Sunburn

De: Laurence Shames

Narrado por: Richard Ferrone

Listeners across the country have fallen in love with Laurence Shames’ rollicking national best-sellers set in South Florida. Energetic, forceful and unpredictable as a hurricane, Sunburn is filled with off-beat characters, top-notch suspense, and colorful dialogue. When aging Mafia godfather Vincente Delgatto flies to Key West to get a little sun, he decides to write his memoirs. When word of the book hits the street, everyone is in danger, even the octogenarian former enforcer Bert the Shirt and his cranky chihuahua.

©1995 Laurence Shames (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC

Loved it!

Perfect follow up to Florida Straits! I’ll definitely be on to the next one, Mangroves Squeeze I believe...

Warm, wise, witty: Shames's glorious world.

Laurence Shames and Richard Ferrone are once again a wonderful team. Key West is again the setting. The story centers on Vincente Delgado, the aging capo di tutti capi, and his family. His bastard son Joey Goldman, his full-blood son Gino Delgado, his retired consigliere Bert the Shirt, and more: This world is created and sustained throughout a sustained comic but serious tale of aging, family ties, romance, danger and surprise. Shames is one of the funniest authors in my experience, and one of the few who can create a full-length novel which is a perfect mix of suspense, humor, love for his characters and with no phony deus ex machina artifices. The FBI is involved, but only in a peripheral way. The godfather decides to write a book in his waning years, and he recruits a Key West newspaperman, Artie Magnus, to ghost-write. Gino brings a bimbo, Debbie, down to the keys with him, and everything Gino touches turns to dreck. Everyone gets involved in the dangerous cleanup. The wisdom of the Godfather and of Bert the Shirt are touching and painful: two Sicilian guys who had no real choice but to follow in the path of their fathers and grandfathers. Richard Ferrone once again is spectacular. All of his voicings are consistent with who we think these people might be. I can't think of anything in this book that I would cut out, or anything I would add. This is very satisfying and very moving reading. The characters are full, sad, ambitious, romantic and altogether American, once you think of it. Their heritage is Sicilian. The Mafia is fading, but not gone yet. Thank goodness Mr. Shames used his gifts for such wonderful work.

gorgeous word pictures

How am I just discovering these books? The writing is just great-- you can see, smell and taste Key West and the world of the characters. And the story is a highly enjoyable caper!

Great Mob / Key West Story

Loved the reader’s accents and the interesting story line. Excellent characters and knowledge of Key West.

Thoroughly enjoyable

Delightful characters that make me think of Elmore Leonard, Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiaasen. Warm and witty definitely describe the tone of Shames writing.
Excellent narration

Great Story Line

Another great read by Richard Ferrone. The Paradisio continues to rent to interesting tenants. This story picks up from #1 in the the series for a needed resolution to some loose ends.

Great book by a great author!!

I loved the consistency in character and carryover from series. Definitely one of my new fave series and reads(listens!) can’t wait to move on to the next book. Especially with how much I love Florida, and dream about moving there and having a great dreamy “beach” life!!!

Outstanding performance

Enjoyed the story and the performance. End of the story wasn’t my favorite, but I’ll still listen to the next book in the series.

best of the first three

this book far eclipsed book two and dovetailed nicely with one. the characters are comfortable now and you can picture them clearly.

Great Story with Subtle Humor

What made the experience of listening to Sunburn the most enjoyable?

I liked the subtle, some would call rather dry humor that develops as Shames fleshes out each memorable character. I oftentimes found myself going back and listening to some dialogue between character's again, which is very rare for me, and when I heard it a second time, I'd find myself laughing out loud.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Sunburn?

Anything involving Bert the Shirt, and his faithful old chihuahua. Bert is aged, retired mob soldier, who although a criminal in every respect, follows a strict mob-based moral code, which is compelling and at times hilarious, as he discovers that not everyone shares his ethics today. I also enjoyed where Bert finds a cure for his chihuahua's chronic constipation, and the palpable relief they both feel when it finally comes to an end.

Have you listened to any of Richard Ferrone???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I plan to listen to them all..

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The Dead-Line.

Any additional comments?

If you enjoy Hiaasen or leonard, then you will most certainly like this story. It is different than either of these author's, but in a good way.