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Lovereading view...
Hiassen is definitely back on top form with crime meets black comedy. Scumbag husbands, wives who aren’t dead and the Florida Everglades as a backdrop. Romantic and with page turning pace – splendid.
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Synopsis
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Joey Perrone is a woman with a mission. She’s just been pushed overboard from a cruise liner into the icy Atlantic Ocean by Chaz, her scumbag of a husband – and survived to tell the tale. She knows that Chaz is not the brightest marine scientist in the world – hell, he can’t even work out which way the Gulf Stream runs. And if there’s one place he hates it’s the Florida Everglades, an area he’s supposed to be working to protect. But he’s on to something; and it’s something so big and so lucrative it’s worth killing for. Joey turns to the man who’s pulled her from the sea: former cop, current loner, Mick Stranahan. And with a little help from her friends, Mick’s dog, and a few of Chaz’s enemies, they hit on a scheme that should drive Chaz mad, while allowing her to get even. As Joey haunts and taunts her homicidal husband; as Chaz’s cold-blooded cohorts in crime grow uneasy with his increasingly erratic behaviour; as Mick discovers that six failed marriages have not killed his ability to fall in love all over again, Carl Hiaasen takes us on a hilarious, romantic, page-turning journey through the mayhem created by the human heart.
Reviews
Chaz Perrone is a marine biologist, responsible for monitoring the pollution in the Everglades. The only trouble is, Chaz knows zilch about marine biology and is in the pay of unscrupulous tycoon Red Hammernut. Red's agricultural empire is pumping gallons of phosphates into the Florida swamps ; it's Chaz's job is to doctor the figures to keep the environmental agencies happy. But when Joey, his streetwise, beautiful wife, discovers finds him falsifying water samples, Chaz can only think of one way to shut her up - murder. Hatching the perfect plan, he whisks Joey away for a romantic anniversary cruise, and deftly tips her over the side in the middle of the night, leaving her to be devoured by sharks. Joey, however, is made of sterner stuff; after hours clinging onto a bale of Jamaican pot, she is rescued by Mick Stranahan, an ex-cop who has carved out a solitary life for himself on an island off the Florida coast. Joey is mad - so mad that despite Stranahan's reservations, she is determined to get even - and make her husband's life a living hell. What follows is grade one Hiaasen - a roller coaster ride, packed with hilarious characters ranging from the pathetically priapic Chaz to the lugubrious snake-obsessed Scandinavian detective, Rolvaag, and Tool, a hirsute giant with a morbid fascination for roadside memorials. A winning combination of biting satire and environmental thriller, with more coils in the plot than one of Rolvaag's pythons, Skinny Dip is Hiaasen at his best. (Kirkus UK)
About the Author
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Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He is the author of nine previous novels, including Sick Puppy, Lucky You, Stormy Weather and Basket Case. He also writes a twice weekly metropolitan column for the Miami Herald.
Photograph by Elena Seibert
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Book Info
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Categories
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Categories
Crime / Who-dunit
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