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Summary: Here's a great quote from JIMMY BUFFETT:
Review: "TOM CORCORAN SERVED ME MY FIRST BEER IN KEY WEST OVER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. NOW HE HAS PUT HIS "TIME ON THE WATER" TO GREAT USE AND HAS PRODUCED THE MANGO OPERA, A BOOK THAT RECONNECTS MY HEART AND BRAIN TO THE KEY WEST THAT I KNEW. THE MANGO OPERA IS ABOUT AS ACCURATE A DESCRIPTION OF OLD KEY WEST AS THERE IS AROUND TODAY." -- JIMMY BUFFETT
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Summary: And Even More Praise for THE MANGO OPERA
Review: "With its sure feel for the Key West that resides beneath the tourist facade and a quirky, hard-denged rhythm pulsing beneath the surface calm, this debut deserves a wide and welcoming audience." -- Publishers Weekly"MANGO OPERA leapfrogs over many first-time novels to put Corcoran solidly in the company of the likes of Lawrence Shames and Robert Crais. In both plot and dialogue Corcoran shows a deft hand, revealing only what is needed to advance the story, while allowing the reader to fill in the rest. His characters are convincing in voice and action; they are frank, spicy, and thoughtful. Readers will shout a resounding "bravo!" at the end of THE MANGO OPERA. Tom Corcoran is off to a very fast start on what is sure to be a long career as a fine mystery novelist." -- BOOKPAGE
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Summary: This opera didn't sing to me
Review: As Corcoran's first Alex Rutledge novel, the author introduces a dizzying array of characters and relationships. Almost too many. Rutledge himself is well fleshed out, but the other characters seemed a little weak -- we weren't allowed a true insight into their personalities besides the occasional quirkiness. I read "Gumbo Limbo" first (a later Rutledge mystery) and found "Mango Opera" to be better. Yes, Corcoran is still obsessed with food, drink and giving specific directions on Key West ("I turned right at St. Licky's Church and caught Spinnaker Blvd") as if to prove he's a true "bubba". Or perhaps it's Rutledge who's obsessed with food & drink, but to the reader it becomes tedious. The plot, although a crazed grab bag of a true Soap Opera (hence the title) was enjoyable enough. But it does have a tendency to become confused with so many characters and unsupported plot twists. Bottom line? I will continue to read Corcoran's other offerings. It's a great setting, and the characters and storyline have a real potential. We can only hope that Corcoran continues to develop as an author and give meaty, satisfying substance to a recipe that sounds good and looks good, yet leaves the customer mostly unfulfilled.
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Summary: Dizzying ride through the Keys
Review: As Corcoran's first Alex Rutledge novel, the author introduces a dizzying array of characters and relationships. Almost too many. Rutledge himself is well fleshed out, but the other characters seemed a little weak -- we weren't allowed a true insight into their personalities besides the occasional quirkiness. I read "Gumbo Limbo" first (a later Rutledge mystery) and found "Mango Opera" to be better. Yes, Corcoran is still obsessed with food, drink and giving specific directions on Key West ("I turned right at St. Licky's Church and caught Spinnaker Blvd") as if to prove he's a true "bubba". Or perhaps it's Rutledge who's obsessed with food & drink, but to the reader it becomes tedious. The plot, although a crazed grab bag of a true Soap Opera (hence the title) was enjoyable enough. But it does have a tendency to become confused with so many characters and unsupported plot twists. Bottom line? I will continue to read Corcoran's other offerings. It's a great setting, and the characters and storyline have a real potential. We can only hope that Corcoran continues to develop as an author and give meaty, satisfying substance to a recipe that sounds good and looks good, yet leaves the customer mostly unfulfilled.
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Summary: Tom Corcoran defines reality versus tourist brochure hype!
Review: As native Floridians, we have grown accustom to fact and fiction. Tom Corcoran has created fiction and laced it with the reality of life in Florida, particularly Key West. His main character, Alex Rutledge, personifies the life of many of us who "Live and Die in 3/4 Time." As Alex bikes through "Old Town", Corcoran rekindles the sights, sounds and smells imbedded in our minds through aimless meandering down the back streets and alleyways of Key West. A tip of the visor to Tom Corcoran from those Floridians who are too busy solving our own mysteries to get a suntan.
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Summary: ahhhhh South Florida Mysteries.......
Review: Corcoran is right up there with the best in the genre. The Mango Opera is a good mystery set in Key West with a little Miami thrown in and one good trip to Georgia. While the character development can be confusing - as none are well developed except Alex Rutledge - half the fun is created by your not knowing who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. The string of suspects is as long as some of the bridges connecting the Keys to the South Florida peninsula. Alex Rutledge is our hero, and, like most of his buddies, is a true native to the Key West - a "bubba", all of whose lives are intricately woven in and out of each other's. There are dark secrets, grudges and camaraderie all in one friendship. When Alex's ex-lovers start turning up dead it is hard to believe that it isn't personal. The story will have you guessing until the bitter end. This is a quick, witty, wonderfully colorful, south Florida tale packed with a punch.
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Summary: Advance Praise for THE MANGO OPERA by Tom Corcoran
Review: Here's the advance praise for Tom Corcoran's THE MANGO OPERA: "THE MANGO OPERA is a powerful debut novel full of juicy characters, crackling dialogue and thrill-a-minute action. Not since McGuane's 92 IN THE SHADE has Key West been rendered so vividly and with such spare poetry. This is a smart, exciting novel, one not-to-be-missed." -- James W. Hall, author of RED SKY AT NIGHT "Key West is crazy, dangerous, hilarious, and exotic. Tom Corcoran's THE MANGO OPERA captures all of this with right-on characters and escalating suspense. A true mystery and a great read." -- Winston Groom, author of FORREST GUMP "The genius of imagination and the genius of realism don't often take up housekeeping in one writer's skull. But Tom Corcoran has combined a viciously creative plot with a perfectly rendered description of Key West as it really is, and the result is good to the bone. The only reason you'll put this book down is to dash off a note to Tom telling him to write another." -- P.J. O'Rourke, author of PARLIAMENT OF WHORES "Tom Corcoran knows the foul reaches of Key West and so do I. This (M.O.) is an evil book about an evil place. Don't read this book if you have a tendency to wonder where your daughter is on long rainy nights." -- Hunter S. Thompson, author of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS "THE MANGO OPERA is a very engrossing novel. Corcoran deftly evokes the spirit and physicality of the place, the low tide jubilance and enlivening fetor of its pleasures and instinctive criminality, as if the sun and ocean had blasted all the flowers of evil into its very genes." -- Jim Harrison, author of DALVA and LEGENDS OF THE FALL
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Summary: Boring and pointless
Review: I agree with an earlier review that none of these characters are interesting, the action is disjointed, and reads more like an attempt on the author's part to "impress" us with his references to Key West sites. I wasted $$ buying this and the second novel at once. I couldn't finish the novel. Tedious. I cannot fathom all the endorsements this book/authora have received.
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Summary: Where is Rudy Breno?
Review: I am halfway through this book and it is a perfect companion for the Buffett fan. I would not be surprised if Rudy Breno or Frank Bama appear somewhere towards the end.
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Summary: Good first effort
Review: I finished this book over a period of 3 days, and found it VERY easy reading. I noted some of the comments made earlier about having too many characters, but I didn't find it confusing at all. Having spent many great vacations down island, I was delighted to be whisked away to my favorite location through this book. The vivid descriptions of the island, coupled with the use of actual street names and places made it seem like I was right there with Alex, slogging through Old Town and beyond. I will definitely check out Tom's other works and continue to follow Mr. Rutledge on his trek through bone island.
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