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Review by Bruce E. Southworth
Laurence Shames just keeps getting better. That's saying something, too, because he's always been damned good. His evocations of steamy Key West days can be poetic: "Ease spilled over into a vague sorrow, sensuous languor phased toward quiet loss, as the heat of the tropics gave its gift of lassitude and claimed its price of wasted time." It can also be lowbrow: "the air was like some fat guy's underpants." As suggestive as his prose is, Shames's real talent is bringing together vivid characters who sound and act like real people. Even in crazy situations.
Angelina, the daughter of Fabretti family capo Paul Amaro, has run off to Key West in search of Sal Martucci, the man she loves. Unfortunately, the once up-and-coming soldier ratted on his boss, Paul, resulting in a nine-year prison term. For Sal, it meant the Witness Protection Program and a new identity as Ziggy Maxx, bartender and small-time runner for Key West hood Carmen Salazar. Ziggy does not want to be found, least of all by anyone connected with the Amaros. But soon his corner of the world is swarming with members of the Amaros clan, including Paul.
The plot is simple, and Shames's characters repeatedly criss-cross each other. One of the best writers of the humorous mystery, Shames also displays his deftness at exploring human motivation, and the challenge of confronting and accepting your inner self.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.