“Where can I get that Wyoming printed instruction manual?” (source)

Yes, my friends and family have given me some great books I will catch up on.  And yes, I've had the same book listed under "Currently Reading" for years.  Still sometimes a book just jumps out at me.  Over the summer, I had a small break in school and it gave me a chance to do some recreational reading.  This book is small and it fit the bill.

I was at the local library with my family and while we were on our way out we passed the Florida section.  It was a treasure trove of Florida books.  Of course, the Redneck title caught my eye and the rest is history.  This book is the story of a man who inherited some land from his father and he goes to reclaim it from squatters.  The background of the land starts with a company that had bought a large portion of land and then sold them out as individual lots.  The onus was on the buyers to develop the land.  Many got caught up in the dream of owning some Florida property, Dennis Covington's father included.

Near the end of the father's life, he begins getting notices that people have essentially taken over his land and were using it as private hunting grounds.  Shortly after his father's death and armed with the proper documents of his new inheritance, Covington ventures to Florida to visit his property.  He is greeted with a gate, a shotgun, and a warning not to proceed.  Covington is not deterred, however, and begins to find ways to use land that is rightfully his.  All the while he finds himself under death threats and violence of the so called "Hunt Club."  He begins to unravel a scam and land takeover by local residents that had deep seated roots in Florida politics. 

This must be an old story right?  No one can just take over someone else's land by force these days right? Think again, this just recently happened.  While the beginning of the book and the end of the book sort of feel like loose fitting pieces, the bulk of the story is a riveting Florida adventure.  If you want a manly story based on true accounts, I still say River of Doubt is unmatched.  However, if you want a Florida based true adventure story for light reading, Redneck Riviera is a must.
3 1/2 Lizards (to put in perspective Jimmy Carter's Sharing Good Times was a 3 and River of Doubt was a 5):

"In a particularly upbeat note for the GOP, Republicans hold a 10- point lead over Democrats among likely voters who were asked which party’s candidate they preferred in November. That margin is the largest for the GOP since 1942, and the collapse has been swift: at the Fourth of July Democrats still led in Republicans on this question, if only by a single point, 47 percent to 46 percent." (source)