I am at a book store on Sanibel. Got any
philosophy here. No, but there’s a literature section there, try there. Most
customers are looking for books to read at the beach. I read philosophy at the beach I say
and then laugh. All right, where’s the local books section. I find Randy White’s
"Captiva" a mystery and "Tales from Old Captiva" which are stories
from Oldtimers. Aaaah, soon I am immersed in words.
I don’t want to work, don’t
want adventure today, don’t want a social life just want to do nothing much for awhile,
maybe have a nice cold Corona or Sea Breeze. Lie in this chair for a bit this morning,
move into the shade when it gets hot, back out into the sun when it gets breezy. Maybe in
the evening I’ll go to the beach and see the sunset to feel like I’ve done
something.
Island breeze has a bookcase of books for your enjoyment. Some books have been written about this area. Here are some you may like.
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Rand Wayne White
The following is from www.randywaynewhite.com.
Randy Wayne White is a New York Times best selling author whose novel, Sanibel Flats, was chosen by the American Independent Mystery Booksellers Association as one of the Hundred Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century.
He was a light tackle fishing guide at Tarpon Bay Marina, Sanibel Island for 13-years, did more than 3,000 charters, and draws heavily on those experiences for his novels about marine biologist Doc Ford and his quirky pals at Dinkin’s Bay.
Here are his Doc Ford series, first to last, a few other novels, and an autobiographical cook book. |
"A major new talent...hits the ground running...a virtually perfect piece of work. He's the best new writer we've encountered since Carl Hiassen. White's stylish narrative never falters. This is a book that's got everything and then some..." --Denver Post
"He describes southwestern Florida so well it's easy to smell the salt tang in the air and feel the cool gulf breeze." --Mansfield News Journal
"Stylish written!" --Kirkus Reviews
"[The] first appearance of intelligent, likable Doc Ford will leave readers hoping to see him again." --Publishers Weekly
"A promising debut from another Floridian who can turn a phrase." --Booklist
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From Publishers Weekly
Vivid descriptions of sportfishing and marine life off Florida's Sanibel Islands mix gratifyingly with the give-and-take of close-knit friends in the latest Marion "Doc" Ford tale (following Sanibel Flats ). When the body of marina owner Marvin Rios is found in the ocean after a storm, Doc's friend Jeth Nicholes is arrested. With his coterie of pals--aging hippie Tomlinson, former tennis star Dewey and another marina owner, Mac--likable marine researcher Doc attempts to piece together how Rios really died. Politics and land development are pivotal elements in this taut, suspenseful tale as White makes the lure of the sea understandable to landlubbers and presents a panoramic view of southwest Florida. |
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From Publishers Weekly
In the third Doc Ford adventure, White again seamlessly splices an offbeat west coast of Florida locale with even more offbeat inhabitants. Principal among them is Doc Ford, who operates a small biological-supply business from a lab in his stilt-supported house. Lately, Doc has tried to control his telescope viewing of a tanned, red-haired woman who skinny-dips off an offshore sailboat and to limit his beer intake to four a day. While trying to be patient with his hippie pal Thomlinson, who drops by to expound on many topics, Doc reluctantly gets involved with his Uncle Tucker, who lives up the coast in Mango. Tuck has discovered a well of healing water on his land that he claims is responsible for his old gelded horse's newly grown testicles. Smuggled into a local rest home, the water has dramatically revived the moribund sex life of his Native American buddy Joseph Egret. Tuck's trouble is his somewhat uncertain ownership of the land. While he importunes Doc for help, the local news focuses on the disappearance into the mangrove swamps of two government investigators and a much loathed TV fisherman. Like fellow Floridian Carl Hiaasen, White ( The Heat Islands ) is adept at weaving ecological concerns into an oddball narrative with no loss of steam. The fate of the three missing men, even by bizarre Florida crime fiction standards, is inspired. |
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From Publishers Weekly
White, who has always had the talent, moves firmly into the major leagues with his latest Doc Ford story (after Sanibel Flats) and its lavish panorama of cross-cultural and environmental issues played out passionately in south Florida. The Florida Keys uneasily contain rich pleasure seekers and subsistence-level fisherman; someplace in the turbulent middle, Doc, a biologist, and his existentialist buddy Tomlinson hang out. As a ban on net fishing engenders increasing debate, a man is blown apart when an explosion demolishes a jetty. The sultry voodoo-practicing widow soon has Doc and Tomlinson hopelessly spellbound; her host of admirers includes others with drug and land-development interests. By this point, the sweep of White's prose and the earnest intensity he brings to the ecological debate will likely blind readers to a story line with holes large enough for marlin to swim through. Tomlinson is fascinated by the socioeconomics of a small, insular key with nothing but fishing to support it, while Doc is more intrigued by the herbs the widow places in the hot tea they sip prior to bouts of strenuous lovemaking. The conclusion embraces some sinister business with drug smuggling and a minor miracle of modern medicine. While it isn't quite clear how White gets to drug cartels from the charred remains of a lazy brain-fried doper who liked hitting attractive, oversexed women, the whole weird trip, fueled by the author's thoroughly convincing re-creation of his chosen and much-loved world, is a blast. |
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Amazon.com Review
Randy Wayne White--try saying that three times, fast--had everybody shouting about a new Travis McGee with 1996's Captiva. But White's marine biologist Doc Ford is a much more complicated character than the late, great John D. MacDonald's muscular bounty hunter. For one thing, Ford has a shadowy political past--which explains why he's reluctant to race down to Havana to bail out his chemically-abusive friend Tomlinson when his boat is impounded under suspicious circumstances. "By most definitions it was a nightmare, but to me it was simply a sleeping revisitation of a thing I had done, a thing that I loathed," says Doc--planting the seeds of a revelation about his past and showing off the kind of writing that makes his new book so compulsively readable. |
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| Randy White's mysteries are tailor-made for fans who've exhausted the novels of the late John D. MacDonald. White's series hero, Doc Ford, a marine biologist whose résumé includes a Vietnam-era stint with the Special Forces, is a somewhat cynical philosopher whose toughness masks a tender heart; he's a worthy successor to Travis McGee. In this fast-paced, well-written thriller, a nearly forgotten promise to a long-dead comrade gets Doc involved in a daughter's search for her mother. Gail Richardson's house is empty, and so are her bank accounts. Her daughter Amanda is sure that Gail's being held against her will by her would-be protector, Jackie Merlot, a mysterious man whose connections reach deep into Central and South America. The trail leads from Florida to Colombia and then to Panama, site of a private, heavily guarded retreat catering to the perverse tastes of the wealthy and powerful. Getting in takes all Doc's skill and cunning. Getting out is another matter entirely, as he learns with the help of a few of Bobby Richardson's old Vietnam buddies who turn up in the proverbial nick of time. The denouement is full of surprises, including one that even the most discerning reader won't see coming. The writing is swift, deft, and full of the crunchy nuggets of world-weary wisdom that admirers of the MacDonald genre loved and that White's growing number of devoted readers have come to expect. --Jane Adams |
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Amazon.com Review
Of all the Travis McGee wannabes who've appeared on the mystery scene since the death of John D. MacDonald, Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford, the marine biologist with an intentionally vague history of military espionage, comes closest to hitting the mark. In this seventh outing in a popular series that's never quite broken into bestsellerdom, Ford is finagled away from his beloved fish and his stilt house off Florida's Gulf Coast to investigate the grave robbing of a long-dead adolescent girl who had a remarkable gift for finding archaeological artifacts of a long-gone civilization of Calusa Indians. The centuries-old gold medallion that may have been buried with Dorothy Copeland has mysterious powers--at least, that's what a big Florida developer whose son is being groomed for high political office seems to believe. By the time Doc Ford starts investigating the incident, along with his oddly gifted friend Tomlinson (a druggie with a past as violent and mysterious as his own), more lives are at stake, including Doc's.
Ten Thousand Islands is based on a true story of multiple tragedies associated with the 1969 discovery of the medallion at the novel's center. But the complicated tale of mayhem and serial murder White weaves of it is all his own. Doc Ford is an increasingly interesting character whose love life takes up as many pages as the plot, but the community of Dinkin's Bay, with its fascinating and well-drawn minor characters, is as great a part of White's series as the denizens of Travis McGee's Fort Lauderdale marina were of MacDonald's. --Jane Adams |
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From Publishers Weekly
At a relatively quiet moment in marine biologist/errant knight Doc Ford's eighth adventure, Ford sets a trawl net to collect a dazzling array of sea creatures for a Gulf of Mexico census. The elaborate passage might serve as a handy metaphor for the novel, with its shifty plot involving a motley selection of characters, some slippery and treacherous as a giant-size manta ray. White (Ten Thousand Islands) adds a few new wrinkles and scars to his intriguing protagonist every time the Doc ventures from his laid-back life corralling sharks and pickling horseshoe crabs at Dinkin's Bay Marina on Florida's subtropical west coast. When Ford tags along with his perpetually stoned but intelligent pal Tomlinson to a posh island resort where the latter is leading a workshop on Rinzai Zen, the two get tangled up in murder, kidnapping, drugs, revenge and, for good measure, the sudden appearance of a mysterious Bahamian woman who claims Doc is her brother and seeks his help in discovering whether the "X" on her treasure map really marks the spot. Meanwhile, some very bad Colombians want Ford dead, and a billionaire with political connections to die for (and someone may) drafts Doc to look after his beautiful, sexy and endangered daughter. The story doesn't move in a single forward direction. Rather, it is woven knot by knot, the work of a master net maker. Tense action scenes, skillful character development and an unerring eye for local flora and fauna make White a match for any Florida storyteller. (May 21)Forecast: Outside columnist White may not have the national profile of a writer like Hiaasen, but he keeps going strong eight books into a generally excellent series. This won't be a breakout title for him, but it should satisfy locals and Florida dreamers around the country. |
