This is a dive in head first and read until you're dizzy book, so utterly brilliant and readable it’s scary! The totally bizarre and freakily sane Skink joins detective forces with Richard, who is looking for his cousin Malley after she runs away with a man she met online. With laugh until you gasp for air moments, mostly involving Skink, you quickly realise he is one of the most amazing characters to ever appear in print - would you actually want to meet him? Oh yes, most definitely! Some authors have that undefinable edge, that ability to take you right there, to the place of their choosing, Hiaasen most certainly has the gift. This is an unforgettable must read of a crime / mystery novel for young adults.
P.S. this is so unputdownable, don’t leave it around for other people to pick up until you’ve finished reading it - as you won't get it back!
Typical Malley - to avoid being shipped off to boarding school, she takes off with some guy she met online. Poor Richard - he knows his cousin's in trouble before she does. Wild Skink - he's a ragged, one-eyed ex-governor of Florida, and enough of a renegade to think he can track Malley down. With Richard riding shotgun, the unlikely pair scour the state, undaunted by blinding storms, crazed pigs, flying bullets and giant gators. Carl Hiaasen first introduced readers to Skink more than 25 years ago in DOUBLE WHAMMY, and he quickly became Hiaasen's most iconic and beloved character, appearing in six novels to date. Both teens and adults will be thrilled to catch sight of the elusive 'captain' as he pursues his own unique brand of swamp justice. With Skink at the wheel, the search for a missing girl is both nail-bitingly tense and laugh-out-loud funny.
Satire is a powerful weapon in the hands of an expert , and you're more likely to laugh out loud than cry during this book because the situations the characters get themselves into are so utterly off-the-wall... well worth a look. THE BOOK BAG
An hilarious, edge of your seat read. Animal lovers everywhere will love this great story about dangerous creatures, which also gives a behind the scenes look at how the worst TV shows are made. -- Julia Eccleshare LOVEREADING4KIDS
Author
About Carl Hiaasen
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.
