Category Archives: Satire

#Review #Audio – Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

Chaz Perrone might be the only marine scientist in the world who doesn’t know which way the Gulf Stream runs. He might also be the only one who went into biology just to make a killing, and now he’s found a way–doctoring water samples so that a ruthless agribusiness tycoon can continue illegally dumping fertilizer into the endangered Everglades. When Chaz suspects that his wife, Joey, has figured out his scam, he pushes her overboard from a cruise liner into the night-dark Atlantic. Unfortunately for Chaz, his wife doesn’t die in the fall.

Clinging blindly to a bale of Jamaican pot, Joey Perrone is plucked from the ocean by former cop and current loner Mick Stranahan. Instead of rushing to the police and reporting her husband’s crime, Joey decides to stay dead and (with Mick’s help) screw with Chaz until he screws himself.

As Joey haunts and taunts her homicidal husband, as Chaz’s cold-blooded cohorts in pollution grow uneasy about his ineptitude and increasingly erratic behavior, as Mick Stranahan discovers that six failed marriages and years of island solitude haven’t killed the reckless romantic in him, we’re taken on a hilarious, full-throttle, pure Hiaasen ride through the warped politics and mayhem of the human environment, and the human heart.

 

Goodreads

 

Amazon

Chirp

 

Twinsie Kelly’s Review

Skinny Dip is hilariously incredible! There is never a dull moment during this story. There are so many characters, all well developed, and each one plays a very important part with the story. Every decision, twist, turn, haunting, cheating, discovery….all of everything, I was hooked. What am I saying? I am hooked! This is the second book I have read by this author and Carl Hiaasen is in my top ten favorite! On more than one occasion I sat here with my mouth open, shaking my head in disbelief at what just happened then laughed my butt off at the response! It is hilarious if you have a twisted sense of humor….like me! I love the hijinks and craziness. Skinny Dip is one of those stories that is a train wreck that you just can’t stop watching. You just know something bad is going to happen, but you can’t look away. OOOOOHHHHH, and poor Chaz. How this comes full circle for him in the end had me in stitches. Literally, I was laughing out loud. Let me tell you that it was the absolute perfect ending.

 

Carl Hiaasen profile image

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives. He is a prize-winning journalist with a regular column in the Miami Herald and many articles in varied magazines. He started writing crime fiction in the early 1980s and has recently branched out into children’s books; he has also had several works of non-fiction published.

#Review #AudioBook – Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

Now an Apple Original series from Ted Lasso Executive Producer Bill Lawrence and starring Vince Vaughn • A wickedly funny novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Squeeze Me in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida—now, of the Bahamas as well—get their comeuppance.

“[A] comedic marvel … [Hiaasen] hasn’t written a novel this funny since Skinny Dip.”—The New York Times

Andrew Yancy—late of the Miami Police and soon-to-be-late of the Monroe County sheriff’s office—has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its shadowy owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, the sheriff might rescue him from his grisly Health Inspector gig (it’s not called the roach patrol for nothing). But first—this being Hiaasen country—Yancy must negotiate an obstacle course of wildly unpredictable events with a crew of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including his just-ex lover, a hot-blooded fugitive from Kansas; the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; two avariciously optimistic real-estate speculators; the Bahamian voodoo witch known as the Dragon Queen, whose suitors are blinded unto death by her peculiar charms; Yancy’s new true love, a kinky coroner; and the eponymous bad monkey, who with hilarious aplomb earns his place among Carl Hiaasen’s greatest characters.

 

Goodreads

 

Amazon

Chirp Books

 

Twinsie Kelly’s Review

Bad Monkey had me in stitches! I listened to this book in audio and the narrator was perfect for this story. For context, we have had a lot of things going on at our house and the house is in complete disarray. I decide to pop Bad Monkey in my earbuds and listen away while I am taking care of business. On numerous occasions, way more than I could keep track of, I found myself smiling, literally laughing out loud, and shaking my head at whatever shenanigan or situation Yancy just got himself caught up in again. My husband thought I was insane (shhhh, I am a little on the crazy side, LOL)! I could not get enough of this story! I was absolutely hooked when I found out why Yancy was kicked off the force. His actions were not right but it was sooooo right. You need to read this so you understand. It makes complete sense! All of the characters are well developed and have so many different quirks. Even Yancy, as unconventional as he is, his loyalty runs deep and his love of the Key Deer is amazing! There is a lot of dark humor but it is a comedic delight! There is no shortage of witty banter but a true mystery, nonetheless. OH, and let us not forget about the ARM! The dang arm! Oh, you must read this to find out what happens to the arm! You won’t be disappointed, I promise!

One note. I have not watched the TV series, but I did watch the trailer. In the trailer it appears that Yancy hits the guy in a golf cart and sends him into the water. This is NOT why he is kicked off the force in the book. I would suggest a read to find out why, it is much dirtier…..go on. You know you are intrigued now, LOL!

 

Carl Hiaasen profile image

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives. He is a prize-winning journalist with a regular column in the Miami Herald and many articles in varied magazines. He started writing crime fiction in the early 1980s and has recently branched out into children’s books; he has also had several works of non-fiction published.