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From Publishers Weekly
Fans of the Florida Gulf Coast marine biologist Doc Ford, White's swashbuckling Travis McGee-esque hero, will applaud this ninth Ford suspense novel (after Shark River), though the literati will likely complain that White continues to fall just short of his near-mythic forerunner, genius storyteller John D. McDonald. In this latest tale, based on a real-life 1994 incident, a boat of scuba divers sinks at a dive site off of Marco Island. When a woman who works in his lab turns up among the missing, Doc jumps into the investigation (though not before he takes time out for an amiable menage-a-trois with two local sirens). The accident's apparent lone survivor, a sexy redheaded Sarasota attorney who swam four miles to the safety of a beacon buoy, confides to Doc that she saw her three companions taken aboard a foul-smelling shrimp boat. Ex-covert agent Doc calls on highly placed government pals to retrieve photos from a surveillance satellite, and the high-resolution images not only confirm the rescue but identify the boat owners as having a history of running drugs and smuggling illegal aliens. Accompanied by the dazzling survivor, Doc tracks the villains to Cartagena, Colombia, where he mounts an operation to free the divers, whom they suspect are about to be sold into prostitution. While this isn't the strongest of the Doc Ford escapades there's some sloppy plotting and gimmicky narrative twists it's plenty entertaining, and White's ironic touches will have fans shouting "encore."
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. |
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From Publishers Weekly
This 10th novel in the series featuring ex-CIA spook turned marine biologist Doc Ford (Twelve Mile Limit, etc.), finds Doc wallowing deep in his own doldrums. Out of shape, overweight, depressed and drinking heavily to escape from his turbulent past, Doc gets a surprise visit from Sally Minster, a former lover, whose real estate developer hubby, Geoff, is reported to have been drowned in a boating accident off Bimini six months ago. Soon to inherit his estate, Sally is being followed by an insurance investigator who may have evidence her husband is still alive. Accompanied by his hippie Zen master pal, Sighurdhr Tomlinson, Doc follows the insurance investigator deep into the Everglades, where Geoff turns out to have been in cahoots with a phony guru, Bhagwan Shiva, founder of the International Church of Ashram Meditation Inc. Geoff helped him build one of his new "theme" ashrams to attract rich South Floridians and jet setters, destroying precious Everglades forest in the process. The Bhagwan and his henchman, Izzy Kline, a Mossad-trained former Israeli soldier, are plotting to engineer a series of explosions, enacting the mythic Seminole Chief Tecumseh's earthquake prophecy of 1811. Free-love religious cults, ecological destruction, murder and kidnapping propel Doc and his band of quirky Florida Gulf Coast beach denizens on a dizzying airboat race across the Everglades, where Doc battles his own demons when he's not battling a real live bull shark. The busy plot gets a bit ragged in places, but while it's not White's career best, this satisfying, madcap fare could well go seismic on the regional bestseller lists.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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From Publishers Weekly
White churns out another title in the Doc Ford series, this one alternating between compelling action sequences and pointless digressions. At the start of the novel, Marion Ford has settled into the life of a gentleman marine biologist on Florida's Gulf coast, leaving behind his past as an assassin and spy. All this is upended when a pyromaniacal carnival freak kidnaps Ford's son, Lake. The boy's mother, Central American beauty Pilar, tries to overcome their estrangement and turns to Ford for help in rescuing the boy. Seduced by his ex-lover just long enough to be caught in a compromising situation by his current girlfriend, Dewey, Ford is distracted by the sight of Dewey's car as she storms away: "She'd sold her 'Vette and bought a new two-seater Lexus. I can never remember the model. The roadster showed impressive stability as she spun it around in the parking lot." Soon after, Ford finds himself in real trouble-and spouts more extraneous commentary. On the way to saving his son, he reflects on the fauna of Florida and Central America, skin transplants, electroshock therapy, port security and the winter residence of choice for circus people. These might have made great ingredients for another whimsical Carl Hiaasen/Elmore Leonardesque madcap novel, but White's meandering prose isn't tight enough to tie them into a convincing whole.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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From Publishers Weekly
Bioterrorist attacks on DisneyWorld, gun-toting Russians and flesh-eating worms aren't enough to stop spy-cum-biologist Marion "Doc" Ford in his 12th adventure. When Ford reluctantly agrees to check in on a friend's brother, Jobe Applebee, a reclusive hydrobiologist, the simple favor escalates to horrific proportions. Ford stumbles onto a brutal interrogation scene, scares off Applebee's attackers, returns to find Applebee has hung himself and later learns that Applebee was "host to a feeding, breathing, sub-community of parasites." White barrels on full throttle: pretty soon Ford's uncovered a madman's plot to unleash ravenous guinea worms into local waterways and piranhas into Texas lakes, which will send property values plummeting—and thus make them ready for a quick snapup once the threats have been taken care of. With the help of his sidekick Tomlinson and a slew of other returning characters, Ford must hunt down the bad guys and find the miracle cure before a statewide infestation begins. Meanwhile, he's fending off Stokes's security—the sexually deviant Russian Dasha, the slow-witted Alexis—and assuring his pregnant girlfriend he'll be home in time for Christmas. White's latest is deliciously addictive and nail-bitingly suspenseful. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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From Publishers Weekly
The 13th installment of bestseller White's aging but still solid series featuring Doc Ford (after 2005's Dead of Night) finds the retired CIA operative picking up in the aftermath of a hurricane that's ravaged the Florida coast. Hired to sift through the old wreck of a pleasure craft, the Dark Light, that's been spotted after the huge storm, Ford and his salvage team discover items inside the boat that stir deadly vengeance—Nazi artifacts. Ford runs into trouble immediately from Bern Heller, a nearby marina owner who claims his company has rights to the wreck site and doesn't hesitate employing violence to get his way. At issue, Ford soon discovers, is more than just old Lugers, war medals and a few gold bars. The real prize lies in the ownership of thousands of acres of Florida beachfront property. While the novel peaks in a typical burst of satisfying action, the plot takes too long to get underway and lacks the overall crispness of the author's best work. 80,000 first printing; author tour. (Mar. 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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From Publishers Weekly
The 14th Doc Ford Florida thriller (after 2006's Dark Light) from bestseller White requires more suspension of disbelief than most readers may be willing to provide. Marine biologist Ford, a shadowy figure with multiple links to the intelligence community, gets an unusual commission from Kal Wilson, a former one-term president who recently lost his wife in a mysterious plane crash. Wilson, who has a terminal illness, asks Ford's help in slipping his protective detail so that the politician can search for those he believes responsible for his wife's death. Implausibly, the psychotic serial killer who's Ford's bête noir, Praxcedes Lourdes, appears to have been involved in the attack on the former first lady, giving the covert op a personal incentive to assist Wilson. The action sequences, especially those involving Wilson, are less than convincing, and the climax is particularly far-fetched. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Ford's 15th Doc Ford thriller (after 2007's Hunter's Moon) may baffle newcomers with a backstory relating to the murder of Ford's parents. Ford, a marine biologist and covert operative who lives on Florida's Sanibel Island, is busy serving his shadowy U.S. government masters by researching the potential use by terrorists of jellyfish and other venomous sea creatures when he receives a desperate appeal for help from an old friend. Shay Money, a successful 26-year-old businesswoman who's about to be married, fears her future happiness is in jeopardy because an extortionist has videotaped her and three female friends in sexually compromising situations. While Ford manages to get the tape in exchange for a sizable payment, his suspicions that the criminal isn't done with Money are soon confirmed. His efforts to protect her lead him to the Caribbean and a sophisticated blackmail racket with a lengthy list of victims. Despite some awkward prose (The combination of flesh and death, the orderly geometrics of my wound, struck me as indefinably profound), series fans should enjoy the ride. Author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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Product Description
Ex-Navy SEAL Dusky MacMorgan survived a military hell only to find it again where he least expects it-as a fisherman trolling the Gulf stream in his thirty-foot clipper. His new life is shattered when a psychotic pack of drug runners turns the turquoise waters red with the blood of his beloved family. Armed with an arsenal so hot it could blow the Florida coast sky-high, he's tracking the goons responsible-right into the intimate circle of a corrupt U.S. senator living beyond the law in his own island fortress. But now it has to withstand the force of a one-man hit-squad. |
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Review
White takes us places that no other Florida mystery writer can hope to find. -- Carl Hiaasen
[Randy Wayne White] raises the bar of the action thriller. -- Miami Herald
Review
[Randy Wayne White] raises the bar of the action thriller. (Miami Herald) White takes us places that no other Florida mystery writer can hope to find. (Carl Hiaasen) |
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Review
Randy Wayne White raises the bar of the action thriller. -- Miami Herald
White takes us places that no other Florida mystery writer can hope to find. -- Carl Hiassen
White takes us places that no other Florida mystery writer can hope to find. (Carl Hiassen)
Randy Wayne White raises the bar of the action thriller. (Miami Herald) |
 
