I'd always meant to read Carl Hiassen after seeing him speak at a book event. He's funny and smart.
And, Skinny Dip shows that Hiassen is both funny and smart.
The novel opens when the heroine is tossed overboard, on a cruise she took with her husband to celebrate their second anniversary, by that same husband.
Luckily for her, she's a championship swimmer. She survives, and while it takes her some time to recover from the shock of what's happened to her, she undertakes a complicated scheme to get revenge on her husband.
Along the way, we meet a wonderful cast of highly original characters. One is the police detective investigating her disappearance, Rolvaag. As in the best thrillers, the investigation of one crime leads to the discovery of another -- the systematic destruction of Florida's Everglades by agricultural polluters.
Hiassen is a newspaper reporter from Miami who's crafted a mystery/romance/revenge fantasy/satire/farce out of the sobering facts of south Florida's economy.
As a reader, I was delighted by Hiassen's many literary allusions, from the copy of Madame Bovary the detective finds by the disappeared woman's bedside, to his own name, to the name of the criminal mastermind Samuel Johnson Hammernut, to his enforcer, a character right out of Flannery O'Connor.
If you enjoyed the movie The Orchid Thief, you'll definitely enjoy this novel. While I was reading it, I was frequently asked, "Is it funny?" by a friend and I said, "It's not ha ha funny." But when I read a passage between Rolvaag and his commander out loud to her, we both laughed.
Hiassen is a masterful writer. The novel is well-structured and he has a gift for dialogue that is both funny and rings true. While the plot's twists and turns would leave any sensible reader saying, "This could never happen in real life," Hiassen builds his plot on current economic realities that give his prose the ring of truth.
I see this novel has having something for everyone: a cop who's a masterful player of office politics; a world-weary retired cop; a lovelorn heroine who finds herself; some southern Gothic characters; a satisfying ending and a briskly-paced plot. Enjoy.
Hiassen has a new book out now: Star Island - I would say inspired by Britney Spears.
ReplyDeleteBookmarks magazine said: "Despite their complaints, reviewers generally enjoyed Star Island, and readers will also laugh at Hiaasen's "latest celebration of the grotesques and morally ambiguous citizens of his native Florida" (San Francisco Chronicle), even if the novel doesn't rate as one of his best." It's hard not to like Carl Hiassen - he's very likable and erudite in an undercover sort of way.