Nightmare in Pink
From a beloved master of crime fiction, Nightmare in Pink is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat.
Travis McGee’s permanent address is the Busted Flush, Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Lauderdale, and there isn’t a hell of a lot that compels him to leave it. Except maybe a call from an old army buddy who needs a favor. If it wasn’t for him, McGee might not be alive. For that kind of friend, Travis McGee will travel almost anywhere, even New York City. Especially when there’s a damsel in distress.
“As a young writer, all I ever wanted was to touch readers as powerfully as John D. MacDonald touched me.”—Dean Koontz
The damsel in question is his old friend’s kid sister, whose fiancé has just been murdered in what the authorities claim was a standard Manhattan mugging. But Nina knows better. Her soon-to-be husband had been digging around, finding scum and scandal at his real estate investment firm. And this scum will go to any lengths to make sure their secrets don’t get out.
Travis is determined to get to the bottom of things, but just as he’s closing in on the truth, he finds himself drugged and taken captive. If he’s being locked up in a mental institution with a steady stream of drugs siphoned into his body, how can Travis keep his promise to his old friend? More important, how can he get himself out alive?
John D. MacDonald
John D. MacDonald is the author of 21 Travis McGee thrillers, Cape Fear, and countless other novels and short stories. His works have been translated into numerous languages, with his sales in the tens of millions. Named the grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America, he also won the American Book Award (now known as the National Book Award) in 1980, earned an MBA, and served in the army. MacDonald, a native of New York, lived much of his life in McGee's homestate of Florida with his wife and son, before passing away in 1986.
Travis McGee
Travis McGee consists of twenty-one books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

