The Enemies List (Travis McGee's novel reviewed in GUNS Magazine)

GUNS Magazine June 2010 ^ | April 16, 2010 | David Codrea

[El Gato]

What a testimony to an out-of-print novel from over a decade ago!

mine is loaned out to my project manager. But it has been for a couple of years now. He's not much of a reader. Whereas I'm normally reading two books at the same time.

[El Gato]

“No, really, that can’t happen with Kindle. It’s totally secure.”

You just do what I do, have a paper backup copy of the really "good" ones. Although I'm backing up hardbacks with paperbacks, although when I buy the paperback, the hardback is what goes on my shelves.

[Blue Jays]

Completely enjoyed all three novels over the years.
Anyone who carefully, regularly, and critically considers the direction of our beloved country must read these books. You'll be glad you did.
Each in their own way, these books have provided insights on how to conduct my own life in these dynamically dangerous times.

[sockmonkey]

Here is the first third of Castigo Cay, my next novel.

Okay, it's 3 am, and I just finished reading it..Why do you have to be such a gifted writer that I juat can't put anything down you've written until I've finished it. I have no resistance to the characters, and places, and tales your words paint.

Now I have to wait to find out what happens to Devil Dog Prechter, and Cori, and Dan...darn.. I'm already wondering which good guys are going to die.

[Travis McGee]

EFAD takes place between Norfolk and DC, mostly in Tidewater VA.

DETR takes place between Oklahoma and San Diego, but mostly in New Mexico.

FEAT takes place between Mississippi and Tennessee, then jumps to Maryland.

[Travis McGee]

When you lend out books or dishes, never expect to see them again.

[Travis McGee]

You have no idea how gratifying it is for me, as a writer, to read a comment like that.

That means more to me than any other aspect. There are sure a lot easier ways to make a better living.

[sockmonkey]

When you lend out books or dishes, never expect to see them again.

I have a particular friend who has finally returned my dishes, my Thunder Ranch dvd's, but still has my Trilogy of your books. I think I just need to order new ones for myself.

I think they'd be better as a reread than Pride & Prejudice & Zombies which is what I am currently reading.

[hiredhand]

I had some time at the end of the day yesterday at work and if you google (something like), “kindle, hack, copy files”, you’ll find what I found. I wouldn’t use it for anything I was interested in keeping somewhat control over.

[Larry Lucido]

Well done!

[Still Thinking]

You have no idea how gratifying it is for me, as a writer, to read a comment like that.

He's right, you know. You haven't written one yet I could put down. I'm usually mad when I get to the end that there isn't more.

As far as which one I was having binding problems with, I had to go back and check. It was the first two, with DEtR being the worse. It's not an uncommon problem here in AZ for guys that take books with them in the truck while they work, though the binding on your books seems to be a little more prone to it than the average. Maybe on the next run if you ask the bindery they have slightly higher temperature glue available. No big deal. I'll just buy another copy!

[Still Thinking]

Oh, and you asked for the edition as well. DETR is Second Printing 2007, don’t have EFAD readily available, but it’s not as bad anyway. Haven’t noticed the problem with FEAT yet but it’s newer and I’m also not on my third read like with DETR.

[Travis McGee]

A lot of folks tell me they have read the books more than once. That’s the highest praise a novelist can get.

[Travis McGee]

I am going to sure google that!

The only question now is, does the promotional synergy of wider readership outweigh the possible lost sales to to aharing e-files?

Probably.

In a way it’s not much different than folks sharing the hard copy books. I never minded that, always figured the more exposure/name recognition, the better.

[hiredhand]

That's a very good question. Even in retail sales, there are KNOWN factors that contribute to both high volume sales, as well as theft. Positioning merchandise in a certain way, in a certain place is known to increase sales, but also make theft easier. I was listening to a speaker about this last week and the conclusion was to simply factor in the percentage of theft because in the end it was worth the additional volume in sales.

From a "purist" standpoint, I would avoid Kindle. However, if you look at it from a "realistic" standpoint, it might be something to look into a little more seriously. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that if you put your works (outside of your trusted few) into the hands of the public, using controls such as afforded by Kindle, that your works WILL end up in places where they should not.

But my humble opinion is that "most" people who would read your works would be inclined to pay for them anyway. The fact is that myself and millions of others have no reason to ever, EVER pay for software with mechanisms such as P2P out there, and moreover this, current P2P software makes it very difficult to catch the offender except for the dumbest of them. But we don't pirate software. Why pirate it when you can spend a dollar with Red-Box or a little over that with NetFlix? As for other software, we'd rather just pay for it and be "legal". I think most people will view your works the same way, even though I would venture to guess that it WILL end up where it should not.

It's probably worth looking into...Kindle that is.

[Travis McGee]

In general, my home-copy books (except for the first edition of EFAD, which used a too-stiff paper) hold up pretty well. But “perfect binding” in a trade paperback can’t be flexed wide open to lie flat, like a hardback with its much more complex binding. I’ve even seen folks fold half of a perfect bound book back around itself, this is sure to cause binder failure.

[Travis McGee]

The only place where the comparison of stolen or lent hard copy books to e-books fails is the fact that a pirated e-book can be copied an infinite number of times.

A lent or purloined hard copy book won’t go too far. With e-books, the sky is the limit once it’s made available on the net.

But I am going to look into Kindle, since I already have the Amazon Advantage account.

[hiredhand]

This IS true. The magnitude of theft with software, in combination with the net as it exists isn't comparable to the "physical" retail world in scale. It's really out of control, and completely unable to be checked.

We have an O'Reilly "Safari Books" account at work... have you looked into a similar mechanism? I'm not sure it's any better to be honest with you. :-)

Keep me posted....please. I'm interested in knowing how this pans out.

The only place where the comparison of stolen or lent hard copy books to e-books fails is the fact that a pirated e-book can be copied an infinite number of times.

A lent or purloined hard copy book won’t go too far. With e-books, the sky is the limit once it’s made available on the net.

But I am going to look into Kindle, since I already have the Amazon Advantage account.

[blackie]

Excellent review, if I could write, that’s what what I would say.

I’ve enjoyed all three books tremendously and will read them again!

Good job Matt!!

[Eagle Eye]

Wow Congratulations!