Breeze Albury was basically an honest man until the machinations of the Machine (the Cubans) and a group of Colombians toss him into a high stakes game. When nearly all his trap lines are cut while his bills mount, Breeze takes a side job delivering a load of pot. He smells a set-up just a little too late, and finds himself in an even deeper mess. When the Machine plots with the Colombians to do away with him, Breeze, his girlfriend Laurie, and a number of fed-up Key West residents devise a plan for revenge, which gets all the more serious when they mess with Breeze’s pride and joy, his son Ricky.Hiaasen fans looking for his trademark humor should know he hadn’t begun exploring that facet of his talent yet. Otherwise, this book is thick with his special flavor, peppered with wonderful characters who would have been at home in any Hiaasen novel.Breeze is a middle-aged, slightly shopworn fisherman whose one remaining ambition in life is to see his son pitch in the majors. Like nearly everyone else in this book, he lives in a trailer. His ex-wife is a drunk who sells seashells to tourists, and his current live-in girlfriend Laurie is a waitress at a local restaurant. They’re being investigated by Christine Manning, governor’s counsel conducting an investigation into smuggling and corruption in the Keys. She’s also onto Chief of Police, Huge Barnett, and Winnebago Tom, who moves all manner of controlled substances in his vehicles. The numerous other small characters are equally well-drawn, their personalities what we’ve come to expect from Hiaasen.While some seem disappointed his trademark humor is not in evidence, they seem to be missing the point. This is a well-crafted thriller with wonderful characters written by a couple of obviously talented guys. I’m glad it’s part of my Hiaasen collection.
Breeze Albury is a fisherman in Key West who is struggling to make ends meet. At one other point, he delivered a load of drugs in hope of making some much needed money, got caught and served time. He doesn't want to do that again, but someone has cut all of his traps, leaving him unable to pay the bills. So he decides to make one more run, and gets caught again. The syndicate that he was making a run for provides a dirt bag lawyer who offers a deal - make a special run to move some Colombians into Florida, and all charges will go away, plus there will be a nice payday.Of course everything goes horribly, horribly wrong. In addition to Breeze's plot, there's a special prosecutor sent by the governor who is trying to clean up the Keys, and she knows Breeze can provide some very useful information. Additionally the sheriff and his cronies are going to face a challenge from the gay business owners in town (and others who are sick of the corruption).This book was closer to Hiaasen's later novels, a bit more quirky and fun overall. I had a hard time believing that the restaurant owner whose partner left him would suddenly go straight, but if that's the only thing I had a tough time believing, that's alright I guess.
What do You think about Trap Line (1998)?
This was published in 1982; Hiaasen wrote it with Bill Montalbano. It is not at all like Hiaasen's solo novels with laugh-out-loud lines and situations. It does have a complicated plot, very very bad guys, and somewhat suitable revenge upon most of them. However, it has some brutality and violence that would be objectionable to most readers, and is quite over the top on the testosterone scale - not that there's anything wrong with that! It's a worthy genre and sometimes I like it, just as I enjoy "chick lit" as well. There are dozens of men and only 3 women, one of whom is a wasted wreck and quite dismissible. I'd like to think I can pick out which sections were written by which author. There was sex told partly from the woman's point of view which was occasionally snicker-worthy, and there was worship-worthy descriptions of the manly, rugged, strong, skillful, intelligent, decent, good-but-so-wronged main character. One interesting monologue about men and the sea, worth reading twice, fails to tie in with Breeze's (main character) decision. I give this 3 stars instead of 2 because there are beautiful descriptions of the Caribbean waters and islands - really lovely.
—Donna LaValley
"Trap Line" by Carl Hiaasen was great. It is one of his early books written with Bill Montalbano. His second novel to be exact. Like all of his books that I've read, I loved it. It was quite short in comparison and somewhat lacking in the crazy satire of Hiaasen's that I loved in his other books. It's a great little story full of suspense about how payback's a bitch.
—Frederick
Trap Line by Carl Hiassen and Bill Montalbano (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard 1982)(Fiction - Thriller) This story is set in a smuggler's paradise, Key West. The local sheriff is owned by a local drug smuggling syndicate known as "The Machine." It's hard to be an honest fisherman, but Blaze Albury has managed to be one, until circumstances, and then "The Machine," conspire to put him into a vise. This is a cracking good adventure from start to finish, and is written by a master storyteller who obviously knows the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Key West. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 2/22/14.
—David
