Rating: 
Summary: A FIRST-RATE READING
Review: Popular funny man Dave Barry hits another homer with his second laugh provoking mystery novel, while talented voice actor Dick Hill reads this rollicking tale with punch and panache.The Extravaganza of the Seas is a floating casino that transports gamblers just far enough away from the Florida coast. Despite a tropical storm alert the owner of the ship orders it to sea; he has plans to hijack the drugs being smuggled aboard ship by some local Mafioso. What a cast of characters! There is Fay Benton, a single mom hoping to get lucky for the sake of her child; two rascals in their eighties who have fled the confines of the Beaux Arts Senior Center; a motley bunch of mobsters; and Johnny and the Contusions, the ship's orchestra (if, of course, you are tone deaf). The storms brings more than high winds to the passengers, and brings happy smiles to listeners as the fate of this madcap voyage is revealed. Dave Barry again proves himself to be a first-rate fiction writer, and Dick Hill does another star turn. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: Misfires with gratuitous violence and sex
Review: "Tricky Business" is the story of a rundown cruise ship that makes nightly runs three miles offshore so people can gamble away their money. Of course, being a Dave Barry book, it includes a large assortment of oddball characters, including a pothead guitarist, a single-mom cocktail waitress, a guy in a conch costume, and an entrepreneur who specializes in both newspaper-filled car air bags and badly augmented breasts. As someone who giggled and guffawed his way through Dave Barry's "Big Trouble," I eagerly awaited his second novel, fully expecting the same gonzo writing that made his first book so appealing. But when I sat down to read "Tricky Business," I instead found gangsters killing each other in ever more inventive and bloody ways, a repulsively detailed mass-vomiting scene, and truly gratuitous amounts of sex. And yet the book would have been acceptable even with all this, had it been funny. Instead, the belly laughs that made "Big Trouble" so enjoyable are largely absent in this book, mostly replaced by weak grins and an occasional chuckle. There are a few very comical scenes involving such oddities as flatulence during sex and how the band winds up on this cruise ship to hell; these alone save "Tricky Business" from a one-star rating. But when I pick up a Dave Barry book, I really don't want to read in excruciating detail about how one lowlife amputates various body parts off another lowlife. I can see stuff like that on the evening news for free. Sadly, Dave Barry has badly misfired with "Tricky Business." He should steer clear of murderously unfunny criminals and get back to what he's best at, namely booger jokes.
Rating: 
Summary: Barry's on a roll
Review: I nearly died laughing with Big Trouble and I came even closer to doing so with Tricky Business. It is one laugh after another from beginning to end, starting with the band's discussion over an infomercial. I read the book in a couple of hours (not consecutive) and there are only a few books I've read so fast. This is not a deep book and reveals no universal truths-if that's what you are seeking, don't read it. However, if you're looking for a way to spend a rainy afternoon, I can heartily recommend Tricky Business.
Rating:
Summary: An Almost Laugh Out Loud South Florida Caper
Review: Welcome Dave Barry's second and most enjoyable novel. This time around, he moves closer into Carl Hiaasen's domain of South Florida social commentary. The book opens with the approach of (soon to be) Hurricane Hector which is destined to cross paths with The Extravaganza Of The Seas (a three-mile limit gambling cruise ship) and the various characters fated to be on board her at the time. Included in this mismatched character conglomeration are Fay (a single mom and cocktail waitress), Wally (member of the ship's semi-untalented band Johnny and the Contusions), Arnie and Phil (a couple of gambling addicts from a senior citizens home) and tons of assorted hulks, brutes, cons and other sordid, devious or just plain kooky characters. With a group like this, anything can and does happen. Especially once the storm starts mixing things up. Though I believe I enjoy his first novel BIG TROUBLE a bit more, Barry is in pretty good form with TRICKY BUSINESS and he provides a plot and characters that will take you from mildly to wildly funny. I enjoyed it, and if you enjoy a good laugh with a good book you will, too. It earned my **** rating.
Rating:
Summary: A FIRST-RATE READING
Review: Popular funny man Dave Barry hits another homer with his second laugh provoking mystery novel, while talented voice actor Dick Hill reads this rollicking tale with punch and panache. The Extravaganza of the Seas is a floating casino that transports gamblers just far enough away from the Florida coast. Despite a tropical storm alert the owner of the ship orders it to sea; he has plans to hijack the drugs being smuggled aboard ship by some local Mafioso. What a cast of characters! There is Fay Benton, a single mom hoping to get lucky for the sake of her child; two rascals in their eighties who have fled the confines of the Beaux Arts Senior Center; a motley bunch of mobsters; and Johnny and the Contusions, the ship's orchestra (if, of course, you are tone deaf). The storms brings more than high winds to the passengers, and brings happy smiles to listeners as the fate of this madcap voyage is revealed. Dave Barry again proves himself to be a first-rate fiction writer, and Dick Hill does another star turn. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I picked up this book because I like Dave Barry's columns, and I ofen find them to be laugh-out-loud funny, even the juvenile scatological parts. I hadn't read his previous novel, but I saw this one and picked it up on the spur of the moment. I'd have to say I was disappointed. In the first place, it was advertised as light-hearted fun. I didn't find it all that funny, and the graphic violence spoiled the momentum of what funny parts there were. Just as I was starting to chuckle at something a little amusing, something awful would happen, and I'd say to myself, "Hey, this isn't funny." (...) In the preface, Mr. Barry mentions that he had gotten some negative feedback from his previous book about bad language. He goes on to say that the books are about bad guys, so naturally there will be bad language. Well, okay, I didn't mind the language. But I did mind the violence. It comes down to this for me: broad comedy doesn't mix well with graphic violence. You need to make a choice about what kind of book you want to write. If you want to write a book about vicious killers, don't try to make it funny. If you're trying to write a funny book, don't write about vicious killers. It's that simple.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesomely funny, but what's with the nightmarish torture?
Review: This is a very funny but uneven book. I would've given it five stars for laugh-out-loud lines and comic situations, except for a scene of graphic torture that was so upsetting that it almost ruined the book for me. I'd still recommend the book, but not for people who are sensitive to such things. Or if you have a friend who's already read it, have them put a yellow sticky note on the 2 pages you need to skip. Someone meets a gruesome end; that's all you need to know. If you don't put that scene into your brain, much of the rest of the book will have you laughing or at least very amused (there are smaller bits of medium-gruesome violence, and the book would've been better without them too, but I don't think those other bits of violence will really upset most people). It's a wonderful mix of crazy characters and preposterous situations, and only the sadism mars it.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: I considered 4 stars, but settled on three since Big Trouble set such a high bar. This is a very readable book, with lots of engaging fun, but I expected - like Big Trouble - a tightly orchestrated slam bang book. It's a fast, good but not great read (look at the re-sale prices). The reviews that knock the book for language and "vileness" are over-reacting. It's got nastiness, but all in context and not gratuitous. I can only hope that a movie treatment, if there is one, comes up with more riotous interaction.
Rating: 
Summary: this can't be dave barry
Review: I couldn't even finish this book. I laughed maybe twice and was nauseated the rest of the time. Get Big Trouble instead.
Rating:
Summary: a fun read
Review: i loved this book. it is the first one i have read by barry. it was filled with lovable and despicable characters. it was side splitting funny. the two old men in the story;phil and arnie had me hunched over with laughter. i could just hear and see these two old coots in action. this is not supposed to be a serious book, i believe it was meant to be outrageous and it is. can't wait to read the next one.
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