Fantasy in Florida

About the Book

Kenneth Taragano is a research scientist for a bio-tech company in Palm Beach, Florida. He has discovered the magic bullet that promises cures for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and whatever else ails you, to age 200, at least. His company won’t believe him, so he sells it to a company in Brazil, and this story is about the contest for control of the formula and its promised multiple fortunes. It takes place, mostly, in the unique world of Key West, where, during the annual FantasyFest on Halloween weekend, body paint is an acceptable, and preferred, substitute for clothing. All the people, and most of the places are fictional and never really existed, but FantasyFest is not fiction The parties and the costumes really are just as described. The adventure is related by the typical fictional Private Investigator, here named Thad Branson. Other characters are Joi, whose neck-to-toe dress is just not quite totally transparent, and Betsy, who is lounging on the sidewalk along Duval street in a skirt, “all of 8 inches long, and nothing else, not even paint.” This is pretty normal for FantasyFest. . Thad is an airplane pilot, and an ex-naval officer, so airplanes and boats are part of the adventures. He is admonished at one point to “watch your six”, and this is how he does it. 227 words

About the Author

John Mahon is new to the book publishing world - this is his first novel - but he is not new to writing. The Mahon family - John, his father, his four uncles and only male cousin, have been in the newspaper and commercial printing business for over 100 years. His father started work as a “roller boy” on a Washington Hand Press in 1904. John published three small weeklies for 23 years and also worked on a larger nearby daily paper for part of that time. He amassed a “wall-full” of prizes for editorials, current affairs commentary, and feature stories, with pictures, for their annual Vacation and Progress special editions. This book reflects his enjoyment of the life-style of southeast Florida, including the unique world of the Florida Keys, where he lived for many years, in and out of the navy. He was a torpedo-plane pilot in a carrier air-group and later navigator and communications officer in several surface warships. Now at age 85 he still owns and flies his own airplane, and enjoys that special world, also. He now lives, with his wife, in Albertville, Alabama, with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren scattered across the south (plus Springfield, Massachusetts)