Big Trouble. Dave Barry

Dave Barry uses his vast knowledge of Miami Florida to bring this comic thriller to life. A tightly plotted tale that includes homeless people, parents and their teenage children, Russian arms dealers, New Jersey hitmen, the FBI, a poisonous toad, and a herd of stray goats. In the process there is a series of attempted murders, three love stories, and a tribute to the wacky people of south Florida. This is his first attempt at writing a novel and it succeeds in being a very funny and well-crafted work. Even funnier than his second novel, Tricky Business, but not by much. Big Trouble was made into a movie in 2002 that was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starred Tom Allen.