The Key West locale caused me to pick up this book and I was well-rewarded. In Gideon Lowry, John Leslie has created an intriguing detective. Korean War vet, lifetime native of the Keys, and a man who has faced quite a bit of personal tragedy, Lowry is a true original in a field where he detective is the true key(sorry!) to success. This tale of a lost and found chalice and a tragic suicide leads to an excellent mystery where the detective work makes sense and the characters ring true. This is the third book in the series but I will definitely check out this detective again.

I have become a fan of John Leslie as well as his Gideon Lowry series.

Set in Key West it is peopled with the quirky types found in the southern most piece of land in the USA. The native Key Westers (conchs) have a strong sense of place and are protective of their own and the town.

What appears to be suicide doesn't seem so to PI Gideon Lowry and off he goes to find the real answer. Along the way robbery, double dealing, smoke screens and red herrings turn up. The confusion mounts to the point where Gideon even wonders if his distant cousin (Judge Just Watson) is involved.

Many a twist and turn sprinkled amongst the picturesque Key West sunsets, ocean breezes and humid air. It's a fun read.

I guess John Leslie and Laurence Shames are my favorite Key West mystery writers and "Love For Sale" was a fast read. The characters are clearly defined, the pace is quick without be frantic and all in all the action is believable.

With Gideon's cousin getting married and sort of adopting his bride's twentysomething child it appears a couple of new continuing characters have been added and I look forward to their further adventures.

In "Love For Sale", John Leslie gives mystery fans what they have long been searching for: an extremely unique plot with a very engaging central character. Mr. Leslie also gives a sense of place that is almost haunting. His PI, Gideon Lowry, is one who will stay with the reader long after the novel has been finished.

As a Key West resident of over 10 years, and loving the book, I am buying 3 more copies! Actually, the book is more about Monroe County & City government than just about Key West. Everyone moving to the Keys should be required to read this book, to prevent cultural shock. I hope there is going to be a Part 2! Mr. Burch, PLEASE send a copy to Governor Bush and to Bill O'Reilly of the O'Reilly Factor. There are plenty of more victims, and no relief in sight.

I have not read this book , but as a former resident of Key West this book's title made me laugh out loud!!
I cannot count how many times I witnessed the Bubbas in action!!
Well , I guess it is a comfort to know -what goes around , comes around!!

Five Stars for the person who had the courage to write this and I hope to God, if you are living in Monroe County that you remain anonymous, although I am sure this would be impossible considering that your book is No. 1 in Key West!!

I own and read Bubba Justice and can say that it is a true depiction of life in Key West. Because I am a 4th generation Conch, lived there all my life and was one of the "victims" in the book I had a marked interest in the subject matter. It is well-written, accurate at least as to my story, humorous at times, disturbing at others but believable. The only "Bubbas" that are laughing have not yet been "tried in the Bubba Courts."

One of the key points of this book is that words can be as harmful as physical assault, which is why the authors believe that the law should suppress both.

But if the two are equivalent, if hateful words are equivalent to bullets, then logically one can respond to words with bullets. Is that the view the authors really believe in and wish to promote? I sure hope not. But then the entire premise of the book is undermined.

This collection of insightful essays will change the way that you view law and politics in America. The authors deconstruct the racial, gender, and class dynamics that shape our instutions, particularly our courts. It not surprising that the featured authors launched such a tremendous movement as Critical Race Theory.

This book is incredible. As a highschool student, I never really realized all of the barriers set up against people of color in the law. I coudldn't figure out why my black friends still didn't have the respect if laws are "neutral." Dorothy Roberts article in this book about the prosecution of drug-addicted pregnant women addresses many touchy issues and brings the problems with the law directly to light. And the introduction to this book clarifies CRT in a very helpful way. An excellent read.

This book is shallow with dialogue that is predictable and not well thought out. I bought this book near all the best sellers thinking, hmm, this looks interesting. The summary looked promising. What a disappointment. I kept throwing the book across the room due to frustration and disgust. I think all the people who wrote that this was an excellent book were PAID! I could not finish it! Do not waste your money.....

unfortunatley I feel the author's obvious weight prejudice ruins the book. The killer was overweight, and Ellen is overweight, therefore is unattractive in Virgils eyes. Too bad, it ruined the book for me. If you want the same flavor without the prejudice, try reading "This Body" by Laurel Dodd.

David Robbins, You did a very good job of making one believe that there is a reason for everything! The lives of Virgil, Ellen and Beatrice was uneventful in itself, but showing how 2 different worlds can make you realize what you thought you had, never was! I really enjoyed how he incorporated a bit of history (the angels) into the characters and I found myself looking forward to figuring out who the next one will be! Great job Mr. Robbins and I'm looking forward to reading more of his writings.

