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Key West #2
Scavenger Reef
When Augie Silver disappeared at sea during a sudden storm, it was a loss felt initially by his young wife and by his crew of drinking cronies. When word of his apparent drowning extended beyond the Key West world Augie had made his home, however, his loss was felt by a greater number of people. For Augie Silver was a painter, or more precisely an artist, waiting for recognition. And his death proved to be the event necessary to turn a lifetime of eccentricity into a career of genius. Suddenly Augie was hot. While his wife, Nina, continued to mourn, his friends began to awaken to the realization that all those paintings Augie had given them over the years might have been worth holding on to. In fact, according to the New York art dealer who was also Augie's agent, they might be worth a whole lot. So when Augie returns from the "dead," having been shipwrecked on an island off Cuba, it is with somewhat mixed emotions that he is welcomed home. His wife is jubilant, but all those who had read dollar signs in Augie's obituary aren't too sure how happy they are to have him back, especially since each of them seems to need an influx of cash in the worst way. And when mysterious things start happening to Augie, little "accidents" that seem less than accidental, he's not too sure how happy he is to be back either. With the help, however, of his wife and their fiercely loyal houseboy, Reuben the Cuban, Augie fights for his life a second time around while seeking out the would-be killer. From the author of Florida Straits, a critically acclaimed story of suspense also set in Key West, Scavenger Reef is a funny, dark, and vastly entertaining novel all about life, death, and the stages in between, written with wit and charm, and filled with unforgettable characters.
325 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
547 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
About the author
Laurence Shames
40 books238 followersLaurence Shames has been a New York City taxi driver, lounge singer, furniture mover, lifeguard, dishwasher, gym teacher, and shoe salesman. Having failed to distinguish himself in any of those professions, he turned to writing full-time in 1976 and has not done an honest day’s work since.
His basic laziness notwithstanding, Shames has published more than twenty books and hundreds of magazine articles and essays. Best known for his critically acclaimed series of Key West Capers--14 titles and counting!--he has also authored non-fiction and enjoyed considerable though largely secret success as a collaborator and ghostwriter. Shames has penned four New York Times bestsellers. These have appeared on four different lists, under four different names, none of them his own. This might be a record.
Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951, to chain-smoking parents of modest means but flamboyant emotions, Shames did not know Philip Roth, Paul Simon, Queen Latifa, Shaquille O’Neal, or any of the other really cool people who have come from his hometown. He graduated summa cum laude from NYU in 1972 and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. As a side note, both his alma mater and honorary society have been extraordinarily adept at tracking his many address changes through the decades, in spite of the fact that he’s never sent them one red cent, and never will.
It was on an Italian beach in the summer of 1970 that Shames first heard the sacred call of the writer’s vocation. Lonely and poor, hungry and thirsty, he’d wandered into a seaside trattoria, where he noticed a couple tucking into a big platter of fritto misto. The man was nothing much to look at but the woman was really beautiful. She was perfectly tan and had a very fine-gauge gold chain looped around her bare tummy. The couple was sharing a liter of white wine; condensation beaded the carafe. Eye contact was made; the couple turned out to be Americans. The man wiped olive oil from his rather sensual lips and introduced himself as a writer. Shames knew in that moment that he would be one too.
He began writing stories and longer things he thought of as novels. He couldn’t sell them.
By 1979 he’d somehow become a journalist and was soon publishing in top-shelf magazines like Playboy, Outside, Saturday Review, and Vanity Fair. (This transition entailed some lucky breaks, but is not as vivid a tale as the fritto misto bit, so we’ll just sort of gloss over it.) In 1982, Shames was named Ethics columnist of Esquire, and also made a contributing editor to that magazine.
By 1986 he was writing non-fiction books. The critical, if not the commercial, success of these first established Shames’ credentials as a collaborator/ghostwriter. His 1991 national bestseller, Boss of Bosses, written with two FBI agents, got him thinking about the Mafia. It also bought him a ticket out of New York and a sweet little house in Key West, where he finally got back to Plan A: writing novels. Given his then-current preoccupations, the novels naturally featured palm trees, high humidity, dogs in sunglasses, and New York mobsters blundering through a town where people were too laid back to be afraid of them. But this part of the story is best told with reference to the books themselves, so please spend some time and explore them.
His basic laziness notwithstanding, Shames has published more than twenty books and hundreds of magazine articles and essays. Best known for his critically acclaimed series of Key West Capers--14 titles and counting!--he has also authored non-fiction and enjoyed considerable though largely secret success as a collaborator and ghostwriter. Shames has penned four New York Times bestsellers. These have appeared on four different lists, under four different names, none of them his own. This might be a record.
Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951, to chain-smoking parents of modest means but flamboyant emotions, Shames did not know Philip Roth, Paul Simon, Queen Latifa, Shaquille O’Neal, or any of the other really cool people who have come from his hometown. He graduated summa cum laude from NYU in 1972 and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. As a side note, both his alma mater and honorary society have been extraordinarily adept at tracking his many address changes through the decades, in spite of the fact that he’s never sent them one red cent, and never will.
It was on an Italian beach in the summer of 1970 that Shames first heard the sacred call of the writer’s vocation. Lonely and poor, hungry and thirsty, he’d wandered into a seaside trattoria, where he noticed a couple tucking into a big platter of fritto misto. The man was nothing much to look at but the woman was really beautiful. She was perfectly tan and had a very fine-gauge gold chain looped around her bare tummy. The couple was sharing a liter of white wine; condensation beaded the carafe. Eye contact was made; the couple turned out to be Americans. The man wiped olive oil from his rather sensual lips and introduced himself as a writer. Shames knew in that moment that he would be one too.
He began writing stories and longer things he thought of as novels. He couldn’t sell them.
By 1979 he’d somehow become a journalist and was soon publishing in top-shelf magazines like Playboy, Outside, Saturday Review, and Vanity Fair. (This transition entailed some lucky breaks, but is not as vivid a tale as the fritto misto bit, so we’ll just sort of gloss over it.) In 1982, Shames was named Ethics columnist of Esquire, and also made a contributing editor to that magazine.
By 1986 he was writing non-fiction books. The critical, if not the commercial, success of these first established Shames’ credentials as a collaborator/ghostwriter. His 1991 national bestseller, Boss of Bosses, written with two FBI agents, got him thinking about the Mafia. It also bought him a ticket out of New York and a sweet little house in Key West, where he finally got back to Plan A: writing novels. Given his then-current preoccupations, the novels naturally featured palm trees, high humidity, dogs in sunglasses, and New York mobsters blundering through a town where people were too laid back to be afraid of them. But this part of the story is best told with reference to the books themselves, so please spend some time and explore them.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
February 4, 2021
This is Shames's sophomore novel, and like a lot of sophomore efforts, it doesn't live up to the debut. Same Key West setting, same goofy characters, but less plot, less urgency. It almost seems as though the story has succumbed to the Key West lethargy Shames brings to life so evocatively.
It also lacks Shames signature humor, whereby the self-important subject themselves to ridicule without realizing it. I can imagine Shames, basking in the success of his debut, working hard to give the characters more depth, and accidentally making them less entertaining as he makes them more real.
This story is more character-driven, but from too many directions. All the characters are fun, but they share space with so many others, none end up standing out. Even after this, however, it's still a worthy story, with a satisfying conclusion, and Shames's amusing voice. My high opinion may be skewed be knowledge that the next book in the series, 'Sunburn', is so much more like his debut.
It also lacks Shames signature humor, whereby the self-important subject themselves to ridicule without realizing it. I can imagine Shames, basking in the success of his debut, working hard to give the characters more depth, and accidentally making them less entertaining as he makes them more real.
This story is more character-driven, but from too many directions. All the characters are fun, but they share space with so many others, none end up standing out. Even after this, however, it's still a worthy story, with a satisfying conclusion, and Shames's amusing voice. My high opinion may be skewed be knowledge that the next book in the series, 'Sunburn', is so much more like his debut.
July 23, 2020
I rarely read the blurb on the back of books and prefer either to go by recommendations in here, or (as in this case) I will read the second in a series in which the first impressed me.
How different could book two be from book one? I really didn't enjoy this at all. I mistakenly believed this would be a continuation of book one, or at least have some or all of the same characters in it. Wrong.
Two stars for cood craftwork and character development but nothing else at all.
So it went.
How different could book two be from book one? I really didn't enjoy this at all. I mistakenly believed this would be a continuation of book one, or at least have some or all of the same characters in it. Wrong.
Two stars for cood craftwork and character development but nothing else at all.
So it went.
May 24, 2017
This is tough, I wasn't crazy about this book at all, but I am also definitely not the target audience for this book....
I pick this book up for a challenge, otherwise I would have never picked it up, and I probably will never read another book in the series.... not that it was bad, it just was not for me.... there was a lot of character development, and generally I like that in a book but these were very unrelatable characters for me.... The only character I could kind of relate to was the wife, but other than that, not so much.... I did find it kind of interesting that Augies work as an artist was worth more if he was dead rather than alive, doesn't say much for becoming an artist.... The book also made me realize how far audiobooks have come, this was recorded in 1998, the sound quality today is just so much better and the performance expectation as well....
