From Publishers Weekly
The portrayal of the Florida Keys as a hotspot of criminal ribaldry continues apace in Shames's latest thriller, a nifty follow-up to last year's Sunburn. Sufficiently depressed to have tried suicide, and now on Prozac, wealthy, middle-aged bra magnate Murray Zemelman abandons his ornamental second wife and showy Short Hills, N.J., home, setting out for the never-never land of the Keys to find meaning in his life. There, he befriends his fishing guide, an embittered Native American, Tommy Tarpon, the last surviving member of his tribe. Wishing to bestow a mitzvah on his new pal, Murray persuades Tommy to look into opening a legal gambling casino on the last, stinking bit of tribal land. Trouble comes in the form of greedy state senator Barney LaRue and Miami mafia kingpin Charlie Ponte, who scheme to take over the proposed operation. Fighting back, the Bra King and the Indian enlist a crew of crusaders including Murray's first wife, his business manager, his psychiatrist and Bert the Shirt, a former mob capo. Shames doesn't quite match the inspired whackiness of Carl Hiaasen or the artful characterizations and plotting of Elmore Leonard, but he knows how to put his tongue in his cheek?and he keeps it firmly, entertainingly, in place throughout. Author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

New York Times Book Review
"Sunny screwball comedy."

From Booklist
Even juiced to the gills on Prozac, lingerie tycoon Murray "the Bra King" Zemelman is confused and depressed. He can't decide whether to go to the office or commit suicide by asphyxiation in his garage, so he drives nonstop to Key West to begin a new life. There he meets Tommy Tarpon, an embittered, down-and-out Native American, and hatches a scheme to make Tommy the sole owner of Key West's first casino. That brings a greedy, crooked state senator and Miami Mafia boss Charlie Ponte into Murray's new life and generates the plot for Shames' delightful follow-up to Sunburn (1995), Scavenger Reef (1994), and Florida Straits (1992). In those books, Shames demonstrated a masterful talent for creating winsome characters struggling to find love and meaning in their lives; he scores again with angst-ridden Murray, his resilient ex-wife, Franny, and taciturn Tommy, all of whom are as appealing as any of the author's earlier creations. Another winner for Shames. Thomas Gaughan

From Kirkus Reviews
Candide in Key West, from a rising master of mafia comedy. Sitting in his suburban New Jersey garage one dismal morning, Murray Zemelman (``the bra king'') decides not to kill himself--and instead drives away from his bosomy young second wife and keeps driving till he's at the end of US 1. His escape from the rat race energizes Murray so much that his psychiatrist suggests he imagine his fishing line a ground wire that carries off the excess energy, and Murray dreams blissful dreams of ``tiny lightning bolts hissing like matches doused in a shallow sea crammed full of finned and smiling creatures.'' But everybody's got to do something, and Murray soon takes up the cause of Tommy Tarpon, last of the Matalatchee, who's getting leaned on by mobster Charlie Ponte and his bagman, State Senator Barney LaRue, to front a casino. At the Bra King's urging, Tommy applies to LaRue for tribal ownership of minuscule Kilicumba Island; LaRue, seeing dollars as brilliant as Murray's fish, falls all over himself to expedite the grant; and when Ponte's goons make Tommy an offer he can't refuse for his cooperation in opening a casino on the island, he refuses. Big mistake--for Tommy, for Murray, and for Murray's first wife, Franny Rudin, whom he's avid to rekindle his post-marital romance with, even though she acidly reminds him that in their 21 years together, ``the most political thing I ever saw you do was buy stamps.'' Okay, once the schlemiel hits the fan, there's not much left to watch except the triumph of grit and ingenuity and sunset romance as the purity of the heroes, rather than their virtue, armors them against disaster. But Shames recycles enough characters from his earlier farces (Sunburn, 1995, etc.) to keep his old fans happy and provides enough snappy, joyous patter to snag his share of new ones. Oh, the people--and the sentences--you'll meet this time. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
Key West may very well get its first legal gambling parlor if Murray Zemelman, a.k.a. The Bra King, and his new partner Tommy Tarpon, a local Native American, can pull off their kooky, Prozac-induced plan. When a local mafioso and Key West's most crooked politician decide to get a piece of their action, Murray and Tommy fight for their money and their lives in a battle of wits, writs and anti-depressants.