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Review
"Batfishing in the Rainforest contains equal parts of comedy and courage. Randy Wayne White is not simply a wonderful writer, he is a fishing guide of genius."--Paul Therouz, author of Mosquito Coast
Product Description
A memoir-cookbook from one of the nation's top adventure writers. |
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Carl Hiaason
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his family.
A graduate of the University of Florida, at age 23 he joined The Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the newspaper's weekly magazine and prize-winning investigations team. Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida, including his own bosses. Somehow he has managed to remain employed, and today his column appears on most Sundays in The Herald's opinion-and-editorial section. It may be viewed online at www.herald.com.
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iaasen's latest thriller is his funniest and sharpest novel to date. Set in a south Florida swarming with ripoff artists, crooked cops, nude sunbathers and corrupt politicians, it features a Mafia-connected plastic surgeon with butterfingers, a bitchy Hollywood starlet, a remarkably inept hit man and a pompous TV journalist "nationally famous for getting beaten up on camera." Retired state investigator Mick Stranahan, the hero, kills an intruder in his seaside house on stilts by impaling him with a trophy spearfish. Then one of his five ex-wives is found drowned. Due to an unresolved missing-person case, someone wants Stranahan eliminated, and his efforts to flush out the mixed bag of bad guys let Hiaasen ( Tourist Season ; Double Wham my ) display his manic sense of humor at every turn. The cynical sleuth has just the right mix of sour and smarts to get a fix on a mad world. This wickedly amusing story is the work of a keen satirist who off-handedly exposes the moral rot at every level of society. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
 
