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Book Review By Harriet Klausner
Tattoo Blues by Michael McClelland



I Books (Pocket) April 2004, 19.95, 298 pp.
ISBN 0743486560

Cedar Key is a small self contained place which has been undiscovered by developers and where nothing much ever happens. When Desiree Dean, a rich college student who left home to live her own life, not the one that is expected by her father. She decides to get a tattoo at Pimlico Phil's tattoo parlor and she believes she's getting one that says Golden Dragon but at the strip where she works as a hostess dressed up in a dragon costume, she learns the tattoo means ‘with hot sauce'.

She goes over to Phil's in costume and accidentally sets fire to the place. Both she and Phil disappear and a story in a Florida paper talks about the incident. Robin Chanterelles of the tabloid The Weekly Alarm is sent down to investigate. She becomes involved in the fight to save Cedar Key from a developer who wants a referendum to get the land he owns rezoned so he can build a casino which would destroy the uniqueness of the island.

This zany tale is filled with lots of off beat humor and eccentric characters that make the meandering storyline somehow always come back to the main theme of saving the island from those who would exploit it. Michael McClelland has an original and refreshing writing style that will appeal to the reader who likes to read something different on occasion. The author has the talent to put people in impossible situations and have them find a way to do what is right even if it costs them a boat load of money.

Harriet Klausner


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - upbeat
Time/era of story - 2000+ (Present Day)
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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