Review By Brad Quinn

Carl Hiassen writes episodic, fast-paced novels that read like movies. It's surprising, then, that Hollywood's adaptions of his work, have thus far had little success on the screen -- Did anyone see Striptease? Ouch!

No matter. Hiassen's novels (Stormy Weather, Native Tongue) are still the perfect in-flight entertainment, and far more entertaining than any in-flight movie you are likely to see. Look around next time you fly. You're almost certain to see one of Hiassen's colorful paperback covers in the hands of a passenger or two.

Hiassen writes humorous crime novels about Florida, often with an ecological theme. Not since John McDonald's Travis McGee took on Florida baddies while bedding beauties on The Busted Flush has the state been so hilariously documented. Of course, Hiassen is trying to be funny. Let's just say McDonald's books are a product of their era.

In Hiassen's latest, Sick Puppy, litterbugs take it on the chin when millionaire eco-terrorist Twilly Spree sets out to avenge every hamburger wrapper, Coke can and cigarette butt that he sees improperly discarded. Sleazy lobbyist Palmer Stoat tosses trash from his car on a Florida highway, and Spree begins a project of terror that involves stealing Stoat's wife and dog, dumping trash in his convertible, filling his jeep with insects and removing all the glass eyeballs from the mounted animal heads in his den. To be sure, Twilly Spree is not your garden variety environmentalist -- think something more along the lines of a tree hugging Dr. Phibes. In other words, Spree is a bit of a psychopath. Lovable, but a psychopath.

It helps that the bad guys in Sick Puppy are so hilariously despicable: Jet-skiing, pelican-killing frat boys, Barbie-obsessed developers, hunters who kill endangered species and a serial killer who gets his kicks by listening to 911 tapes. No matter how deranged Spree might be, he's undeniably appealing compared tothe rest of the novel's ne'er-do-wells. And of course Spree has the resources to carry out his elaborate revenge plots. It seems that with a million bucks, anyone can be Superman, even a nutcase like Spree.

Although it's nice to see the bad guys get their just desserts, I found myself hoping that Spree would pull back from his self-destructive eco-campaign before he took it too far. And that's a great part of the tension of the novel: Will Spree carry on his well-intentioned reign of terror, or will he be saved by the love of Palmer Stoat's wife, Desi, and his black labrador, Boodle?

OK, it's a little archaic to have a novel hinge on the love of a good woman and a dog, but Hiaasen's strength as a novelist is not really plot or even character. His characters are funny, but they are the broadly drawn, two-dimensional characters that are the staple of Hollywood films. And often times Hiaasen's plots seem far-fetched and contrived. I rarely finish a Hiassen novel though I've dipped into several. So what's left? Like Elmore Leonard or perhaps even Raymond Chandler, Hiaasen writes hilarious, rapid-fire dialogue, and he has an incredible insight into just how stupid people can be. Hiaasen can spot a dumbass a mile away, and it's extraordinary just how entertaining they become in his hands.

The crime novel has a long history of avenging angels who become victims of their own senses of justice, and Hiaasen uses that motif to his advantage in Sick Puppy. Hiassen is one of the few genre novelists who takes a political stance. And Sick Puppy reminds us how powerful a tool satire can be for advancing a political agenda. Hiaasen is a mass market novelist working in a little-respected genre, yet his message comes through loud and clear: Twilly Spree is only as radical as the age he lives in, and to cope with the ecological threat to the planet, we might need a few nut cases like Twilly Spree. ©

E-mail Brad Quinn

The Dish (January 27, 2000)
The Dish (January 13, 2000)

personals | cover | listings | humor | news | movies | music | arts & entertainment | dining | classifieds | mediakit | home

Arts Beat
An Arts Oasis By Any Other Name

Writer's Block
Cat. K-A-T. Cat.

Curtain Call

Wilkommen...
This 'Cabaret' has a graphic frankness that wasn't possible in 1966

Dangerous Woman
Lesley Bevan is playing her first CSF leading role as the 'Shrew'

The Sound of Silence
Dale Hodges is stunning in Playhouse's regional premiere of award-winning 'Wit'

A New Style
H.T. Chen's dance company blends Eastern and Western traditions

	Join the CityBeat Mailing List
	» JOIN NOW