Review of "Swamp Story: A Comic Novel" by Dave Barry

Dave Barry is an American writer and journalist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005 and has written numerous books of humor and satire. This comic novel contains kooky characters and all manner of of mischief, but what do you expect......it's Florida!

*****

Beautiful Jesse Braddock is accustomed to men falling all over her, and usually fends off their overtures with ease.



Unfortunately, Jesse falls for a gorgeous hunk called Michael Slater......



.......who squanders her trust fund and uses her money to buy a dilapidated cabin in the Everglades.



Now Jesse, Slater, and their baby daughter Willa reside in the Everglades cabin with Slater's boorish friend Kark, who's a wannabe filmmaker.



Slater and Kark are pitching a reality show called 'Glades Man', in which (a mostly shirtless) Slater has adventures in the Everglades swamps.



So when Jesse and baby Willa are threatened by a 15-foot-long Burmese python (in real life), Slater brushes off the danger to his family so Kark can film the muscular hunk pointing and saying, 'A deadly predator, fully capable of killing a man and swallowing him whole. It's risk we take every day, living the life of the Glades Guy.' At which point Kark points out the show is called Glades Man. (This is a running gag throughout the book.)



Jesse is already fed up with Slater and this is the final straw. Jesse wants to take her baby and skedaddle, but she has no money.



Serendipitously, Jesse happens upon a cache of gold bars hidden in the Everglades by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Jesse takes one gold bar for starters, meaning to consult a lawyer about her rights, etc.





Unluckily, Jesse is seen hiding the gold bar by two camo creeps called Duck and Billy Campbell, who've been searching for the treasure themselves. The Campbells are determined to learn the location of the gold horde, and they decide to stalk Jesse, and if that doesn't work, do worse.





Meanwhile, two siblings called Ken and Brad Bortle.......



.....who own a failing business called Bortle Brothers Bait & Beer, get involved in a money-making scheme.




Ken Bortle enlists a tall hefty former journalist called Phil Teagler to don a giant Dora the Explorer head and pretend to be the Everglades' elusive Melon Monster.



Ken plans to post a video of the Melon Monster online, and to sell Melon Monster merchandise at Bortle Brothers Bait & Beer. Brad Bortle thinks the idea is ridiculous, but goes along for the laughs.

By a confluence of circumstances, other people also get involved in the Melon Monster project, including Phil Teagler's neighbor Stu, and Kark and Slater. The plan is for Kark to video Ken and (a shirtless) Slater when they suddenly see the Melon Monster lurching through the swamp. The startling site causes the men to regroup (flee to) Bortle Brothers Bait & Beer to 'research' the dangerous beast. Kark will doctor the video to look dark and spooky, post it on social media, and use it in the pitch for the Glades Man reality show.



So, theoretically, it's a win-win all around: the Bortle brothers will sell Melon Monster merch, and Slater will get the Glades Man television show. In the end, the Melon Monster video goes viral, and people flock to the swamp to see what's going on.



As all this is occurring, a mobster from Eastern Europe called Kristov Berliuz learns about the stash of gold bars, and dispatches his henchmen to get it.





And it that's not enough, Ken Bortle is in debt to a 430 pound drug kingpin named Pinky, who's chasing Ken for he dough.



Add on a Python Challenge, a faded reporter, a narcissistic U.S. cabinet member who wants to run for President.....



.......along with a swamp dweller called Skeeter Toobs who has an emotional support boar, and you have the elements of a fun comedy.





This is great book if you want a few laughs.

Thanks to Netgalley, Dave Barry, and Simon and Shuster for a copy of the manuscript.

Rating: 3.5 stars