Done Deal

John Deal #1

by Les Standiford

After turning down a suspicious offer on a piece of Miami real estate that he is developing, small-time building contractor Johnny Deal and his pregnant wife, Janice, are plunged into a terrifying nightmare of threats, intrigue, and violence. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Les Standiford is a historian and author and has since 1985 been the Director of the Florida International University Creative Writing Program. Standiford has been awarded the Frank O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Fiction, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and belongs to the Associated Writing Programs, Mystery Writers of America, and the Writers Guild.

Reviews

[Kelly Illegems · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soms beetje afgeleid

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with a lean plot, tough and fast paced action. When reluctant sleuth John Deal wises up, he does some serious damage. A fun start to this series, I look forward to the next one.

[Lou · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/10

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in my favorite bookshop the other day and one of the other 'regular' customers comes in raving about this book and begging for more of his stuff. So, naturally, I had to give it a go myself. I can't say that I'm as nuts about it as that other guy but it was a good and interesting read. You don't find many mysteries where the protagonist is a building contractor!

[Jerry King · Rating 4 out of 5]

1993

[Gregg Brickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: Done Deal : A John Deal Novel by Les Standiford

Done Deal : A John Deal Novel by Les Standiford is the first title in the authors John Deal series. Set in South Florida, the book captures the early nineties Miami while weaving an intense tale of manipulation and murder.

John Deal is a struggling builder. He and his wife, Janice, are having issues within their marriage. When his father died, Deal learned that the building business he thought was successful was broke. Deal and Janice moved out of their fancy house and away from friends and contacts. Now Deal is trying to rebuild the once successful company.

When he is offered big money to sell a property he is constructing, he refuses, wanting to finish the project, then move on. Janice thinks he should take the offer—she's pregnant and wants life settled. Then things start going wrong.

I downloaded the book as a free for iBook title, and as is my habit, will now read the rest of the series. Standiford's character development was effective, making me want to read more about the people he introduced. (The promotion worked.) By the way, it was the first book I read on the iBook program. I found it to be a friendly program.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like John D. MacDonald, Les Standiford gives us another venue to enjoy South Florida fiction...this is the 1st of the John Deal series, and while Standiford is no MacDonald, it WAS an entertaining read, decent plot, interesting characters & surprising villians...John Deal is a builder, beginning a young family whose dealings are being squeezed by wealthy developers desiring to bring Major league baseball to Miami...I'll continue the series

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ran across this at Books & Books in Grand Cayman looking for some tropical mysteries with local color. Great hard-boiled suspense like early John D. MacDonald. Strong, no-nonsense writing. I remember Standiford from Bouchercon panels, but another Florida crime writer? Downloaded the next two from Amazon.

[Anna Questerly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the writing style, a little too violent and graphic in the beginning and I almost stopped reading it, but I really like the character.