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Take one devastating Florida hurricane, a New York couple on their honeymoon, a skull-juggling but sensitive guy, one former governor turned Everglades hermit, two small-time con artists, a corrupt building inspector, two state troopers, a hapless insurance agent, and what do you have? The recipe for Hiaasen's (Native Tongue, LJ 9/1/91) sixth novel, a delightful romp that is by turns hilarious and moving. These strange characters maneuver through a broken landscape as if born to it, and the author's control of both style and narrative keeps the novel from slipping into silliness. The crimes plotted are minor aspects of a fiction that explores the intersection of the grotesque and the human. Buy wherever good fiction is read.
-?A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
 
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Starred Review. Old fans and newcomers alike should delight in Hiaasen's 11th novel (after 2004's Skinny Dip), another hilarious Florida romp. The engaging and diverse screwball cast includes Boyd Shreave, a semicompetent telemarketer; Shreave's mistress and co-worker, Eugenie Fonda; Honey Santana, a mercurial gadfly who ends up on the other end of one of Shreave's pitches for Florida real estate; and Sammy Tigertail, half Seminole, who at novel's start must figure out what to do with the body of a tourist who dies of a heart attack on Sammy's airboat after being struck by a harmless water snake. When Santana cooks up an elaborate scheme to punish Shreave for nasty comments he made during his solicitation call, she ends up involving her 12-year-old son, Fry, and her ex-husband in a frantic chase that enmeshes Tigertail and the young co-ed Sammy accidentally has taken hostage. While the absurd plot may be less than compelling, Hiaasen's humorous touches and his all-too-human characters carry the book to its satisfying close. 600,000 first printing; author tour. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
 
