Fletch - (Fletch Mysteries, 1) by Gregory McDonald (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Fletch, investigative reporter extraordinaire, can't be bothered with deadlines or expense-account budgets when it comes to getting his story.

Working undercover at the beach to dig up a drug-trafficking scheme for his next blockbuster piece, Fletch is invited into a much deeper narrative. Alan Stanwyk, CEO of Collins Aviation and all-around family man, mistakes the reporter for a strung-out vagabond and asks him for a favor: kill him and escape to Brazil with $50,000. Intrigued, Fletch can't help but dig into this suspicious deal he's being offered.

Dodging the shady beach police as his case begins to break open, and with his temperamental editor Clara pushing for his article, he soon discovers that Stanwyk has a lot to hide and this plan is anything but what it seems.

Review Quotes

"A top-rate thriller told in stripped-down language that races to a climax."

"Gregory Mcdonald's Fletch novels are the pinnacle of California sunshine noir--twisty, smart-alecky, and very, very human. I. M. Fletcher is a 'detective' in a world that's determined to drown him in its petty mysteries. Fletch is the tanned, not-as-amoral cousin of Highsmith's Tom Ripley, and one of the great literary creations."

"I couldn't stop at 101 words. I couldn't stop at one page. I had to reread the whole book. And then the next and then the next. And I don't think I'll be the only one who still finds that old hook as sharp as ever. The movie may have stunk, but the sentiment holds true: Fletch lives."

"Narrator Dan John Miller dives into the role of Fletch with gusto. Miller's tone reflects the ace reporter's approach to his undercover disguise as a beach bum while working to ferret out drug sources for a big story...Miller revels in the sardonic nature of Mcdonald's dark 1970s hero who is struggling with the demands of a cranky editor, newsroom deadlines, addicts, crooks, and cops."