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Product Description
Product Description
What's in a license plate? Plenty, if the tag reads BIG AL.
In this "wickedly inventive" (Los Angeles Times) and "darkly comic tale" (People), mild mannered Al Tuschman, a salesman from New Jersey, is mistaken for Al Marracotta, a major New York mobster with some very nasty enemies-enemies who hire a pair of bumbling hitmen to turn the paradise of Big Al's Key West vacation into a living hell. When the wrong Big Al is targeted, cries of Why me? fill the tropical night-and the gentle Tuschman must turn tougher than his namesake to save his own life.
From the Author
Themes of Welcome to Paradise
In the writing of it, at least, Welcome to Paradise went more smoothly and was more fun than anything I've done in years. When I needed a plot twist, one appeared. The characters kept saying things that surprised me--things I didn't know they had it in them to say. Also, the book allowed me to explore a theme I've thought about for decades: The difficulty of really relaxing and enjoying a vacation--even in Key West!--and the strange embarrassment many of us feel about admitting we'd really rather be back home. And it gave me a chance to do some really creepy things with seafood...Hope you enjoy it! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
In the writing of it, at least, Welcome to Paradise went more smoothly and was more fun than anything I've done in years. When I needed a plot twist, one appeared. The characters kept saying things that surprised me--things I didn't know they had it in them to say. Also, the book allowed me to explore a theme I've thought about for decades: The difficulty of really relaxing and enjoying a vacation--even in Key West!--and the strange embarrassment many of us feel about admitting we'd really rather be back home. And it gave me a chance to do some really creepy things with seafood...Hope you enjoy it! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
"Why we gotta drive?" said Katy Sansone, who was twenty-nine years old and Big Al Marracotta's girlfriend. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
"Why we gotta drive?" said Katy Sansone, who was twenty-nine years old and Big Al Marracotta's girlfriend. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Once again, Shames brings his usual sharp dialogue on the familiar trip south from the Eastern seaboard to Key West. This time our small-town hero is a middle aging, ex-college Jock and general good time boy, 'Big" Al Tuschman. A somewhat flimsy mistaken identity episode, pitches our man, against a pair of clown-like hit men under instructions to disrupt the vacation of Big Al's namesake , a middle ranking mobster on Vacation at the same time and place! Throw in some love interest in the familiar shape of <girl off-the-rails but with a heart of gold> together with Shames' ubiquitous small pet dog, and an entertaining caper begins to unfold. As with all his novels, the author paints a beautiful picture of life in Key West and this time he adds a superbly well hidden twist just in time to prevent complacent readers thinking "Haven't I read this before ?"
Format:Hardcover
"Big Al Marracotta, five foot not very much, heavy on the chutzpah, head of New York's Fulton Fish Market and low-level Mafioso, is on his way to Key West for a little rest and relaxation. Little does he know that he's angered some people back in New York; people who think that a vacation might be the best time to exact revenge.
Meanwhile Alan `Big Al' Tuschman, six foot and then some, tired and a little doubting, high school football star turned furniture salesman, has won his store's seasonal contest for the most dinette sets sold and is taking his prize: a free trip to Key West.
Both men have taken their pet dogs, both men are driving to Florida. Only one of them has a girlfriend, only one of them is the target for two of the Mob's most ruthless hitmen. The problem is, the girlfriend thinks she's got the wrong man, and the hitman don't realise they've made the same mistake.
The stage is set for a hilarious novel of mistaken identity, tropical crime, misplaced love and decidedly past-its-best seafood.
Meanwhile Alan `Big Al' Tuschman, six foot and then some, tired and a little doubting, high school football star turned furniture salesman, has won his store's seasonal contest for the most dinette sets sold and is taking his prize: a free trip to Key West.
Both men have taken their pet dogs, both men are driving to Florida. Only one of them has a girlfriend, only one of them is the target for two of the Mob's most ruthless hitmen. The problem is, the girlfriend thinks she's got the wrong man, and the hitman don't realise they've made the same mistake.
The stage is set for a hilarious novel of mistaken identity, tropical crime, misplaced love and decidedly past-its-best seafood.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Very Well Done In It's Simple Form
22 Jun 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
When Reading Laurence Shames novel "Welcome to Paradise" don't go looking for some deep impacting novel. Shames takes a simple idea keeps it simple throughout the book and gives you a nice quick entertaining read. There are few characters and the pace flows by that this is a one night read.
"Welcome to Paradise" is the typical wrong place wrong time novel. Furniture salesman Al Tuschmann is on vacation in South Florida. Tuschmann is trying to enjoy himself, but is the victim of some bizarre violent acts. Little does Tuschmann know that Al Maracotta a New York gangster is also in town, and a couple of this Al's enemies have hired a couple of roughnecks to make his life miserable. The roughnecks get there information crossed and start harassing the wrong the Al. Throw in a gangster's gal, a couple of strange dogs and the weirdness that is South Florida and you have yourself a nice little scenerio to read through.
I really enjoyed this quick little novel. I have read other Shames novels and though they go a little deeper, this one is my favorite. If you like this style check out Ed McBain's "Downtown" which is about a Florida salesman in New York.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
A Key West Vacation - For The Price of a Novel
31 July 1999
Format:Hardcover
With a friendly and intuitive writing style, Laurence Shames takes his readers and deliveries them to a paradise vacation. Like most vacations, this trip isn't about the destination - it's about life's journey. Fate and mistaken identity, lead our main character through a gauntlet of unpleasant experiences. Key West is a great place to do some soul searching. In this novel, the drama of comedy/tragedy, humility & humiliation are crashed into more than Florida Key, Deer. My only regrets, are that this vacation lasts less than 250 pages & that our beloved author writes only one book per year (perhaps a trip to the midwest, would improve Mr. Shame's work ethic).
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Misfits, Misadventures and Mistaken Identity in Paradise!
27 Mar 2000
Format:Hardcover
Mobster Al Marracotta and furniture salesman Alan Tuschman have about as much in common as a bowl of spaghetti and a bowl of conch chowder. They do, however, have the same nickname (BIG AL) and it just so happens that both of them are driving to Key West at the same time! A pair of south Florida wise guys are hired to make Big Al Marracotta's vacation in Key West miserable, but in a case of mistaken vanity plates, they start picking on the wrong Big Al! Using dead squid, live lobsters, and a remote control shark, "Chop" and "Squid" make Alan Tuschman wish he'd never left home!
It's another Key West caper by Laurence Shames full of quirky characters, non-stop laughs, and a clever unexpected ending. The only disappointment was "Bert the Shirt" didn't make a cameo appearance. Oh well, there's always the next book!
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