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When the president of the Miami Chamber of Commerce is found dead inside a suitcase with his legs sawn off and a rubber alligator stuffed down his throat, news and police locals prefer to believe it's simply another typical South Florida crime. But when letters from a terrorist group, Las Noches de Diciembre, link the man's death to the disappearances of a visiting Shriner and a Canadian tourist, former newsman (now private eye) Brian Keyes intuits that someone is out to kill Florida's tourist trade. His investigation leads him to an old journalism crony obsessed with fury against the state's irresponsible development policies. Miami Herald columnist Hiaasen writes with a seriousness of intent and knack for characterization which, unfortunately, outstrip his comic talents. This is an auspicious solo debut for the serious Hiaasen (he has written three thrillers with William Montalbano), but a lukewarm one for him as a potential comic-absurdist. (March 24p
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- |
 
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rom Publishers Weekly
Hiaasen's signature mix of hilariously over-the-top villains, lovable innocents and righteous indignation at what mankind has done to his beloved Florida wilderness is all present in riotous abundance in his latest. It begins with attractive heiress Joey Perrone being tossed overboard from a cruise ship by her larcenous husband, Chaz—not for her money, which she has had the good sense to keep well away from him, but because he fears she is onto his crooked dealings with a ruthless tycoon who is poisoning the Everglades. But instead of drowning as she's supposed to, Joey stays afloat until she is rescued by moody ex-cop Mick Stranahan, a loner who has also struck out in the marriage department. Then the two together, with the unwitting aid of a suspicious cop who can't pin the attempted murder on Chaz, hatch a sadistic plot to scare that "maggot" out of what little wit he has. Even Tool, a hulking brute sent by the tycoon to keep an eye on Chaz, eventually turns against him, and much of the fun is in watching the deplorable Chaz flounder further and further in the murk, both literally and figuratively (Chaz's job, as the world's unlikeliest marine biologist, involves falsifying water pollution levels for the tycoon). Hiaasen's books are so enjoyable it's always a sad moment when they end. In this case, however, sadness is mixed with puzzlement because the book seems to end in mid-scene, with Chaz in trouble again—but is it terminal? We thought at first there were some pages missing, but Knopf says that was the ending Hiaasen intended. Odd.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |
 
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From Publishers Weekly
Florida muckraker Hiaasen once again produces a devilishly funny caper revolving around the environmental exploitation of his home state by greedy developers. When budding young ecoterrorist Twilly Spree begins a campaign of sabotage against a grotesque litterbug named Palmer Stoat, he gets much more than he bargained for. Stoat is a political fixer, involved with a bevy of shady types: Dick Artemus, ex-car salesman, now governor; Robert Clapley, a crooked land developer with an unhealthy interest in Barbie dolls; and his business expediter, Mr. Gash, a permed reptilian thug with ghastly musical tastes: "All morning he drove back and forth across the old bridge, with his favorite 911 compilation in the tape deck: Snipers in the Workplace, accompanied by an overdub of Tchaikowsky's Symphony No. 3 in D Major." After a wave of preemptive strikes centered on a garbage truck and a swarm of dung beetles, Twilly ups the ante and kidnaps both Palmer's dog and his wife, Desie, who finds Twilly a great deal more interesting than her slob of a husband. In doing so Twilly uncovers a conspiracy (well, more like business as usual) to jam a bill through the Florida legislature to develop Toad Island, a wildlife sanctuary, in a deal that will make a mint for all the politicos concerned. Chapley wants Twilly silenced and dispatches Mr. Gash. Palmer wants his wife and dog back and asks Dick Artemus to help in the rescue without derailing the bill. Who should be called upon but the good cop/bad psycho duo of Trooper Jim Tile and ex-Governor Clinton Tyree, aka Skink or the Captain, whose recurring appearances throughout Hiaasen's novels have made for hysterical farce. While there may be nothing laughable about unchecked environmental exploitation, Hiaasen has refined his knack for using this gloomy but persistent state of affairs as a prime mover for scams of all sorts. In Sick Puppy, he shows himself to be a comic writer at the peak of his powers. 200,000 first printing; first serial to Men's Journal; Literary Guild alternate; simultaneous audiobook. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
 
