The Empty Copper Sea (1978)

Another relatively late-in-the-series Travis McGee novel. This one is short on mystery and suspense, and heavy on mid-life angst and depression. It's not strange that Travis is ruminating on life, but it's very strange that in one sequence he gets black-out drunk and makes an ass of himself. All told, not the best McGee book but, as always, readable, funny and thoughtful. McGee's constant asides are entertaining as always. I liked this one: "If I were King of the World I would roam my kingdom in rags, incognito, dropping fortunes onto the people who are nice with no special reason to be nice, and having my troops lop off the heads of the mean, small, embittered little bastards who try to inflate their self-esteem by stomping on yours. I would start the lopping among post-office employees, bank tellers, bus drivers, and pharmacists. I would go on to checkout clerks, bellboys, prowl-car cops, telephone operators, and U. S. Embassy clerks. By God, the world would look like a berserk bowling alley. Meyer says this shows a tad of hostility."