Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen

This book is Hiaasen at his finest. We have the story of a stripper with a heart of gold. She was formerly a secretary for the FBI but her no-good husband is a felon so she got fired. To add insult to injury, he turned state’s witness so his record’s been expunged. The judge in their custody case only sees that Erin has a “bad job” so she is definitely an unfit mother. Meanwhile, her ex is still stealing wheel chairs and now he’s using their kid to do it.
While she’s dancing one night, a bachelor party gets a little rowdy and a stranger attacks the groom with a bottle hard enough to put him in the hospital. This sets off a chain of events that leads to a number of deaths and Erin being put in danger. Also included? A senator, a sugar plantation, and a kinkajou.
We do get to see Al Garcia from the Skink series as well. He’s trying to take some time off with his new wife Donna and her two kids when the son finds one fo the formerly mentioned dead people.
A wild ride this story is told cleanly with a few extra details that really make the story come alive.

Four stars

This book came out September 1, 1993

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen

Ann DeLusia has a pretty sweet deal. She's a body double for a woman who has been a pop star for the last eight years, Cherry Pye. It's a recognizable story, stage parents who pushed their daughter into a situation so that they could have a star. Now, Cherry is fueled mostly by drugs and alcohol. Thus, the need for a body double or "undercover stunt double." Mostly, she hangs out in swanky hotels, eating room service, and earning a hefty pay check. 

Cherry has just mixed a pound of bird seed with her drugs so she's on her way to rehab so Ann is on deck. On her way to "vacation," the limo spins out and she's rescued by a mysterious stranger. They rob a boss but then she gets back to work.

The return of CHEMO! He his hired to be Cherry's bodyguard/sober companion. He protects Cherry but it's Ann who is kidnapped by a rabid fan/paparazzo. 

Didn't hang together as well as some of the other Hiaasen stories but an interesting read nonetheless.

Three stars
Skink #6

This book came out July 26, 2010

Follows Skinny Dip

Followed by No Surrender

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

My favorite Carl Hiaasen. This one starts when Chaz Perrone dumps his wife Joey over the side of the cruise they are taking in to celebrate their second anniversary. But she was a collegiate swimmer and makes it to the island where Mick Stranahan is living. Instead of going to the cops, Joey tries to figure out why Chaz tried to kill her. It turns out that Chaz is using his job as a biologist to cover up the fact that Red Hammernut is polluting the Everglades. 

Fun and craziness ensues. I love it.

Four stars

Skink, #5; Mick Stranahan #2

This book came out in 2004

Follows Sick Puppy; Skin Tight

Followed by 

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

The first Mick Stranahan book. In this book, an old case is coming back to bite him in the butt. A nurse is blackmailing the doctor who killed a patient and has told the doctor that Stranahan is actually the one doing the blackmailing. The doctor hires a seven-foot tall, pasty white guy who has burns all over his face from electrolysis gone wrong. Meanwhile, a Maury Povich-type television personality is also on the case with his producer and a camera man. He is determined to get a big story any way he can, even getting plastic surgery from the doctor. Hijinks ensue

Four stars

Mick Stranahan #1

This book came out September 1, 1989

Followed by Skinny Dip

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

This is a Skink book but there isn't a lot of Skink in it. Instead, we have the story of Twilly Spree. Young and wealthy enough not to have to work, Twilly loved the large expanses of undisturbed Florida in his youth. Too bad his father was one of the developer's that took that all away. It turned young Twilly against all people that he thought were encroaching on Nature. Including the man who, at the beginning of the story, litters. Twilly dumps a load of garbage in the man's car but that still doesn't stop the man. So Twilly steps up his game.

Hiaasen hijinks. If you like the author, you'll like this addition to the series.

Three stars

Skink #4

This book came out in 2000

Follows Stormy Weather

Followed by Skinny Dip

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen

Natural disasters bring out the best and the worst in people. Bonnie is learning that about her new husband Max when a hurricane rips through Florida during their honeymoon. He even drags her away from the Magic Kingdom to see the effects of the storm. While he is gleefully taping the aftermath, he is bitten by a monkey and then kidnapped by a crazy man. Bonnie can't get anyone to listen to her until she meets Augustine who is dealing with his own problems after his uncles exotic animals have all escaped and are running loose. Finally, state trooper Jim Tile joins them; he is warily confident he knows just who the kidnapper is and how to find Bonnie's husband. 

Their story is interwoven and then combined with two people, Edie and Snapper, who have come down to try and con some insurance money out of the destruction.

Three stars

Skink #3

This book came out August 15, 1995

Follows Native Tongue

Followed by Sick Puppy

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen

Francis X. Kingsbury just wants his "Amazing Kingdom of Thrills" to make as much money as that other theme park in Florida. His PR man, Joe Winder is skeptical of how they are trying to do that, including advertising that the park is advertising that they will be saving the blue-tongued mango voles. Or they would be, if someone hadn't stolen the last mating pair. 

Well, it was two some ones and they immediately lost the little voles. Or threw one out the van window. But who knew it would be at the behest of a little old lady? Yes, she's the leader of a local wildlife group. But who knew she'd shoot both of them?

This book brings the trademark Hiaasen crazy that blends a bit of ecoterrorism. This includes the beloved former governor, Skink.

Three stars

Skink #2

This book came out in 1991

Follows Double Whammy

Followed by Stormy Weather

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen

R. J. Decker is a photographer hired to figure out the cheating in the major bass tournaments in the South. In his quest, he gets beat up, meets Skink (a major character in five of Hiaasen's books) and reunites with the ex-wife with whom he is still in love.
This book is a wild ride but fun to read while still having a moral. 

Three stars

Skink #1
This book came out March 1, 2005

Followed by Native Tongue

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

I've actually read this book before but hearing it just emphasizes the craziness that is involved. Keyes is a private detective, former newspaperman, whose old co-worker and ex-girlfriend have set off a chain of events, including many murders, that are designed to get the tourists and other interlopers out of Florida. It's a great story which makes no sense but it's certainly a fun ride.

Three and a half stars
This book came out in 1986

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own
 

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen

 The President is in town and that means his most ardent supporters, including a group of wealthy white women known as the POTUSussies. Too bad one of them has disappeared... and in a truly gruesome manner. What follows is a classic Hiaasen romp with a story that layers upon itself in delightful ways. You've got a one-handed, vindictive poacher who is chasing down the person we follow most in this series, Angela 'Angie' Armstrong, former felon and vet student, now someone who comes in and cleans out the animals you don't want in your home. Or on your golf course...

If you like Hiaasen, you will enjoy seeing characters from earlier books in the series. If you've never read Hiaasen but enjoy a good political satire, this is also going to be the book for you.
Four stars

This book came out September 29th, 2020
Borrowed as a hard copy from the library
Opinions are my own