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| Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs out obituaries for a South Florida daily, "plotting to resurrect my career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff." Jimmy Stoma, the infamous front man for Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in a fishy-smelling scuba "accident" may be just the stiff Jack needs-if only he can figure out what happened. Standing in the way are (among others) an editor who wants Jack to "break her cherry," Stoma's ambitious pop-singer widow, and the soulless, profit-hungry newspaper owner Jack once publicly humiliated. As clues from Stoma's music give Jack Tagger the chance to trade obits for a story that could hit the front page, murder gives his career a new lease on life. |
 
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From Publishers Weekly
A Miami Herald reporter who struck a blow against corrupt entrepreneurs in Tourist Season, Hiaasen follows through with this acid satire, a real double whammy. Private detective R. J. Decker is hired to prove that TV host Dickie Lockhart cheats to win fortunes in Florida bass-fishing tournaments. The investigation makes Decker a prey to hired killers who have murdered other "snoops," but the detective also finds a strong if weird ally in a hermit who calls himself Skink. Along with two honest cops, Skink goes with Decker to the lake where a big tournament is under way and the four make a tremendous splash, to the dismay of the assembly. Hardest hit is Reverend Weeb, Lockhart's sponsor on the Outdoor Christian Network, whose generous supporters don't know that he's addicted to prostitutes, profanity and land-grabbing. The cast of bizarre characters and the suspenseful events confirm Hiaasen's reputation for creating singular villains and heroes. While he's probably unpopular among some fellow citizens in his home state, he will certainly please readers who appreciate the Swiftian wit in his cautionary tales.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
 
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From Publishers Weekly
Writing like an Edward Abbey of South Florida, Hiaasen ( Skin Tight ) sets his reluctant journalist hero after a morally corrupt real estate developer planning to build an 18-hole golf course on North Key Largo. Burned out as an investigative reporter for a Miami newspaper, Joe Winder now writes PR releases for the Amazing Kingom of Thrills, a sleazy theme park owned by Francis X. Kingsbury, who hopes to increase his fortune with a nearby golf resort. When Winder learns that the purportedly last living pair of blue-tongued mango voles, recently stolen centerpieces of the Rare Animal Pavilion, are not an endangered species as claimed, he joins the forces opposed to his boss. These include the Mothers of Wilderness, an organization of well-heeled blue-haired activists, and a semi-crazy recluse named Skink, a former Florida governor who has become a sort of Robin Hood of the Keys. Hiaasen keeps a broad cast of zany characters--Winder's girlfriend answers the phone for a call-in porn service; a steroid-crazed, weight-lifting ex-cop ingests hormones from a portable IV--moving at a breakneck clip. Murders (one accomplished by an amorous rogue dolphin), explosive revenge taken on land-moving machinery, the triumphs of love found and principles regained, and the singular environment of the Florida Keys are ingredients of this sometimes scattershot but always inventive entertainment. 50,000 first printing; BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
 
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Dave Barry starts the madness in Naked Came the Manatee, introducing a 102-year-old environmentalist named Coconut Grove and a manatee saddled with one of Barry's favorite monikers, Booger. Carl Hiaasen closes down the party, and in between, 11 of Florida's literati, including Elmore Leonard, John Dufresne, and Edna Buchanan, make twisted offerings to the affair: three severed heads, all bearing a remarkable resemblance to Fidel Castro; four murders; some sex; some espionage; even an appearance by Jimmy Carter and one by Castro himself.
Originally published as a serial novel in the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, Naked Came the Manatee resembles a literary game of telephone, with each writer contributing a chapter and passing it on to the next, who then makes the most of what he or she is given. The result is a novel with wildly fluctuating styles and more crazy plot curves than a daytime drama, but thanks to these 13 masters of the craft this roller coaster of a book is almost as much fun to read as it obviously was to write. |
 
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| When somebody sabotages the trap lines of Key West crawfisherman Breeze Albury, poor Breeze - middle-aged, devoted to son Ricky (a promising baseball player), happy with girlfriend Laurie - is once again forced to do a job for the drug-business "Machine": with helper Jimmy (who needs cash for his young wife's abortion), Breeze agrees to do a single drug-run with his 43-foot boat, the Diamond Cutter. The mission turns out to be a set-up, however - and Breeze winds up in jail. Why did the Machine arrange for their own drug-run to be spotted by the law? Because they want to force Breeze to undertake a far more dangerous run: they'll get him out of jail . . . if he'll bring 20 illegal Colombian refugees in from a "stash island" off Andros. (The Machine owes some Colombian dealer a big favor.) So off goes Breeze, with Jimmy and Cuban pal Augie, and, not unexpectedly, the trip turns into a nightmare: the Colombians are ruthless, desperate, superstitious; there are deaths during the turbulent boarding and the chaotic voyage; the eventual landing is a bloody disaster - with only half of the expected refugees arriving. Thus, the Machine must now kill Breeze . . . who is ready to fight back - by hijacking a huge load of the Machine's drugs; son Ricky will get his pitching arm broken by a Machine underling; Breeze will take the final revenge. And meanwhile, back on shore, Breeze's girlfriend Laurie is getting involved in local politics - befriending (and eventually bedding) a gay-fights activist, helping him to take revenge on a bigoted sheriff. This subplot - and another one about the evil doings of a local lawyer - are only half-successfully interwoven with the central, visceral plot here (a few too many coincidences and sudden romances are needed to tie up all the threads). But the at-sea action is gritty and varied, Breeze is a modestly engaging beleaguered-hero, and this is sturdy melodrama entertainment overall from the authors of last year's Powder Burn. (Kirkus Reviews) |
 
