Laurence Shames

I really wish I'd never read any book by Laurence Shames because then I would have all of his books and be able to delightfully discover each and every one of them. Two of his characters - Bert the Shirt and Don Giovanni (Bert's chihuahua) are probably my favorite characters in literature. Mangrove Squeeze finds Aaron Katz who's trying to carve out a new life in Key West keeping a bed and breakfast alive. His training on Wall Street isn't serving him too well. Suki Sperakis is selling show more advertising for a weekly shopper and trying to get her life started. The Russian mafia has made Key West their new home. Everything collides in a wonderful story. Shames tells wonderful stories with wonderful characters and Mangrove Squeeze is one of his best. show less

This was unexpected.

No, really, it was. I expected a Mafia thriller/farce–perhaps along the lines of ‘Get Shorty’–what I found was a rather interesting story of a man and his girlfriend moving to Key West and reinventing themselves in the Floridian tradition. A few reviews mention ‘zany,’ but I didn’t really get wild, as much as idiosyncratic.

The story opens with low-level wiseguy, Joey, talking to his bestie, Sal, before he leaves for Key West: “Fuck is down there for show more you?’ They were sitting in a green vinyl booth in Perretti’s luncheonette on Astoria Boulevard in Queens. It was January. Outside, torn newspapers were stuck in dirty ice at the bottom of dented wire garbage cans. People walked past holding their hats, their coat collars pulled up to their ears. Skinny dogs squatted on the pavement and steam came out from under them. Joey turned the question around. ‘Fuck is for me up here?'”

I can relate. There’s nothing to love about the north in January, and honestly, I’d really rather be away from my family too, although they aren’t exactly Mafia. At any rate, it takes a little more work to convince his girlfriend, Sandra, that it’s worth leaving her job as a bank teller:
“There was a certain expression, not severe, exactly, but immovable, that came onto Sandra’s face at moments when she realized that a double helping of practicality was required of her.”

But by Chapter 3, they’re headed out of town in the ’73 Eldorado convertible. Here’s where one expects the plot to pick up–a missing something, a McGuffin quest, perhaps some sort of caper–but there really isn’t. There’s Joey, looking for a job down in Key West, but the only thing he’s known is the hustle. So he tries to find the locals and get in on the local bizness, who object to this. His girlfriend finally suggests he tries going legit, and in one of the most delicious ironies of the book, realizes that getting people to attend timeshare presentations is just a legit con, but it’s going to require developing some new skills.

“‘You’re a little scared, Joey. That’s O.K.’

The word was like a lance, and after the flash of pain and the squelched rage of denying it was so, there was relief. Joey stared out across the flat and moon-shot water of the Florida Straits and let out a long breath that whistled slightly between his teeth.”

I liked the writing quite a bit. Shames has a nice way of description that doesn’t overpower the scene, but still makes it quite vivid and occasionally chuckle-worthy (see Sandra’s expression above). I actually grew to like these and maybe even believe these two characters’ journeys though they have lives nothing like my own.

The plot does kick into gear in Part II, but it’s a slow burn–perfect for old-school Key West, honestly–and does have it’s Mafia moments. The finish was solid and everything I would have expected going in.

It actually became a cool little character development story, a kind of How Joey the Ex-Mobster Forges a New Identity and Grows Some Cojones (there’s a reason they don’t have me write titles) story that ended up being even more enjoyable than any crime/caper aspect. Will Joey and Sandra stick together? Will Joey leave the Mafia behind? Oh sure, the Mafia intrudes, as it is wont to do, but all’s well that ends well. I’m a little nervous about the next book, based on friend Tony’s reviews (not a Mafia Tony), but I’ll still give it a shot, because he said the third is ripping. (Ok, the exact words were “an outstanding follow up,” but I felt the need to British it).

Three and a half stars, rounding up because I think it gave me the feels. show less

This was my second time reading through this one and I think it's a perfectly fun, serviceable mystery. I'm not sure why so many reviewers seem to find so much fault with it.

Of course, part of that might be that they misunderstood the purpose of the book. It was never meant to reveal secret knowledge about anything going on in Lost. It was merely meant to be the manuscript that Sawyer finds amongst the wreckage (the author, Gary Troup, having been sucked into the plane's engine in the first show more episode) and reads until Jack tosses the whole thing in the fire. Of course, I also understand that it is supposed to have some connection to the Lost ARG, but I didn't really follow that. I just thought it was a cool idea to release the final manuscript by Oceanic 815 passenger Gary Troup as part of the Lost experience.

This is a fun read, and it's peppered with names from Lost and the Lost ARG, but it's clear that names like Widmore were just used by Troup as a popular rich, business family name (like a writer in our world might use Vanderbilt), because the Widmores in the world of Lost are of UK origin, not US. Perhaps Troup based his Widmores on some American branch of the same family, perhaps not, but that's going beyond the purpose of the story.

Also, if you look at the events of the novel in a more allegorical sense, there's actually quite a bit revealed for what came after this book was originally released. Especially on the nature of good and evil. It's possible, and this is just my theory of course, that Jacob had a small, but significant guiding hand in Troup's writing of Bad Twin. I mean, he was brought to the island, even if he didn't last that long. show less

Another new (to me) author and another GREAT find! Florida Straits has some of the most interesting characters I've come across in a long time. Shames writes a great accent. I can HEAR these guys talking - amazing. Joey Goldman, a loser in New York, decides to re-invent himself in Key West... He's great and his efforts are marvelous. And now I have the other Shames' to read!