Shot on Location

Key West #9

by Laurence Shames

Take three speedboats, a disgruntled ghostwriter, and a hit TV show starring a gorgeous but impossible diva and created by a driven genius who may be losing his marbles. Add a fearless and gleefully profane stuntwoman, an ancient Mafioso with a chihuahua, and a revenge-crazed blonde in gladiator sandals. Stir in a thug with a heart of gold and an inveterate slacker who yearns for glory. Whisk a loopy but tender romance into the mix, turn the whole crew loose in the liberating and seductive sunshine of the Florida Keys—and what do you have?
​SHOT ON LOCATION, the new and long-awaited Key West novel by Laurence Shames.
Hilarious and suspenseful, wisecracking and wise, this is the most intoxicating story yet from the author of such cult classics as FLORIDA STRAITS and SUNBURN. Longtime Shames fans will rejoice at his return to the fictional turf of Key West and the reappearance of some of his most beloved characters. And new readers will find themselves in for a hell of a ride as Hollywood glitz meets Florida funky.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Comedy

Audiobook

First published August 19, 2013

About the author

Laurence 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.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just finished this gem and logging in to download the next in the series, I found myself working out how long it will take me to read them all and wonder what I’ll do when I’ve managed that!

Meanwhile I’ll continue to make my way through these wonderfully written and so well crafted tales and consider moving to The Keys!!

[Lance Carney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Laurence Shames’ book featuring ex-Mafioso Bert the Shirt and his chihuahua in co-starring roles. It takes place around a reality TV show in Key West, "Adrift"—the show’s reluctant writer, the gorgeous diva/vixen star, the fearless yet jaded stuntwoman. Who will be shot on location?

[D.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's great that Shames is back writing about Key West and some of the wacky characters who inhabited his earlier comedy/mysteries set in that unique little town. Highly recommended. If you like Hiassen and that sort of thing, don't miss it.

[Elaine Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was not on the list, but listened to Audible/Recorded Books on Jean's Clip. Was the second time, familiar but couldn't anticipate.

[Jon Koebrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun frolic in Key West with likeable characters including Bert the Shirt. A good little mystery and genuinely Key Western. This book was greatly enhanced by reading it in Key West.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good plots, interesting and well written. 9 of 10 stars

[Judith Trail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only the strange and wonderful are drawn to Key West to stay at Joey's small apartment complex, where naked swimming is the norm and the down and out find a family and some really good grilled grouper. Laurence Shames gets the Keys and the eccentric characters that flourish in the tolerant atmosphere, rich with smells of flowers, the sea and something cooking on the community grill. Jake is a mildly depressed but successful ghostwriter in his forties. He gets a job writing a tie-in novel for a TV show shooting in the Keys. The show is a thinly veiled version of "Lost," and brings the young, beautiful and totally self-absorbed L.A. actors and producers, and the talent "handlers" and publicists in full force. The leading lady, Candace, is about as pleasant as a chigger bite, but her stuntwoman, Donna, is the one who is almost killed during a shoot, being mistaken for the star. Jake is drawn into helping figure out who has it in for Candace, or maybe Donna, and as a result, he is pulled into life on the Keys in a big way. He meets Bert the Shirt, a retired mafioso, and his elderly chihuahua, Nacho, and things get interesting. Shames' novels are wonderous: a remarkable feel for the atmosphere of the Keys, its people and its love of the bizarre and colorful. His characters are living, breathing people: you know and love them because they are complete and real. His dialogue is filled with the personality of the characters and is alternatively profound and laugh out loud funny. Shames' can write like a drunken poet, lyrical and sort of crazy at the same time. Once you come into this world, you never want to leave. Come to the Keys and leave your old troubles behind, and get a whole bunch of new ones that will delight and amaze you.

[Dennis Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a light quick romp of a read, check out SHOT ON LOCATION by LAURENCE SHAMES. His characters are a mixed bag to be sure... Candace loves the limelight but she's a bitch on wheels, Jake wants to be noticed but he can't afford it, Donna dreams big but it may never happen, Bert wants only to be remembered (in certain unsavory circles), Clair is fed up but optimistic, Bryce is just there. Wait until you meet Don Giovanni, he's a real quite one.

Large bright pages make the book easy to read, the cover is very noticeable and the back cover blurb leaves you guessing, as it should. The language is a tad spicey, but appropriate. If you like reading Carl Hiaasen, Paul Levine and Christopher Moore, I think you'll enjoy Laurence Shames. He is one of my new faves. Is he as good as Hiaasen and Levine, I'll let you be the judge. With 13 key West novels under his belt, I think you'll find one you like. I would have given him a five star rating but the editing is off, in my humble opinion.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't realize until I read the ABOUT THE AUTHOR section at the back of the book that there was a ten year break between the Key West novels that we had been reading and this one. Shames hasn't lost his touch. I gather that this book is self-published but the only tip-off is the rather odd text formatting.