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In bestseller King's well-crafted tale of possession and redemption, Edgar Freemantle, a successful Minnesota contractor, barely survives after the Dodge Ram he's driving collides with a 12-story crane on a job site. While Freemantle suffers the loss of an arm and a fractured skull, among other serious injuries, he makes impressive gains in rehabilitation. Personality changes that include uncontrollable rages, however, hasten the end of his 20-year-plus marriage. On his psychiatrist's advice, Freemantle decides to start anew on a remote island in the Florida Keys. To his astonishment, he becomes consumed with making art—first pencil sketches, then paintings—that soon earns him a devoted following. Freemantle's artwork has the power both to destroy life and to cure ailments, but soon the Lovecraftian menace that haunts Duma Key begins to assert itself and torment those dear to him. The transition from the initial psychological suspense to the supernatural may disappoint some, but even those few who haven't read King (Lisey's Story) should appreciate his ability to create fully realized characters and conjure horrors that are purely manmade. (Jan. 22)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
 
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| Winston Williams |
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From an Amazon customer review:
I put this book in my suitcase every time I vacation in Florida. It's perfect for the casual (but enthusiastic!) beach comber, containing many color photos of Florida shells along with brief but interesting and informative passages on each type of shell. This book is an easy and enjoyable read for all ages, and is NOT a dry, encyclopedic identification guide. The book also contains information on the creatures found in and near the surf, like crabs, jellyfish, etc. And, best of all, many mysterious beach finds are identified for you: sea pork, sea beans, devil's purse and so on. Just about anything and everything you find on a Florida beach is identified, from seaweed to seashells. (The exception being birds, but there is a separate book for that!) |
 
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This history, rich with photographs and colorful drawings of the remarkable Calusa Indians who controlled all of south Florida when Europeans first arrived in the New World, presents a vivid picture of the luxurious natural environment that sustained the Calusa--the teeming estuaries along Florida's coasts, which have supported people for thousands of years.
The Calusa were the last native Florida Indian people to succumb to colonization, but by the mid-1700s they had disappeared entirely. This book describes the artifacts they left behind and the plants and animals that inhabited the landscape and the underwater world of their ecosystem. It also discusses their traditions that survive to the present day among modern fisherfolk and the vibrant culture of Native Americans in south Florida--the Seminole and Miccosukee peoples.
The strength of this book is its dual treatment of both culture and environment. The authors' premise is that culture affects every aspect of people's existence and that to understand a culture, one must first appreciate the environment in which it develops. By learning about both, modern citizens will be better equipped to make the right decisions for wise stewardship of the earth.
The Calusa and Their Legacy will inspire readers to value south Florida's multicultural history and ecology. It is written for a broad audience of all ages (from elementary schoolers to senior citizens) and all educational levels. It will be enjoyed by environmentalists, eco/heritage tourists, and everyone interested in understanding a sense of place in the natural world. The book's dramatic and authentic illustrations of Calusa life were created by artists working at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, where a major permanent exhibition has interpreted this story since 2002. |
 
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| Florida's Indians tells the story of the native societies that have lived in Florida for twelve millennia, from the early hunters at the end of the Ice Age to the modern Seminole, Miccosukee, and Creeks. When the first Indians arrived in what is now Florida, they wrested their livelihood from a land far different from the modern countryside, one that was cooler, drier, and almost twice the size. Thousands of years later European explorers encountered literally hundreds of different Indian groups living in every part of the state. (Today every Florida county contains an Indian archaeological site.) The arrival of colonists brought the native peoples a new world and great changes took place -- by the mid-1700s, through warfare, slave raids, and especially epidemics, the population was almost annihilated. Other Indians soon moved into the state, including Creeks from Georgia and Alabama, who were the ancestors of the modern Seminole and Miccosukee Indians. Written for a general audience, this book is lavishly illustrated with full-color drawings and photographs. It skillfully integrates the latest archaeological and historical information about the Sunshine State's Native Americans, connecting the past and present with modern place-names, and it gives a proud Indian heritage. voice to Florida's rich Indian heritage. |
 
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| Revised edition. Brings to life the first humans who entered Florida about 12,000 years ago. Combines contemporary archaeology, the writings of early European explorers, and replication experiments to paint a vivid picture of the state's original inhabitants. Photos of replications of many of the technologies used by early people in their day-to-day lives. The author made a tool kit of stone, wood, bone, and shell, then used implements to carve wood, twist palm fiber into twine and rope, make and decorate pottery, and weave fabric. Includes a comprehensive photographic atlas of Florida projectile points, pottery types, and typical plant and animal remains that are uncovered at Florida archaeological sites. |
 
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lorida is one of the finest places to hunt fossils in North America. For 50 million years Florida was home to hordes of strange and wonderful animals. Their remains accumulated in rivers, springs, and oceans. Today fossilized bones and teeth wash up along streams, banks, and beaches and lie in limerock quarries. Learn how and where to hunt fossils--with maps, means of identification, and the history of these fossil treasures. Complete, accurate, and fully illustrated, including an outstanding identification section and three original paintings by Christopher Kreider.
This revised edition contains the latest information on where to hunt fossils in Florida and completely updated appendices. |
 
