Tricky Business-Dave Barry

I was in between books and unable to make it to the library, so I decided to pull Dave out of my library and give this book a re-read. Tricky Business is a comedic crime novel set somewhere on Florida's Atlantic coast. The Extravaganza of the Seas is an offshore gambling boat that also doubles as a drug smuggling operation. When a tropical storm blows in, the boat goes out anyway in and all heck breaks out as a drug deal goes bad.

The characters are all pretty nutty. There's Fay, a cocktail waitress who's trying to make a better life for her and her daughter. If only her mother would stop comparing her to her perfect sister and her perfect sister's perfect family, life would be a little easier. There's Wally, who at almost 30 still lives at home with his mother while trying to keep his wedding/cover band together. Arnie and Phil are residents of the Beaux Arts Senior Living Center, AKA the Old Farts Senile Dying Center. After being "grounded" for having too much fun, Arnie and Phil sneak out to get in a little gambling action. And then there's Bobby Kemp, who made his fortune in the airbag business (or more specifically, the lack of airbag business), and is now the proud owner of the Extravaganza of the Seas. Bobby's sick of the mob using his boat and decides to take action.

Any one of these characters would be hilarious by themselves, but mixed together along with a few other equally wacky side characters gives you a Dave Barry stew. Be especially prepared for the Newsplex Nine news crew, who manage to put themselves in the middle of their own broadcast in a hilarious sendoff on the sensationalism in the media. The plot might be a little simple and some of the occurrences are a stretch, but who's looking for serious fiction here? If you are then you've come to the wrong place. Word of warning-if you read this book in a public place, be prepared to have strange looks come your way as you laugh out loud!