Carl Hiaasen: Mystery/SuspenseCarl Hiaasen's day job is working at the Miami Herald, the same paper where Dave Barry works. In the Hiaasen universe Florida is a place of great beauty and evil. The small evils include prejudiced rednecks, while the large evils consist of corrupt politicians and the ultimate large evil, large-scale development. But just because there is evil and insanity and violence, there is no reason to lose your sense of humor.Hiaasen writes novels that somehow make criminals, violence, corruption and bigotry humorous without trivializing them. Good always triumphs, but you would not believe what it has to go through to get there. Oh, and the criminals are mentally unbalanced as are some of the good guys. Any one of his novels is a good bet, but these are some of my favorites.
Lucky YouThis is Hiaasen's most recent novel. It follows two winning lottery tickets through their travels, during which they encounter the best and the worst of Florida.Paperback ISBN: 0-446-60465-8
Strip TeaseA great novel that was made into an awful movie. Everything that makes it a great book made it lousy movie. In the book the stripping takes place where you cannot see it allowing the rest of the story to happen. In the movie the stripping took over the story. Anyway, forget about the movie and read the book.Paperback ISBN: 0-446-60066-0
Stormy WeatherThis novel contains my favorite characters that Hiaasen has created. These are the mentally-imbalanced former governor of Florida (the only ethical person in recent history to be elected governor of Florida), and the African-American highway patrol officer who used to be his personal trooper. Add to this a massive hurricane and the normal insanity and greed that Hiaasen tells us exists in Florida and you have quite a story.Paperback ISBN: 0-446-60342-2
Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the WorldI have not read this yet. It appears to be non-fiction about that largest evil, large-scale development, and the company that does more of it in Florida than anyone else. |
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