BOOK REVIEW--Hawker #1: "Florida Firefight" by Carl Ramm

Buy on Amazon

Written way back in '84 under the Carl Ramm moniker (gotta love those house names) but actually penned by Randy Wayne White, bestselling author of the Doc Ford series, this kickoff to the Hawker action-adventure series featured some of the better prose you'll find in the genre, but for some reason failed to grab me. I have the same problem with Glocks; I recognize that they’re a quality firearm, but they’re just not a good fit for me. But I digress…

After a slick opening sequence that finds Hawker's wings clipped due to political shenanigans, he turns in his badge and becomes a vigilante. Because in these kinds of books, that’s just what disgraced ex-cops do. (As a side note, that would make an awesome Geico commercial: “If you’re a disgraced ex-cop in the ‘80s, you become a vigilante. It’s what you do.”) In other words, this is your standard-issue men's action-adventure origin plot.


White displays his authorial skills by ratcheting up the tension during the early scenes as well as providing greater character depth than was typically found in '80s action paperbacks. The problem is, he spends a little too much time establishing characters, giving the impression that he enjoys creating characters more than he enjoys creating action. Nothing wrong with that … except that this is an action novel, not a character-driven drama.


New and not improved cover.

The 2nd act of “Florida Firefight” is the main culprit of this misstep, going light on the action and trading full-auto fury for setting, characters, and plot twists. Again, all of it is well-written, but aside from a few fisticuffs, not much happens in the action department (which last time I checked is the main reason we read this stuff) until the climatic assault against the dastardly drug dealers.

Here’s where the firepower finally comes out to play, but truth be told, even the finale is a bit lackluster. The exception is the scuba tank kill, which resulted in an awesome (if a bit too abrupt) death for one of the villains. It’s definitely one of those Who comes up with this shit? moments. But as a whole, the book is basically a well-written but not particularly exciting entry in the action-adventure pantheon.

As this was the early '80s, there is a lack of political correctness, and while that is sometimes refreshing, in this case it's often cringe-worthy, including an AIDS-based insult--from our hero, no less--that will stop you in your tracks and make you do a Did he really just say that? double take. Easy enough to skip past and ignore as merely a sign of the era in which the book originated, but still a bit startling. White also throws in an oral sex scene with laughable dialogue, and not the good kind of laughing. Though I was laughing at how laughable it was, so maybe that was the point.

Frankly, I wanted to like Hawker more than I actually did. The series is often lauded among action-adventure aficionados as one of the premium examples of the genre. With its skillful prose, detailed setting (the Florida locale is described so perfectly that you’ll probably get a sunburn), and above-average (for the genre) characterization, it's not hard to see why it garners such praise. That said, for me, it needed a little more action to earn a place in the upper echelon.

Bottom line, I don't regret reading Hawker #1, but if I had the 2nd book in my hand and you took it away from me, I wouldn't fight you to get it back. Some action novels are damn good. Some action novels are bad. Some are so bad they’re good. And then some, like "Florida Firefight," are neither good nor bad … and action mediocrity has just never been my thing.