Laurence Shames: Florida Straits (USA 2015)

From the Publisher:
"People go to Key West for lots of different reasons. Joey Goldman went there to become a gangster..."
So begins this classic Key West caper, the hilarious and touching book that launched a much-loved series and introduced the world to Bert the Shirt and his chihuahua Don Giovanni, two of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary fiction.

Joey, the illegitimate son of a major NY mafioso, decides to break away from a decidedly unpromising future in the old neighborhood of Queens. But will the old neighborhood and the Family let him go in peace? Not if knucklehead half-brother Gino has anything to say about it. As Joey is finally establishing his new life in sunny Florida, Gino involves him in a disastrous scam featuring a boatload of stolen emeralds and several squads of very nasty thugs. Finding within himself resources of smarts and courage he never knew he had, Joey beats long odds and muddles through to a brilliant solution to the problems dumped on him by Gino.

Cleverly plotted, enlivened by pitch-perfect dialogue, FLORIDA STRAITS is a completely satisfying mystery, but it's more than that as well. Think of it as a fish-out-of-water coming-of-age novel, a comedy of very bad manners with an unlikely hero you will root for from page one.

Laurence Shames: Florida Straits. CreateSpace Independent Publ., ISBN: 9781508405054 (February, 2015), 304 S., $14.99.

Laurence Shames: Florida Straits (USA 1993)

From the Publisher:
Joey Goldman's flying south for the winter. The second-string New York wiseguy just packed up his faithful girlfriend Sandra and took off for Key West - land of sun, surf and sleaze - where a small-time hustler in search of a racket can score the big one. If he can find it. Enter Joey's half brother Gino. On the lam from the mob after one of the most royally screwed-up jewel heists in Florida history, Gino's a man in need of a fall guy. Which is where Joey comes in...

Suddenly, everyone's after Joey - including the ruthless Miami don who wants his three million worth of uncut emeralds and who just dispatched his goons to deliver Joey a one-way ticket - out. Now Joey's where he always wanted to be - in the big time. All he has to do is find out where the stones are stashed. And for an unikely hero out to make a killing, this could be Paradise... if he lives long enough.

Laurence Shames: Florida Straits. A Novel. Dell, ISBN: 0440215110 (June, 1993), 365 S., $5.99.

Laurence Shames: Florida Straits (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
For Joey Goldman, Key West promised to be paradise.
After all, the only things he left behind in the mean streets of New York City were a low-level Mafia job, a future as a second-string wiseguy, and the somewhat tenuous position of illegitimate son to a very big-deal Mafia boss. And the lousy weather.

But Florida -- to Joey, Florida seems like Eden. He's got his girlfriend Sandra with him, and she's got herself a job as a bank teller. They've got an apartment in a place otherwise populated by fruitcakes and weirdos, but, hey, this is nothing after New York. At least there's a pool. Yes, Florida seems like a pretty good place.

All Joey needs is a racket, something neat and steady that brings in the dough. What Joey definitely doesn't need is his half-brother Gino showing up with his bubble-headed girlfriend, on the lam from a screwed-up helst.

Soon Joey finds himself caught up in a fight between his brother and a Miami Mafia boss, a disagreement centering around some stolen emeralds and a couple of dead guys. Eventually even Joey's self-appointed adviser, Bert the Shirt, a retired Mafioso who lives alone except for his detested little dog Don Giovanni, gets drawn into the chaos that results from Gino's appearance on the scene.

And suddenly everything Joey has left New York to escape comes hurtling back, menacing him and threatening not only to destroy the surprising happiness he and Sandra have found, but to cost them their lives as well.

Florida Straits is a brash, funny, exciting story of some not-so-innocent people in a not-so-innocent world. It marks the fiction debut of an author whose most recent work was as the uncredited writer of the nonfiction best-seller Boss of Bosses and whose style and talent Newsweek has compared to that of Raymond Chandler.

Laurence Shames: Florida Straits. Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0671749331 (June, 1992), 271 S., $20.00.