A drug heist planned during a nightly run of a gambling casino goes wrong during an unexpected hurricane. Plot follows the many characters from the Has been rock band who plays on the boat to themastermind behing the heist. ( )

Dave Barry's second novel delivers the same hilarious and fast-paced action as his first. Tricky Business is a wonderful novel in the true Barry style.

The plot revolves around a gambling cruise ship that leaves a wharf in Florida every night to take its passengers into international waters, where they can gamble to their hearts' content until it's time to turn around and go home. Unbeknownst to the gambling passengers, the ship is not just a floating casino; the owners of the boat use it for drug smuggling and money laundering.

So what happens when a sleazy, rich, and relatively stupid guy buys the boat, is forced to be party to the ongoing smuggling, and decides to take action --- because he wants a piece of the action. On the same night that one of the smugglers has also decided to take over operations and abscond with all the money and drugs being transported that night.

And what will the crew --- including the aging garage band that plays, essentially, Muzak for three hours every night --- do in the insanity that erupts when the takeovers start conflicting all over the place? Is the sexy single mother serving as a cocktail waitress really just a waitress? And who is in the pink foam conch suit?

This is not a book for children. Aside from lavish use of the F-word, there is a good bit of sex and violence in the story. So, this is a grown-up book. But it's a grown-up book that will leave you feeling like a kid again. ( )

A rare mix of laugh-out-loud hysterics and a serious mystery. Dave Barry is right up there with Carl Hiaasen. ( )

surprisingly good plot, reasonably controlled silliness ( )

I love Dave Barry's humor columns, but this book had too much death in it for me. Call me innocent or naive if you will, but I prefer when he writes about silly things going on in the world instead of a bunch of bad guys dying. There were funny parts, and in the book he says that all the people who died were scumbags, which was true, but I just don't like graphic descriptions of people being killed. Turns my stomach. Sorry Dave Barry! I love your work and I will continue to be a faithful reader of your humor and young adult books. :) ( )