St. Petersburg Times columnist Jeff Klinkenberg has put together a beautiful collection of his stories here and in "Dispatches From the Land of Flowers." Each one a tale that leaves you yearning to know more. Surprising facts about a Florida you never knew existed! A great book that introduces you to the history and culture of a true Florida.

Once you start this novel, you will find it difficult to put down. The author keeps you on the edge throughout. You can't help rooting for "Kathleen" and "Sarge" as they debark on a dangerous mission. The Book is set in the Florida keys and the Bahamas, and the writing is such that you feel like you are right there along side. I read the entire book in one sitting and then went back and reread it again. I can't wait for the remaining two books in the trilogy!

this is not your standard sharks are scary, but good type of book. it has great characters and facts too. if you likes sharks, you will like them more after reading this book. if you don't, you will now.

John Cole LIVES fly fishing...splatteing his days on shallow-draft boats into tales that haul us all to the splintered, warped planks of Key West...to the wind-lashed channels of obsessive pursuit. READ THIS BOOK--a tropical drink stitched to your discontent...small enough to hide in the side pocket of a commuter's valise.

Any saltwater fly fisherman will recieve alot of pleasure from this book. Excellant accounts of flats fishing in the keys along with wonderful photography makes this a great coffee table book that actually has substance. Once you enjoy this book, you will purchase another as a gift for a fellow angler.

This author gives you the real insight to being 80, it was a fast moving book that held your interest all the way through, I could not put the book down. It is interesting that the author is not the age of the main character but yet understands the life of this character extremely well. On a serious note, is there anyway to stop the aging and not be part of the result. However, we know what that means and the alternative is not what I want to I guess I'll be part of the result. Thanks to this author for such a warm, humorous, loving depiction of old age. I strongly recomment this book to any and all. --Joseph Ostraw

This is really the only comprehensive description of the Keys wildlife. Written by a scientist but in an easy to understand narrative style, its only flaws are that it out of print and getting a bit dated (some animals' abundance or protected status have changed). As a park biologist and frequent speaker on natural history of the Florida Keys, I always refer to this invaluable reference to improve my lectures and guided walks. Since finding this book in 1990, I have only found coverage of one "Florida Keys specialty" missing (the Short-tailed Hawk). Essentially, if you've come to the Keys (or plan to) to see wildlife, reading this book will provide accurate information that would otherwise take years of field experience in the Keys to gain. If you live in the Keys, you will find no better introduction to your wild neighbors, on where and how they live, and no better explanation of their plight in the face of encroaching development. Publishers take note - this book really needs to be revised and re-issued.

It is astonishing that this book is so little known. Here is a memoir which records Hemingway's insights on writing as given to his only pupil, a young writer/hobo who shows up one day at Hemingway's Key West house hoping for a few words of advice. "He left me with that damned marvelous feeling you can have only once in a lifetime if you are a young man who wants to become a writer and you have just met the man you admire as the greatest writer alive and you know instinctively that he is already your friend." Impulsively Hemingway hires the twenty-two-year-old "tramp" to guard his new boat, the Pilar. Samuelson carefully records Hemingway's thoughts on writing (including a "mandatory" reading list for the young, aspiring writer). Not only does the book illuminate Hemingway, his life, his fishing, his family and his work, but it also tells the story of a fascinating individual who spent a year with him.

With its genuine classic "old style" of writing, this book will take and place you into the center of a wonderful journey of youth and growth. A great book and an interestingly easy read for those moments when catapulting yourself into another life, time and location is just what you need. I highly reccomend it, and don't forget to share this one with the younger generation in your homes!

HAVING LIVED in Florida all my life, the added spice of this novel being set right down the road (well a long road, I-95, at that) from me, compelled me to go out on a limb and call this one of the best examples of comedy-mystery-mob novels ever written. Joey and Sandra are so incredibly "Noo Yawk" stereotypical that it makes them believable and understandable to readers! I loved this book ever since I started reading it. In a Hiaasen-esque (one must realize the similarities between Shames and Hiaasen...just look at the covers of their books) fashion, Shames tells the story of Joey Goldman and girlfriend Sandra as they seek their promised land; Joey doesn't know how, but he plans to get rich quick in the land of "sun, surf, and sleaze."
But Joey's NYC mob background catches up with him via his half brother Gino. I'll leave the rest of the story to you (I really hate when people just give a little summary of the book, that is NOT a review.).
Filled with lovable characters like Bert The Shirt and Zack, there just aren't enough words of praise to give it. You'll laugh out loud but you can really feel the things these people are going through.
I'm sure this probably isn't one of my better reviews, but this book puts me at quite a loss for words; on one hand funny, on the other poignant, but one word will describe it---excellent! 5 Stars.