I pick this book up for a challenge, otherwise I would have never picked it up, and I probably will never read another book in the series.... not that it was bad, it just was not for me.... there was a lot of character development, and generally I like that in a book but these were very unrelatable characters for me.... The only character I could kind of relate to was the wife, but other than that, not so much.... I did find it kind of interesting that Augies work as an artist was worth more if he was dead rather than alive, doesn't say much for becoming an artist.... The book also made me realize how far audiobooks have come, this was recorded in 1998, the sound quality today is just so much better and the performance expectation as well....
June 28, 2025
The scavengers in this book seem to be all the people lining up to take advantage of a recently lost-at-sea artist. Everyone knows a dead artist will make you rich, so all the locals gifted paintings by the artist were lining up for the big payday. The artist’s agent stirs the pot to try and create a buzz around the art. She starts counting her piles of cash before the auction takes place.
Unfortunately, he survived the shipwreck and turns up inconveniently alive a couple weeks later, to the consternation of all. There are lots of moving parts and many would like to see his actual demise.
The first book in the series was nicely compacted into a coherent tale. This one wanders all over. I’ll certainly go to the third one to make sure this was an aberration before abandoning the series.
I miss Serge Storm…
Unfortunately, he survived the shipwreck and turns up inconveniently alive a couple weeks later, to the consternation of all. There are lots of moving parts and many would like to see his actual demise.
The first book in the series was nicely compacted into a coherent tale. This one wanders all over. I’ll certainly go to the third one to make sure this was an aberration before abandoning the series.
I miss Serge Storm…
June 1, 2017
The basic story of Scavenger Reef is that a painter is lost at sea and is presumed dead. Friends and associates who have some of his paintings start to realize they have a windfall in the value of paintings he's given them. When the painter turns up alive, it turns out that someone is trying to kill him to protect and realize the windfall.
This is all written by an expert in South Florida-style comedy and the action is replete with all that should make you expect such as mafia goons holding characters over aquarium tanks containing hammerhead sharks because they haven't paid their loan sharks. All-in-all, I should love this story. I remember loving it when I read it.
The thing is, I almost abandoned it during the re-read. The pacing is terrible. Almost a half of the book fritters away thinking the painter is dead. That's by far the less interesting part of the story. A good argument can be made that you should start with the return of the painter and fill in the backstory. Instead, it felt like it dragged on forever. It picked up and I'm glad that I finished it, especially since I plan to continue with the series, but it is weaker from initial slowness.
This is all written by an expert in South Florida-style comedy and the action is replete with all that should make you expect such as mafia goons holding characters over aquarium tanks containing hammerhead sharks because they haven't paid their loan sharks. All-in-all, I should love this story. I remember loving it when I read it.
The thing is, I almost abandoned it during the re-read. The pacing is terrible. Almost a half of the book fritters away thinking the painter is dead. That's by far the less interesting part of the story. A good argument can be made that you should start with the return of the painter and fill in the backstory. Instead, it felt like it dragged on forever. It picked up and I'm glad that I finished it, especially since I plan to continue with the series, but it is weaker from initial slowness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2021
Muah! Just perfect.
One of the few books I read earlier that let me know early on how it is okay to root for decent people and still it is okay to feel good about that.
2008
May 17, 2023
Key West as a main character
This was one of the more unusual mysteries I’ve read. There really was no crime, per we, but the character study of all involved did give you a good sense that Key West is as unusual as it has always been billed. The plot intertwines both an interesting main story about an artist and his art with a diverse group of characters that circle his orbit. It was very different from the first Shames book, but then again, the main character is Key West. So enjoy the escapism.
This was one of the more unusual mysteries I’ve read. There really was no crime, per we, but the character study of all involved did give you a good sense that Key West is as unusual as it has always been billed. The plot intertwines both an interesting main story about an artist and his art with a diverse group of characters that circle his orbit. It was very different from the first Shames book, but then again, the main character is Key West. So enjoy the escapism.
October 12, 2024
I’m a sucker for a series, but this wasn’t as good as the first book. I enjoyed the characters, but they weren’t the characters from the first book. The plot wasn’t as twisty and fun as the first one either.
December 1, 2019
I started this the day before I was leaving for a week in Key West - the trip was WAY better than the book!