One Helluva, Ingenious piece of writing. I first read this novel more than 10 years ago in a fog of overlooked impatience. Then, I must have categorized this book as an experimental exhibit in semi-obscurity. Upon second reading, I realize the genius of Thomas Sanchez' work. St. Cloud and Justo are authentic, breathing characters, and Key West remains the psychological and cultural frontier town; a perfect setting.

Thomas Sanchez's MILE ZERO was proclaimed a "masterpiece" by the NY Times; the Washingon Post declared it a "A holy terror of a book." One can see why. Not only is it masterful, but it is also, as Vanity Fair proclaimed, "mythmaking and magisterial." Since its publication, MILE ZERO has achived mythic stature, and deservedly so, its "cultural and literary intertextuality," as the Los Angeles Times observed, certainly ranks with Lowry's UNDER THE VOLCANO and Steinbeck's EAST OF EDEN, which is why I have been using it in my college core curriculum for more than a decade. The novel mines the African-Anglo-Cuban history of the island of Key West and its people over the course of an American century, creating a timeless metaphor; at its heart is a Cuban-American protagonist whose moral complexity is at once shockingly modern and heartbreakingly human. There are many reasons why this controversial, risk taking and daring novel has touched so many and will continue to do so.

MILE ZERO is a literary landmark, a lush read that transforms the island of Key West into a vast and urgent metaphor for our times. I read the book when making my last Atlantic crossing and was struck by the insight into the life of the sea, island people, the constant interplay of history and modernity across a hundred years. Within the pages are the lives of Cubans and Americans, Bahamian Freemen, Conchs, cigar workers, rum drunk poets, Vietnam era revolutionaries, shark hunters, drug runners, shrimpers, grifters and shortcut men, all brought into special light by a stunning cast of inspirational no nonsense women. It's an exotic book with a language to match. If you enjoy taking the high wave ride then MILE ZERO is the craft that will get you there.

In a deeply recursive labyrinth of irony and its handmaiden: self-loathing, the hero, the book, the author and idea all try to draw life from the corpse of a celebrity. The best phrase in the book: "kill your inner hemingway." Unfortunately, it is the best phrase in the book.

This seems to be an assiduously fleshed out premise invented in a beer haze during a literary workshop venting session...a self-referential tour de force in a mileu so exceedingly small that its only member spends all his time trying to see the back of his own head without using a mirror.

Hendersons' idea of a roman-a-clef is to disguise "Geraldo" as a character named Yugo, AND still have Geraldo in the book. Talk about killer misdirection!

The phallic obsessions reveal an undigested freudian premise despite the throwaway Jungian catch phrases. As bitterly self-deprecating as it seems to be, it still is worthy of bitter deprecation. Even hemingway, whose world was so flat that nematodes ducked when they crawled through it, doesn't get any lower.

If you really hate Hemingway, don't read this book, because you will feel genuinely sorry for the scoundral afterwards. If you like Hemingway read this book, and you will hate Henderson and his cohort of patronizing, one trick lit-flitters for their disservice to the very idea of the word, indeed.

Some very funny stuff, but the ending is weak and completely unsatisfying. Good effort at creating female characters falters in every case, and no one but the protagonist is more than a few centimeters deep.

Damn good book! Henderson masterfully epitomizes the academic love/hate relationship that must occur between the failed scholar and the great author. The protagonist, Elliot McGuire, does an excellent job of self-antagonizing over his near miss with greatness as a Hemingway scholar. McGuire believes he has finally overcome his past and wants to publish a book of his own about his new form of therapy and empowerment -- "LifeForms". McGuire's publisher lays waste to his dreams of pop psychology. Eric "Pappy" Markham claims to have killed Ernest Hemingway and has sent off a badly written 5 page teaser, outlining details of the supposed murder and claiming the reasoning behind it was that everything Hemingway had ever been was because of Pappy. McGuire's publisher can't wait to put the book (a guaranteed best selling biography!) on the market and sends him down to edit. We'll just say that "editting" takes on a whole new meaning while Pa! ppy sets off McGuire's "Hemophobia" and other bleaker aspects....

Henderson manages to take a poke at every aspect of popular culture, from best-sellers to TV talk shows to academic elitism. I found it all to be wickedly on the money. A must read!