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Sanibel & Captiva: A Guide to the Islands, written by Sanibel residents, is a handbook to all the islands have to offer. It's packed with useful, down-to-earth information on Sanibel and Captiva's beaches, shelling, wildlife, fishing, biking, hiking, boating, shopping, restaurants and accommodations, and includes hundreds of tips on how to have fun. The full-color, 304-page book is an invaluable resource for visitors wanting a few days of real-Florida fun and sun on these legendary, unique islands.
There's a full chapter on local shells, another on wildlife, still another on the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife refuge. The Restaurants chapter reviews 64 places to eat, from snack shacks to gourmet bistros.
Authors Julie and Mike Neal share their secrets about exploring the islands and viewing wildlife, revealing their favorite locations to spot dolphins, manatees, birds, reptiles and other creatures. Readers discover hidden bike paths and long-forgotten hiking trails, and even learn how to spot alligator tracks.
Best of all, Sanibel & Captiva: A Guide to the Islands is filled with over 350 color photos, most never before published. |
 
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Product Description
In this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of a swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife. A Land Remembered was winner of the Florida Historical Society Tebeau Prize as the Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel. |
 
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Robert Tacoma
The following is from the site http://tacobob.com/.
“I saw a picture of him by a truck with a homemade camper on the back. I think he drives around to places like Key West.” |
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Key Weird - A different look at Florida. What do you do when you lose your possum ranch, all your money, and the Dalton Gang is on your trail? If you’re Taco Bob, you head for Florida and end up in tropical Key West hanging out with a collection of colorful and crazy locals, fishing for grunts, and avoiding Daltons. But there’s never a shortage of trouble in paradise. A sexy cult leader hits town looking for a golden idol she is convinced holds psychic powers. She teams up with the aging owner of the local topless bar, who is looking for a fortune in Spanish treasure stolen from him years earlier. Taco Bob’s idyllic tropical lifestyle comes to an abrupt end and he finds himself lost in the Everglades swamps. But he’s not as alone as he thinks, not with a hot cult leader, a cranky treasure hunter, and a mysterious old hermit in the neighborhood.
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| At the end of a long road, on a tropical island, sits a rich horde of Spanish treasure that has captivated many over the years and caused more than a few heads to be filled with illicit thoughts. But never in the long and storied history of Key West has there been a major heist of any kind. With its riches locked safely away, every year Key West throws the biggest, wildest street party south of New Orleans. Among the thousands of revelers at Fantasy Fest this year is a daring young man who plans to bring back a long forgotten pirate tradition: the tradition of stealing treasure from anyone who has it. Carefree boat bum Taco Bob and friends are soon caught up in the treasure fever sweeping through the island city. But big money draws bad people, and before long nearly everyone in Key West just wants to get Lucky. |
 
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Could three sisters be any more misunderstood?
Some people in town think the young women running the old hotel are witches just because they cackle a little on poker night. Okay, so sometimes they cackle a lot. And sure they may have to use a little hypnotism when their livelihood is threatened, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re sorceresses.
It’s not that they wouldn’t like to turn someone into a newt occasionally. When they were younger there always seemed to be someone looking to take advantage of three girls with an ailing mother trying to run a crumbling old hotel. But with the help of their special teachers they’ve grown into young women who can take care of themselves.
Their mother’s dying wish takes them on a quest to another hotel, this one across the country in Key West. But when an old adversary threatens their home and friends, it may be more than they can handle by themselves. They may have to find a real witch. |
 
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| No man can take too much of a good thing, not even in tropical Key West. When beach-connoisseur Taco Bob decides on a road trip, he leaves the Conch Republic in search of the beautiful woman who broke his heart, and the ultimate trout recipe. But soon after he leaves town, the entire state is in an uproar when a young man on a mission from Texas makes off with the most prized souvenir in Key West. Meanwhile, a sexy but twisted cult leader shows up, determined to find some magical gold idols so she can rule the world, or at least the world of lingerie fashion. But first she has to deal with a renegade bounty hunter, a nearly invisible rival from her past, and the untold thousands of people cramming into Key West for the biggest outdoor concert in the state's history. Taco Bob is going to have plenty of surprises waiting when he returns to the southernmost city in the US. At least it was the southernmost city when he left. |
 
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| Welcome to the land at the end of the road: Key West. A tropical island known for Margaritas, warm breezes, singing manatees, and surprises. One surprise awaits Taco Bob and a couple of friends just offshore. It s quite a grisly discovery, and they soon find themselves getting unwanted attention from some very bad people. People who are not about to let anyone stop them from taking over Key West. Taco Bob and his friends could use some help. But due to government cutbacks and corruption there won t be much help there. It starts to look like the fate of Key West may depend on a group of renegade enviromentalists led by "Shark" Hunter, a man who fears little... except, maybe, little voodoo dolls. |
 
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Jay Worsham
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A flying Ford Mustang? When the government's latest secret weapon is stolen, agent Rick Fortune must recover it before it falls into the hands of the terrorist group Sword of Allah. Greed, betrayal and bad food plague Rick and rival agent Monique Mechante as they chase the car across South Florida and the African nation of Tambuta. And there is Rick's little problem. He is still a virgin, but is hoping that Monique will help him to ... well, you know. His plan might work, but only if they survive.
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