reader could. That's not the point of the story, anyway.  The point is snappy patter, a Mcdonald specialty, and observations that you might or might not find amusing.  Things take a very dark turn before it's all over, as they often do in Mcdonald's books, or at least that's my recollection of them.

I found this one better than the later Fletch books, though it's certainly not up to the first two.  I'll probably aread the sequel.  If I do, I'll report on it next week.

Uh-Oh

'Fletch' Reboot Heading to the Big Screen - Heat Vision: "Warner Bros. is looking to bring investigating reporter Fletch back to the big screen.

The studio has pre-emptively picked up the movie rights to the Gregory McDonald mystery novels featuring the character for an adaptation to be produced by Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Michael Sugar as well as David List, the manager of McDonald’s estate.

No writer or director is board, but Warners and the producers are aiming for a reimagining, not a remake, and hope to make an smart action comedy that plays out on a bigger canvas than the previous movies."