Customer Reviews

Virgin Heat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

How does a slightly dysfunctional mob family from New York deal with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of the adult daughter of the boss?

Fantastic (and almost unbelievable) as the various pieces of this quite entertaining tale might be, they fall into place with hilarious effect, and somehow seem to make perfect sense.

Though this novel is more story than plot, the story is told very well. Characterizations are keenly shaped. The dialogue is strong and carries the story well. Shames has an evocative eye for detail, too.

This book carried me along with sustained and increasing interest, many laughs, and a satisfying climax and denouement that left me with a smile for days.

This is the rare crime novel that is truly funny, charming, and eccentric without being absurd.

The plot is neatly turned, the characters well-drawn, and the dialogue extraordinarily deft--I don't know if this is how Mafia people talk, but it's certainly how they should talk.

Unlike many humorous writers, Shames seems to treat his characters with true affection. I look forward to reading more by this writer.

I loved this book; the voice was original, the characters engaging, the language wonderful. It's satirical without being snide, and it is a great balancing act of humor and realism. He captures the crazy essence of Key West. I'll read more by this author in hopes he can keep up to this standard.

This is the first Laurence Shames novel I read, but after finishing it I purchased four more of his works. Granted, this book will never win the Nobel prize for literature, but his use of words is nothing short of spectacular. After reading the first ten pages or so, I got a yellow Hi-Liter and started at the beginning again, this time marking every sentence that stood out as wonderful, so I could flip back through later and admire his best work.

His plotting was also clever. Several times in the gay hotel scene near the end I had to throw down the book and clutch my stomach, I was laughing so hard. At one point my wife came running from the kitchen to see if I was all right, because I could barely catch my breath.

Shames paints pictures with words in ways that I've never seen another author do. For example: "A floor lamp stood behind my wife in the darkened room, its glow reducing her to the profile of an old lady's hairdo, and a face with wrinkles around the edges." This book is filled with language like this.

Shames also has such perfect command of the stereotype mafiaso mannerisms that I suspect he was raised in an Italian gangster family. He mocks the stereotype in a way that simultaneously impresses and tickles.

I highly recommend that anyone aspiring to be an author read this book or an equally good sibling. Shames shows a command of the written word that is far above most writers. Bravo!

After reading (and loving!!!) Florida Straits, Sunburn, Welcome to Paradise, and Tropical Depression, I was looking forward to more of Laurence Shames books. But he disappointed me, big time, he left Bert the Shirt, Sandra & Joey and the other wonderful characters and went on to write more violent, harsh stories minus all the warm characters he had created earlier. I don't know what happened to Laurence Shames - it's as if someone else took over the writing.

Another good read from Shames. I only wish there were more of his books to read.

I won't give the plot away. The usual lovely writing, people you find that you care about. Laurence Shames is a tender-hearted guy, expert witness of human foibles. I'm looking forward to the next episode with Angelina, hoping there is one. And some day, I just have to visit Key West.

'Virgin Heat' is certainly not one of Laurence Shames's better works. Of course it has the funky Key West setting, as do all his books, and a host of kooky characters. But the story, while initially engaging, falls flat long before the end.

In 'Virgin Heat' we have the (virgin) daughter of a mobster chasing after a long lost love in Key West. Her man, unfortunately, is under a witness protection program for telling truths which put her father in the slammer for ten years. Daddy is out of jail, daughter wants her man, ... and so on. While there are humorous moments I felt the author got terribly repetitious on pointing out Key West weirdness, especially the very strong gay element. Perhaps I should have been shocked by the thought of nude gay men hanging around a motel pool, and so the author harps on this point dozens of times? Well I found it to be rather ... uninteresting, unfunny, and anything but shocking.

Bottom line: passable fluff for a beach read. But very missable.

The reviews were good but I should have waited for the reviews from amazon.com readers. Their collective wisdom is usually quite accurate. The book never got off the ground. Good characters and plot.

Slogged through 12 or 15 pages of this adjective-drenched drivel. Got to the line where he describes a guy's crooked pinky finger as "independent" and i had to quit. This is truly awful.