Jake, a successful ghostwriter based in New York, lands a job writing a "tie-in" novel for a TV series called Adrift (which is a word that could be taken to mean Lost) about a bunch people stranded on a tropical island. The show is being filmed on a small island off Key West. Bad things are happening on the set: a stunt woman almost killed by a speed boat, the star of the show being threatened by a mysterious stalker... and Jake ends up spending his time playing detective instead of writing his book.

Lots of fun.

This was book #54 on our 2017 Read-alouds List.

[Jerry Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice murder mystery from the writer of Key West Series L. Shames.. I did enjoy Bert the Shirt appearing again as well as Don Giovani, did not like the original name Nacho, but that is up to the reader. The story line is OK , but the director and most of the characters are not the loving kind we usually see in the Shames Novels. The twists and turns of the stuntwoman, the tracker and killer, the speedboat research and follow up and a horrible story line getting to a fabulous ending were entertaining though. This is the last book that the library had offered of the Shames Novels through their network. I wonder why, because I have enjoyed each and all of the first 9 books. It certainly takes advantage of L Shames background as a writer with his top end experience with NY, the mob, and some great characters to boot. The twists and turns here are good. Thanks L. Shames.

[Rex Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

all over the place

Any book involving Hollywood is usually all over the place from a plot perspective. All sorts of major, minor and incidental characters that can run a plot right off the roof! That kind of happens her, but Shames keeps it together by not letting it run off the rails. A diva, a show that makes no sense, a producer losing his mind and a crew stuck in the middle, all connected by a ghost writer and two familiar characters. Typical Key West fun.

[John Biddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consistently the best of the humorous Florida writers, I can always depend on a wild and amusing romp through Key West when I read a Laurence Shames book. I was not disappointed with Shot on Location. Hollywood is the main butt of the jokes and they're well deserved. The story is crazy but oddly (mostly) believable. My one quibble was with the ending.

[g spain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written, as always, with heart and humor. I've read the whole series and, while each book contains the same plot structure and character types, it's those familiar returning oddballs that gives the reader the warm feeling that he knows these mostly gentle characters and would be welcomed among them and their familiar haunts

[Lisa Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read from Mr. Shames. I liked that he brought back Joey and Bert the Shirt years later. There are times you just need a “light read” and this book delivers that. Very enjoyable. Love the Key West living.

[Cyanemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently the author waited 13 years between books in this series. Unusual but he seems to have gotten some of his mojo back. Bert the Shirt is here and is my favorite character. Joey and Sandra also have bit roles in this one.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurence Shames makes me laugh. Always replete with interesting observations of the human condition. I haven't read any of the books in this series in several years. This was an entertaining, fun read.

[James B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hollywood mystery shot in Key West!

If you like fun mysteries with lots of interesting characters then this book is for you. Twists and turns between the Mafia and Hollywood set in Key West.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light and funny Florida romp, Shames somehow keeps his characters fresh and funny.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize how long it had been since Laurence Shames had published a Key West novel or how much I had missed Bert the Shirt.

[rob hunziker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Couldn't put it down! Key West is a great backdrop. And the Stars of the show were the dog and the former mob guy!

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bert the Shirt is back!

This series is so much fun. I have no idea why it isn’t more popular or better known.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Bert the Shirt is in it, it's Key West funny. Number 9 in the series I believe. Light fast read, and yes, madcap mystery.

[R Lee Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chihuahua Don Giovanni returns

Any book with Bert D'Ambrosio is a book I will read. I love these Key West books. Bert reminds me of my grandfather's brother Sam the bookie.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story. It’s been a long time since I read a South Florida novel.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little bit Deus Ex at the end but still fun.

[Lynn Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful summer read.

[D F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, well-developed new characters, mixed in with good characters from prior books in the series, yielded an entertaining story and an enjoyable read.

[Steve Sandifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the best plot line of the ones I have read so far (about 4).

[Stephen Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shot on Location brings back some wonderful Laurence Shames characters from past books, but you don't need to have read them to appreciate this witty tale.

The story is about a ghostwriter, Jake Benson, who takes a job writing a tie-in book for a television show that's being filmed in Key West. He has no interest real interest in writing the book, but he does want to get out of New York in January, so he hops on a plane and the fun begins.

The cast of characters includes, the ghostwriter, a maniacal producer, a Hollywood diva, a stunt woman who likes to swim in the nude, aging gangsters, at least one fairly normal person, and Key West itself.

The author has a gift for writing descriptive setting, and he makes Key West come alive in the book. Combine that with great dialog and an exciting mystery and you've got a really enjoyable book.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally. I have waited and hoped for years for this book. Laurence Shames wrote some of the funniest books i've ever read. He wrote them consistently and they were all great. Then he stopped. Finally he's back.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was funny, it was set in Key West, it brought back characters from previous books. What more could I have asked for?
This book is a funny mystery with a lot of heart. It tells the story of a grumpy ghost writer hired to pen a tie in novel to a hit tv show that films in Key West. He gets involved in a tale of attempted murder that involves the mob, hollywood hotshots and Key West locals. The fun never stops. The characters are all great, even the bad guys, but the setting also plays a key role. I highly recommend this book.