A bunch of screwball characters with a mediocre plot - nothing to write home about!
A bunch of screwball characters with a mediocre plot - nothing to write home about!
May 17, 2016
While I expected a kitschy, light read similar to "Sunburn," what I got was a jumbled cast of characters that I could barely keep straight and a mystery that I didn't care all that much about solving. Nina and Augie's story was somewhat engaging, but the supporting cast and the rest of the details were mostly cliched and silly. Everything wrapped up very quickly at the end, and the "twist" if you could even call it that really fell flat. I will probably try another book by this author at some point, with the hope that this was just a weak installment.
Read
August 22, 2019A bit too much filler
Although I enjoyed the read it seems to have a great deal of added "bulk" finally I started skipping over pages of somewhat droll fill. Overall, I enjoyed the story, just a bit to filled out.
Although I enjoyed the read it seems to have a great deal of added "bulk" finally I started skipping over pages of somewhat droll fill. Overall, I enjoyed the story, just a bit to filled out.
October 12, 2017
okay, not great.
Hope #3 in series is better.
Hope #3 in series is better.
February 22, 2025
I was surprisingly impressed by Shames first Key West book, Florida Straits, so I may have gone in to this one with a bit too high of expectations. But this was a weak sophomore effort. It's not bad...but it's a definite step down.
Augie Silvers is a painter of some small acclaim who lives in Key West with his wife and has a number of artistic or art-adjacent friends. He's been free in giving away his paintings to his friends and to the people who have helped him out, for example a first mate on a fishing boat. When Augie disappears, apparently the victim of a waterspout that destroyed his boat, it looks as if his paintings could suddenly be worth a lot of money...as happens with dead artists sometimes. But when Augie shows up alive having been shipwrecked someone decides he's better off dead...or at least they are better off financially with him dead.
It's a more than decent premise for a novel, though not particularly unusual. One of the problems is that while there are plenty of suspects, none of them are particularly memorable. I spent about the first half of the book wishing there was a character list so I could remember who was who and how they connected. I will say that it did heat up in the third act after a pretty slow start...something it shares with Florida Straits. And it's not an actively bad book. It just is a significant step down from its predecessor.
Augie Silvers is a painter of some small acclaim who lives in Key West with his wife and has a number of artistic or art-adjacent friends. He's been free in giving away his paintings to his friends and to the people who have helped him out, for example a first mate on a fishing boat. When Augie disappears, apparently the victim of a waterspout that destroyed his boat, it looks as if his paintings could suddenly be worth a lot of money...as happens with dead artists sometimes. But when Augie shows up alive having been shipwrecked someone decides he's better off dead...or at least they are better off financially with him dead.
It's a more than decent premise for a novel, though not particularly unusual. One of the problems is that while there are plenty of suspects, none of them are particularly memorable. I spent about the first half of the book wishing there was a character list so I could remember who was who and how they connected. I will say that it did heat up in the third act after a pretty slow start...something it shares with Florida Straits. And it's not an actively bad book. It just is a significant step down from its predecessor.
May 23, 2022
This is my second book in the series and I am not giving up. Mr. Shames is a remarkable writer, who in each paragraph describes in the most exquisite detail his characters, the scenery and the topic. This one is for artists and writers plus the grifting it does to influence greed, pettiness, and corruption. He describes the main character and his servant in the most compelling aura of enlightenment in both. I loved those guys, and the love of his wife for the main character is beautiful from beginning to end. My wife and I both read and devoured every page with anxious thoughts to how they would be saved among all of the treachery in the Florida Art business. I cannot imagine any other authors who have mesmerized me as he can in his descriptions and detail. Therefore I have gone out and picked up his third edition of Sunburn as my next read. You will not be dissatisfied taking this one in without stopping, it is that good.
September 10, 2025
I particularly like Shames's sense of right versus wrong and the way he pointed out the value of friends over things, money, pretensions, etc. Things are always colorful in Key West, just maybe in different ways than expected. Down-to-earth and generous painter, Augie Silver, disappeared after a wind spout overtook him and his boat. Following a memorial service, his agent decided to have a Christie's auction to sell off her collection of his paintings. Other Key West friends, who had been generously gifted paintings by Silver, joined in to sell their paintings as their characters, previously unknown to each other, became exposed one by one. -- And, there's a twist!
December 21, 2021
Shames' characters are the story and he's got it down to a fine art. Actually art is in the center of this, his first novel. Augie Silver is an unpretentious, popular artist with a love of life. He had a habit of giving his art to his barfly chums in addition to selling enough to make a nice life for he and his wife. He's lost at sea and the value of his work looks like it will skyrocket. Now his down and out friends are smelling a better life themselves if they sell Augie's paintings. But, is Augie dead or not? If not, and they can find him, it would pay them handsomely to make him dead.