ANNOTATION

Murray Zemelman, a.k.a. "the bra king, " leaves his trophy wife and boring lingerie business in New Jersey and heads out to Key West. There he meets up with Tommy Tarpon, a local Native American from an obscure tribe, and together they cook up a plan to build Key West's first legal gambling parlor on Tommy's tribal grounds.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Murray Zemelman - lingerie mogul, a.k.a. the Bra King - wakes up one morning, starts his car in the confines of his airtight garage, and contemplates the worst. But instead of doing himself in, he pops a Prozac and hits the road, waving good-bye to his trophy wife, the thriving brassiere business, and the streets of New Jersey for good. He's headed to Florida, home of his first wife, Franny, whom he was stupid enough to leave all those years ago. But now he wants to start fresh. Is it a brilliant insight? A glitch in his Prozac dosage? Who cares? He's off to Key West. There, he meets Tommy Tarpon, a local Native American - beaten down and made bitter by the unfairness of life around him, and the last surviving member of his small Florida tribe. Together they cook up a plan: with Murray's business acumen and Tommy's ability to make the most of government statutes, Key West could very well get its first legal gambling parlor on Tommy's tribal grounds - a tiny, alligator-infested island just off the coast. But gambling in Key West isn't an original idea, and a whole other species of reptiles is interested in the plan. With the "assistance" of Key West's crookedest politician, a local Mafioso makes Murray and Tommy an offer they can't refuse. All Murray wanted was to woo his first wife away from her reading group and into the Jacuzzi - but he ends up getting her, himself, and Tommy into more hot water than he ever bargained for.

SYNOPSIS

"Sunny screwball comedy."

—New York Times Book Review

FROM THE CRITICS

Digby Diehl

"It's hilarious." -- Playboy

Kirkus Reviews

Candide in Key West, from a rising master of mafia comedy.

Sitting in his suburban New Jersey garage one dismal morning, Murray Zemelman ("the bra king") decides not to kill himself—and instead drives away from his bosomy young second wife and keeps driving till he's at the end of US 1. His escape from the rat race energizes Murray so much that his psychiatrist suggests he imagine his fishing line a ground wire that carries off the excess energy, and Murray dreams blissful dreams of "tiny lightning bolts hissing like matches doused in a shallow sea crammed full of finned and smiling creatures." But everybody's got to do something, and Murray soon takes up the cause of Tommy Tarpon, last of the Matalatchee, who's getting leaned on by mobster Charlie Ponte and his bagman, State Senator Barney LaRue, to front a casino. At the Bra King's urging, Tommy applies to LaRue for tribal ownership of minuscule Kilicumba Island; LaRue, seeing dollars as brilliant as Murray's fish, falls all over himself to expedite the grant; and when Ponte's goons make Tommy an offer he can't refuse for his cooperation in opening a casino on the island, he refuses. Big mistake—for Tommy, for Murray, and for Murray's first wife, Franny Rudin, whom he's avid to rekindle his post-marital romance with, even though she acidly reminds him that in their 21 years together, "the most political thing I ever saw you do was buy stamps." Okay, once the schlemiel hits the fan, there's not much left to watch except the triumph of grit and ingenuity and sunset romance as the purity of the heroes, rather than their virtue, armors them against disaster. But Shames recycles enough characters from his earlier farces (Sunburn, 1995, etc.) to keep his old fans happy and provides enough snappy, joyous patter to snag his share of new ones.

Oh, the people—and the sentences—you'll meet this time.