Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For context - I got hooked on Doc Ford about two years ago and have read all of the Doc Ford series as well as all of the Randy Striker series since then . What I liked about the books - especially the earlier Doc Ford works - was the guides and the other characters around Dinkins Bay, the marina, the lab, numerous references to marine biology and fisheries biology and, not to be left out, Doc's love life with beautiful and interesting women. I liked the way Doc thought of the women with sensitivity and respect while still retaining a strong sensuality in both him and the women. While reading these earlier books I felt really immersed in an intellectually interesting natural environment that balanced science, environmentalism, and the practical realities of the commercial guiding and fishing communities. Add to that the clandestine adventures that extended Ford's former NSA life combined with his romantic adventures and the books were seriously compelling. After reading White's more recent books, especially his last book Night Vision and this most recent book Chasing Midnight, it seems like most of what drew me to the work is missing. Now, it seems, most of the book is inside Ford's head as he tactically analyzes his constantly precarious situation. While I enjoyed some of that in his earlier work it was balanced by descriptions of the beautiful Sanibel Island/GOM environment, interesting science, and Ford's relationships with Tomlinson, the guides, and those interesting women. Now the books seem to me to be too dark.There were no characters to connect to other than Ford and Tomlinson and if I hadn't read earlier works I wouldn't have even connected to them. They didn't project any deep humanity as they did in earlier works.And the women characters were only partially developed and then left hanging. I actually labored to get through Chasing Midnight and finished it only because I hoped it would bring back some light in the end - but it didn't. It was mostly boring. I certainly respect Mr. White for his body of work. I know it's hard to keep writing new and interesting books each year and to keep evolving as a writer. But after Night Vision got such mixed reviews last year, for many of the reasons I cite here, I was hoping Mr. White would go back to more of a Sanibel Flats formula. But I'm grateful to him for providing me with so many hours of enjoyable reading in his first ten or so Doc Ford novels.