Rating: 
Summary: It's all too familiar.
Review: When Big Trouble was published a few years ago, it felt like a mix of the best of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard. Big Trouble was entertaining, had quirky characters and, most importantly, was gut-wrenching funny. Now, Dave Barry is back with Tricky business. And although the novel has an interesting premise and a somewhat more serious storyline (and by that, I mean a higher body count), it all feels way too familiar for it to be fully satisfying in the end.This time around, we found ourselves on a casino ship called the Extravaganza of the Sea. And of course, bad things are about to happen to the people on board the ship. And just as in Big Trouble, we follow nearly half a dozen characters who are unrelated at first but who will all come together in the end. I have to hand my hat to Barry because the man knows how to link half a dozen story lines together and still make sense in the end. And the man knows funny. There are many jokes within the books that made me laugh out loud, the funniest being a gag that concerns a tv news station and its unfortunate crew. The Extravaganza goes to sea during a tropical storm, and all hell breaks loose. Problems keep on piling up as our characters try to struggle with crazy situation after crazy situation. And I have to admit that many of it is quite funny and entertaining at times. So why wasn't I fully satisfied with the book? Well, it followed the outline set by Big Trouble much too closely. Unrelated chracters finally brought together in the end, the stupid yet likeable good guys, the even stupider bad guys, the double entendres... Tricky Business seems to be Big Trouble set on a boat. I kept waiting for something great to happen, I kept waiting for Barry to surpise me, but it never came. Is the book funny? At times, yes. Is the book entertaining? More or less so. I could think of many worst ways to spend my time. The only problem is that I know Barry is capable of much better and much funnier.
Rating: 
Summary: disgusting
Review: While I was not offended by the profanity which Barry warned about in the foreward, I was disgusted by the bodily functions that consumed this book. Barry spent 2 whole pages on vomit...which I almost did after reading it. There was nothing even remotely funny in this scene (and most of the book). The only reason I finished the book is because I don't believe someone should rate a book without actually having read it. I will NOT be reading anymore of Barry's books.
Rating: 
Summary: When is the movie coming out?
Review: _Big Trouble,_ the columnist's first novel was a whacked-out cops and robbers escapade filled with his trademark off-the-wall sense of humor. This second novel may lose him some of his readership -- those who expect him to write only silly stuff. Because this caper yarn, while funny in places (especially the ongoing jokes concerning the suicidal TV newsroom and the Hawaiian infomercials), is also somewhat darker and more grown-up. It all revolves around an oceangoing South Florida casino and the nefarious uses to which its owners put it. Spiraling in to the climactic events on the EXTRAVAGANZA OF THE SEAS are the members of a band of low expectations (especially Wally, the lead guitar), two elderly refugees from a retirement home, a stressed-out bar hostess, a tall blonde with digestive problems, a ship's captain trying to live down his past, a guy in a pink conch costume, a psychopathic drug-runner, and an assortment of professional heavies, many of whom won't be returning to Miami. If Barry continues developing in this direction, he'll be giving Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen a serious run for their money.
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