This is simply great stuff. Henderson's protagonist, Eliot McGuire, is a recovering Hemingway scholar/alcoholic, and he's not only fallen, he's plummeted off the wagon on both counts. Stuck in the quagmire of negotiations with his publishing company for his barely cohesive life-improvement system, LifeForms, Eliot, hoping to sneak his way into their good graces, opts to do the company a quick favor by flying down to Key West to bid on the tell-all memoir by one "Pappy" Markham, a shadowy figure of the "Lost Generation" set, who claims that Hemingway died not by his own hand but rather by Pappy's shotgun, payback for plagaristic treachery supposedly committed by Hemingway long ago. Eliot soon finds that the supposed manuscript is no longer than a page, and takes the opportunity to ghostwrite this doubtful story for a quick buck. Henderson realizes the synergistic possibilities of his themes (the way men treat each other, the way the publishing world seems to mistreat everyone, the way everyone has treated Hemingway's legend to the exclusion of his real persona) and utilizes them to full effect. Bold posteuring gives way to deceitful maneuvering gives way to more success and more psychosis than Eliot ever bargained for. An incredibly fun read

Apparently this book was written long before Hiaasen's other classics, like Skin Tight and Stormy weather. While the plot is interesting, and the characters are either likeable or pathetic, the odd-balls you expect in a Hiaasen novel are absent. However, I'm such a Hiaasen junkie I bought it anyway! Decent summer read.

Breeze Albury is one of Key West's best fishing captains. His skill gets the attention of the drug lords that funnel a torrent of drugs into America through the Keys. Breeze refuses to work for them, so they steal his ..... But when they harm his son, Breeze goes wild and leads fishermen and townspeople in an all-out war against the drug machine and its dirty police chief. It's an entertaining story with a big helping of Key West flavor and atmosphere.

If you want to recall past days and exploits in Key West in the 70's or just read a good paced novel with insight into how it used to be before the t-shirts and buffet wanna-be's got there; try Trap Line...Carl got around in his younger days. Glad I stumbled over this old book.Now well see how Powder Burn goes.

This author can write, so it is hard to believe that he could take a number of murders, attacks, shootings, and a car chase and chew them and chew them and chew them until there was no "juice" left. I got so impatient with the illogical fretting of the "hero" - that I skipped the last third of the book and went to the end to see who dunnit and why. Wish I had skipped that too since there was no satisfaction in it. I am greatful, however, to realize that this book was only one of a series and I have managed NOT to read the others. I congratulate myself for that!

Tom Corcoran's steamy depiction of the Flordia Keys and their colorful denziens will stir up ghosts for anyone who has spent time there. This Alex Rutledge mystery explores a series of murders as the bodies pile up in this tranquil resort town. Rutledge realizes that there is a connection between the murders and that he is the common denominator--then this book really picks up steam!

Tom Corcoran treats us to another look at the life of Alex Rutledge. It is filled with his trademark wit, grit and "Key Westicisms" that can only come from the man that photographed Jimmy Buffett in his early days. I'm dying for the next one, Tom!

I found the book thoroughly enjoyable, light reading. At the same time, the author's tongue-in-cheek jibes at the military and some government agencies made me think while smiling! And, as for being "timely", well, the chapter on hurricane evacuation (which was written BEFORE Georges decimated some of the Keys and lots of the flora and fauna there)was chillingly correct!

I read the book and also met Bob in the West Indies Lounge. This book truly captures the people that live in (not visit) Key West. Bob's humor is cerebral, yet simple. If you want to know a real "Key Westerner" then you must meet Bob. If you cannot get to Key West, then buy the book.

everyone all over the country, will enjoy bob.after having lived in kw for 20 years, its a pleasure to see a really funny and visual picture of key west life. Be sure to read it, its a high point in a low day.

I was looking forward to reading this book and when I finally did it was a let down. It's not scary. It seems to be written to scare children rather than to inspire chills or midnight scrambling to turn on all the light in the house.
Read his book Quit Your Job and move to Key West. Now that's a great book!

Although the ghost stories in this book won't keep you up nights, it's still a nice introduction to the ghost stories of Key West.

I suggest reading the book before a trip to Key West. Stay at one of the "haunted" b&b's and maybe grab a meal at the Hard Rock. Follow up the trip with the walking ghost tour. A great way to spice up a trip to the Keys.

This is a great ghost story book of Key West. Pictures are excellent and add an authentic creepy reality to the stories. I also highly recommend the tour leaving from La Concha, it is awesome! I read the book after the tour and was surprised to find different stories in it that we had not heard on the tour. As a fan of ghost books and city tours, I can say that both were better than that of St. Augustine or New Orleans. 3 cheers for Key Weird!