I must have bought this book three separate times. I have to keep it on my shelves. It remains one of my favorites -- and my husband's too.

As crime fiction writers go, Laurence Shames is in a league of his own. FLORIDA STRAITS pulses with humanity (John Steinbeck meets Elmore Leonard?) His characters are caught up in bigger-than-life situations, but they're all real people. The humor is real. Words like 'farcical' and 'romp' don't apply.

If you're new to Laurence Shames, I suggest you start here. I think it's his best. Mangrove Squeeze, I'm sorry to say, I couldn't finish. The Naked Detective, I haven't read yet. The others, great, but this one outshines them.

I love this book.

The publisher that releasd FLORIDA STRAITS with a paperback cover of stunning green and fluorcent orange may not have done the book a service. It implies HIAASEN! HIASSEN!

That's misleading, but not pejorative. In my opinion, in terms of literary quality, FLORIDA STRAITS, FLORIDA STRAITS ranks up there with, say, Carl Hiaasen's STRIP TEASE, Elmore Leonard's PULP FICTION* or the later Ross McDonald stuff.

But FLORIDA STRAITS has its own voice -- it is no clone; it has its own voice and is well worth reading. All are terrific, all have a voice, but and I have to emphasize.

All the literature I've mentioned above have in common the crime/humor themes of slightly loveable fish-out-of-water oddball protagonists (lead characters),** crazy character side figures, and a mix of danger, huumor and satire.

But in author Larence Shames' FLORIDA STRAITS, not all tourists are uppity jerks, not all bourgeois charcters are Ned Beatty/Ronald cynics who ratify his friends' desire to make money, (looser laws, environmental degradation, etc.) Violence and danger -- of which the strong stuff is relatively free of grisliness or obligatory humor -- nonetheless comes across in intriguing fashion. Fortunately, even though nine years old, FLORIDA STRAITS is enduring enough not to need timlines, excessive camp, or a plenitude of pop-culture refernce. It's hard to define, but the book still has lots of "oomph".

I agree with that perceptive critic whose review appears below, and here I'm praphrasing loosely, that an analogy can certainly be drawn beteen applied to Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty, Pulp fiction).* Hiassen, too, of course, and I would say the later Ross McDonald.

As my students say, "whatver." FLORIDA STRAITS has interestingly loopy charcters -- the lead chacter is a minor mafioso who leave Noo Yawk for Florida. It's the classic duck-out-of-water scenario: Our (anti-)hero is a skankier, far less intelligent or ethical version of clueless Oliver Wendall Douglas in that camp Sixtiessitcom, "Green Acres." That was only an analogy but the sense of culture shock makes for great humor.

So a cliche publicist might put it, "If you liked STRIP TEASE, PULP FICTION or THE DROWNING POOL, you're going to like FLORIDA STRAITS. Shoot, anyone to the left of Miss Marple should take a look at this neglected apotheosis.

WHY, oh why, has the paperback publisher (whose name ryhmes with 'bell,') N-O-T done more to publicise FLORIDA STRAITS this potential classic entry into the Cops and Crooks/Comic-Satiric/ hall of fame? Even though the book is almost nine years old, it holds up remarkably well.

A minor, (or telling) lack is the absence of even a brief author bio, despite all the praise reviews and colorfulness. This leads to bizarre speculation that the book was ghost-written by Joseph Lieberman, Fran Leibowitz, Jeb Bush or Marilyn vos Savant.

I'm just joking, but really -- a brief paragraph of bio, please.

DID SOMEONE PSEUDONMYOUSLY write FLORIDA STRAITS?? C'mon, tell us in the bio.

But do read FLORIDA STRAITS!!

* Please look at the perceptive review below, that establishes a connection betwee FLORIDA STRAITS and Elmore Leonard's work. It was that person's analogy, I agree with it, and so give due credit.

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