May 6, 2022
I thought the premise for the book was unique- an artist dies potentially driving up the value of his paintings which brings out the worst in his friends when they discover he hasn’t in fact died and their dreams of sudden wealth are shattered. It didn’t rise to the level of my expectations as a crazy story that could only take place in Florida and when (spoiler alert) Fred died, well I almost gave up on the book. Laurence Shames’ writing style makes this an easy read so I still found it enjoyable but not quite up to the level of Hiaasen’s Florida madness.
April 29, 2020
Tedious, boring and dull
I read the first book in this series and liked it. This one was beyond boring. It took everything in me to push through and finish what was the most boring book I've read in years. The storyline plodded along at the pace of a sedated sloth. Do yourself a favor and skip on to the next book. I'm not giving up on the series so I'll update this review after book 3.
I read the first book in this series and liked it. This one was beyond boring. It took everything in me to push through and finish what was the most boring book I've read in years. The storyline plodded along at the pace of a sedated sloth. Do yourself a favor and skip on to the next book. I'm not giving up on the series so I'll update this review after book 3.
July 6, 2023
The first book in this series was enjoyable and entertaining. However, this book was disappointing and slow-paced, like a whodunit investigated by Inspector Tortoise. Lackluster characters and a weak plot made it an almost boring read. The blurb suggests humuor, but unfortunately, I didn't find it funny at all, not even a titter. I will continue reading the series, hoping that things will improve.
January 15, 2018
Florida humor in the group with Dave Barry. Not environmental like Carl Hiaasen and lighter than Tim Dorsey.
February 13, 2021
I liked the first book better but this was still a really fun read. I just didn't get behind the characters like in book 1. I'm looking forward to reading farther in the series when the characters become more intertwined. I enjoy the style of these books. They are easier to follow than other books I've read in this genre. But still zany and entertaining.
September 9, 2022
Beautifully Written
I read hundreds of books a year. It is not often when an authors literary style pops out at me like it did with this book. The author painted the scenery of Key West with broad strokes that pulled you into the beauty and the danger of the Keys. A didn't see it coming ending capped a great read.
I read hundreds of books a year. It is not often when an authors literary style pops out at me like it did with this book. The author painted the scenery of Key West with broad strokes that pulled you into the beauty and the danger of the Keys. A didn't see it coming ending capped a great read.
February 17, 2025
Author Lawrence Shames not only writes humorous books that are fun to read, the mystery in this one is very good. I haven’t noticed in Shames books that I’ve read in the past, but this one certainly has a rich descriptive bent. Reading this book in the dead middle of winter, Shames’ description of the oppressive Florida heat is very realistic. Looking forward to more.
October 3, 2020
There are books you can't put down and books you can't finish.. this is the latter. I had high hopes for an entertaining read after the first book in the series, but this one went nowhere and stayed there.. done with this author.
September 27, 2022
too sad
His other books I’ve read were fun to read. Good characters with substance. The characters in this book were shallow and uninteresting. This book wasn’t like key west. Never met anyone in key west that were like these people.
A waste of my time.
His other books I’ve read were fun to read. Good characters with substance. The characters in this book were shallow and uninteresting. This book wasn’t like key west. Never met anyone in key west that were like these people.
A waste of my time.
March 13, 2023
Excellent Work
Unique plot is complex without being overly complicated. The ending was there all along but not obvious. I appreciate a mystery that doesn't rely on solving a murder. Minus one star for dragging out too many descriptions. It's lazy page filling.
Unique plot is complex without being overly complicated. The ending was there all along but not obvious. I appreciate a mystery that doesn't rely on solving a murder. Minus one star for dragging out too many descriptions. It's lazy page filling.
August 30, 2024
Bad Guys in Paradise
Not a continuation of Shames' first Florida novel since this one has different characters, nonetheless it does entertain the reader with a wide variety of low life types.
Richard Ferrone does a great job of narrating.
Not a continuation of Shames' first Florida novel since this one has different characters, nonetheless it does entertain the reader with a wide variety of low life types.
Richard Ferrone does a great job of narrating.
February 22, 2025
I really appreciate Laurence Shames' writing style and the characters and story are just a delightful addition. I'll read the third, even if it is about something completely uninteresting which it won't be.
July 1, 2017
Enjoyed the setting and characterization
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews