Crash Course

Unlike the Garrity books this is a thriller not a mystery. We know who did the murder from the beginning and we are given some of the story from the viewpoint of the villains. Kicklighter and Jackleen are great characters and there's much insight into being a retired male and someone living on minimum wage. The Fountain of Youth Hotel and Bondurant Motors are well done. My trouble was with the villains - well they're fairly good villains but three other Florida thriller-writers have given us great villains. I kept comparing this with Leonard's "Maximum Bod" and Hiaasen's "Striptease" and Willeford's "Miami Blue." I know they were set on the opposite coast but it's all one state to me. The car talk was good but Seranella does it better. Making these comparisons knocked off a star but this is excellent page-turning entertainment. Did they ever open the trunk of the pink Cadillac?