Salt River

December 23, 2019
In bestseller White’s subpar 26th Doc Ford novel (after 2018’s Caribbean Rim), Leo Alomar, a shady IRS agent, accuses Doc, a Florida marine biologist, of living above his means. Alomar has figured out that Doc has been selling gold that he retrieved from the waters off the Bahamas, old Spanish coins melted down into mooring anchors. The IRS agent promises to make any tax problems from the unreported income go away if Doc will reveal where more such treasure might lie. Meanwhile, Doc’s eccentric friend, Tomlinson, a small-time ganja merchant and Zen Buddhist, finds his past has returned to haunt him as well. Years earlier, Tomlinson was a sperm donor, and some of his adult biological children are trying to arrange a reunion, an effort that places lives in danger. Neither Doc nor Tomlinson particularly endears himself to the reader, and some of the plot elements may be too over the top even for series fans. Hopefully, White will return to form next time. Author tour. Agent, Esther Newberg, ICM.

January 15, 2020
Two distinct sets of chickens come home to roost for Sanibel Island marine biologist Dr. Marion Ford and his improbably wealthy beach-bum pal Tomlinson (Caribbean Rim, 2018, etc.). Delia Carapoulos is a beautiful young woman, a recent graduate of Eckerd College, a starry-eyed fan of Tomlinson's, and also, according to her, his biological daughter, a revelation that shocks him out of his desultory amatory fantasies about the nubile visitor. In fact, she's only the advance guard of a tidal wave of offspring made possible by Tomlinson's endless sperm donations a generation ago. Now the anything-but-proud papa's data has been released to several of the children looking to track him down, not all of them happy about the news of their paternity. One reputed son, Jayden F. Griffin, makes such an impression on his arrival at Sanibel that he's hauled off by the feds and charged with terrorism and murder. By the time Tomlinson finally appeals to Doc Ford for help, his buddy is awash in an equally unwelcome reprise of his own past: the appearance of several variously threatening characters convinced that he can lead them to late, legendary treasure hunter Jimmy Jones' lost millions. All right, Leo Alomar, the first of these latest intruders into Doc's life, isn't really a special investigator with the IRS's Whistleblower Program. But Rayvon Darwin, the lover of Alomar's estranged wife, Nanette, really is a lieutenant with the Nassau customs agency, and Doc's only hope of thwarting his search for Lydia Johnson, the treasure hunter's widow Doc helped to disappear, may be to assume the role of Morris Berg, the informant Ray wants to engage to get information that will sink Doc--unless of course he discovers that Morris and Doc are one and the same. The plot, like so many of Doc's recent adventures, tends to wind down rather than up, but a good time is had by all.

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Starred review from January 1, 2020
Remember all that Spanish gold that Doc Ford, marine biologist and black-ops specialist, and his pal Tomlinson, world-class hedonist and internationally revered guru and hippie philosopher, were hunting in Caribbean Rim (2018)? Well, Doc's got it, or at least some of it, but gold brings trouble, as becomes all too clear when a bent IRS investigator, in league with an equally bent Bahamian customs official, comes calling. But that's not even the biggest problem on the agenda: years ago, we learn, Tomlinson supported himself largely through donations to a for-profit sperm bank; now, with the help of DNA testing and genealogy websites, numerous of his grown offspring have also come calling, some to sit at the knees of a famous guru, others with a multitude of grievances, including a crazed terrorist who has been targeting infertility clinics. While trying to fend off the customs agent and help Tomlinson deal with possible trouble at a proposed "reunion" of his brood, Doc struggles with his relationship with Hannah, the mother of his young son. As always, the fruit of White's research?this time, on deep-sea treasure hunting, red tides, and the technique of "confused insemination"?will hold readers rapt on its own, supported, of course, by Doc's good heart and Tomlinson's mercurial personality.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The twenty-sixth Doc Ford novel is a sure bet to join numerous of its predecessors on best-seller lists everywhere.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)