Joey Goldman wants to make a fresh start away from his past life. He is the illegitimate son of an Italian mobster named Vincente Delgatto and his now deceased Jewish mother Thelma Goldman. He convinces his reluctant girlfriend Sandra to leave the Big Apple and go south to the Florida Keys where he will set up his own territory. They are unprepared for the laidback lifestyle and slow pace of living they encounter but do their best to cope with the changes in attitudes. Scraping by on her modest bank teller salary and living in a small bungalow managed by a nudist and with several eclectic neighbors Joey is like a fish out of water. His attempts to establish a piece of the action are rebuffed rudely by the locals. Joey's actions have drawn unfavorable attention but he is fortunate an old retired family friend Bert “the shirt” d'Ambrosia lives nearby and gives him some sound advice. Bert is saddled with his late wife's neurotic Chihuahua named Don Giovanni whom he claims to hate but takes with him everywhere he goes.
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Attempting to go the square route by making an honest living hawking tours of timeshare properties, Joey is not certain he can make a living this way. He begins to do well but his plans are derailed when his half brother Gino stops off in Key West for a visit. Back in New York a feud erupted between families over the theft of $3 million in emeralds from a drop location in Miami. Joey hears Gino is involved in the heist of the stones that belong to Charlie Ponte who wants them back and will kill to get them. Joey gets a call from Gino that he needs his rental car brought to the hospital but the story turns out to be a set up, getting Bert and Joey into big trouble with Ponte and his thugs. Still he attempts to aid Gino and get him and the stones out of the Keys but the old boat they are towing sinks with the emeralds. Gino returns to New York, but Joey is soon after visited by Ponte's henchmen and must think quickly to save both Sandra and himself before resolving the situation with Gino, Charlie Ponte, and the missing gems.
The review of this Book prepared by David Fletcher
