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Anyone who insists that mysteries cannot be real literature should be duct-taped to a chair and handed Randy Wayne Whites Tampa Burn. Mr. White offers his readers everything they could want: finely, fully developed characters, a plot with believable twists and turns, richand accuratelocal color, and esoteric information as icing on the cake.
The Washington Times
White magically keeps anxiety levels high for characters and readers alike... a marvelous book.
The Raleigh News & Observer
Best sheer storytelling in years.
Kirkus Reviews
A spellbinding story-spinner... [Tampa Burn] is highly suspenseful, with strong characters and a complex moral dimension.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
White is back in fine form with Tampa Burn, and its likely to leave his fans eager for his next book.
St. Petersburg Times
Compelling action.
Publishers Weekly
Keeps the suspense churning.
Booklist (starred review)
PRAISE FOREVERGLADES
What James Lee Burke has done for Louisiana, Tony Hillerman for the Southwest, John Sandford for Minnesota and Joe R. Lansdale for east Texas, Randy Wayne White does for his own little acre in Everglades.
Chicago Tribune
White brings vivid imagination to his fight scenes... it all roars along with cliffhanger chapter endings and great technogear. Think Mickey Spillane meets The Matrix... Rich and mysterious.
People
White just keeps getting better, his plots more shapely and intricate and his characters more complex and believable.
The Miami Herald
Superlative... pulsating action... Righteous indignation never felt better.
Booklist (starred review)
Randy Wayne White... writes about Floridas natural world with lyrical elegance and passion... [He] mixes his naturalists eye and small-town sensibilities with a combatants edge. His book is simultaneously gentle and compelling, a rare combination.
The Times-Picayune
Whites Ford novels build slowly to a breathless ending... [He] doesnt just use Florida as a backdrop, but he also makes the smell, sound, and physicality of the state leap off the page... Ford continues to excel as an unorthodox detective whose beat is the watery byways... Unique.
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
This satisfying, madcap fare could well go seismic on the regional bestseller lists.
Publishers Weekly
A remarkable writing job.
St. Petersburg Times
Before its over, White takes us on a wild ride... heart-stopping.
The Raleigh News & Observer
White masterfully guides his narrative to a riveting conclusion that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next Doc Ford adventure... Whites writing is as muscular as ever.
The Tampa Tribune
PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF RANDY WAYNE WHITE
Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford join my list of must-reads. It is no small matter when I assert that White is getting pretty darn close to joining Carl Hiaasen and John D. MacDonald as writers synonymous with serious Florida issues and engaging characters.
Chicago Tribune
Enough twists to satisfy any hard-boiled but intelligent detective fan.
The Dallas Morning News
One of the hottest new writers on the scene.
Library Journal
Great action scenes, terrific atmosphere, and a full-bodied hero add up to a pleasure.
Booklist
Packed with finely drawn characters, relevant social issues, superb plotting, and an effortless writing style... The best new writer since Carl Hiaasen.
The Denver Post
White is the rightful heir to joining John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen, James W. Hall, Geoffrey Norman... His precise prose is as fresh and pungent as a salty breeze.
The Tampa Tribune
A series to be savored.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
TITLES BY RANDY WAYNE WHITE
SANIBEL FLATS
THE HEAT ISLANDS
THE MAN WHO INVENTED FLORIDA
CAPTIVA
NORTH OF HAVANA
THE MANGROVE COAST
TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS
SHARK RIVER
TWELVE MILE LIMIT
EVERGLADES
TAMPA BURN
DEAD OF NIGHT
DARK LIGHT
HUNTERS MOON
NONFICTION
BATFISHING IN THE RAINFOREST
THE SHARKS OF LAKE NICARAGUA
LAST FLIGHT OUT
AN AMERICAN TRAVELER
TARPON FISHING IN MEXICO AND FLORIDA (An Introduction)
RANDY WAYNE WHITES
GULF COAST COOKBOOK (with Carlene Fredericka Brennen)
THIS BOOK IS FOR NEIL NYREN, WHO GOT ME OFF THE BOAT.
AUTHORS NOTE
THE islands of Sanibel and Captiva are real, and, I hope, faithfully described, but they are used fictitiously in this novel.
The same is true of certain businesses, marinas, bars, and other places frequented by Doc Ford, Tomlinson, and pals. When you spend as much time cruising around in a boat as I do, its hard not to mention people whom Ive met and like, and find interesting.
In all other respects, however, this novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book demanded extensive research in several fields, and I am grateful to the experts who took the time to advise me. Id like to thank Dr. Thaddeus Kostrubala, a brilliant psychopharmacologist, for his friendship, and for his cheerful willingness over the years to provide me with detailed behavioral profiles on some truly nasty fictional characters. Much of the detail in this book regarding shock therapy was provided by Dr. Kostrubala, including his touching recollections of administering the treatments as a resident in training. His e-mails, and our discussions, concerning Praxcedes Lourdes were also immensely helpful.
Captain Tobias Rose of the Tampa Pilots Association also provided me with great assistance, including detailed information of the responsibilities of port pilots, as well as touring me around Tampa Bay as we plotted Doc Fords night route.
Long-time carnival operator Darrell Boyd, known as DB, provided invaluable insights into the lives of sideshow operators and the town of Gibsonton, as did Chuck Osak, owner and operator of the Showtime Restaurant.
John Dunn, director of communications at Tampa General Hospital, was generous with his time, as was the staff at the Tampa Burn Centerone of the great medical facilities in the country. Joe Guidry was also a great help.
The tarpon spawning project Doc Ford references is an actual project. It began in the mind of Craig A. Watson, director of Aquaculture Lab at the University of Florida, and the first attempt took place at my home and dock at Pineland, Florida. Id like to thank Craig, Doug Colle, Jeff Hill, Scott Graves, John Baldwin, and Dan Conklin for allowing me to play a small role. Running home from Boca Grande Pass at night in my skiff during a full-moon eclipse, with scientists and my youngest son, Rogan, aboardalong with a live 100-pound anesthetized tarponwill never be forgotten. The same is true about the night several unnamed fish guides sunk a police boat.
