Rating: 
Summary: Oh, You Dawg!
Review: Every time I read one of his novels, I get this crazed desire to open a Carl Hiassen fan club, with me, naturally, as the president and Number One admirer. I dream of cooking him a pot of home-cooked road-kill stew (using only the freshest ingredients, of course), then, smoking our Cuban cigars while kicking back as he rambles about anything that pops into his brilliant mind for the rest of the evening. That's how much I admire this man!This book is laugh-out-loud hilarious. And, as usual with Hiassen, it is crammed with a slew of mangy, loathsome characters and impossible situations. You wonder how they can possibly connect. But never fear - by the time you get to the uproarious ending, everything makes sense (in Hiassen terms, that is). The assortment of characters includes ones you can love (like the flatulent black Labrador retriever named Boodle and/or McGuinn), to ones you want to throw tomatoes at (i.e., Mr. Gash, a professional killer who gets his jollies by listening to taped bootleg calls of people pouring their hearts out to 911 operators as they are being murdered). One thing is certain: the bad guys always get what's coming to them; one way or another, they pay for their crimes. Too bad real life can't be like that! Even though this is a satirical novel -- and Mr. Hiassen is the King of Farce - I got the feeling that the author is really angry in this one. His satire is more thinly disguised than in any of his other novels I have read, and rightly so. I wouldn't doubt that the crooked politicians, lobbyists and businessmen he created as fictional actually have real-life counterparts on the Florida golf courses making deals to sell out what is left of the state's natural resources. (The "pregnant chad" Year 2000 Presidential election fiasco in Florida, in fact, could have been a novel penned by Hiassen!) After reading SICK PUPPY, my sole mission has become to convince the dude, for the good of the country, to run for United States President in 2004.
Rating: 
Summary: Regained Form for Hiaasen
Review: After Hiaasen's last two novels "Stromy Weather" and "Lucky You" I wondered if my favorite author had slipped a notch or two. Hiaasen returns with "Sick Puppy" a dark but funny look at the seedy side of political lobbyists. Hiaasen goes too what he knows best in "Sick Puppy". Corruption, the destruction of Florida's great nature and good old boy ex-govenor Clinton Tyree or Skink to true Hiaasen fans. In "Sick Puppy" Hiassen introduces us too Willy Spree, who is like a Skink Jr. On a highway Spree sees a literbug and decides he will teach this literbug a lesson. The literbug is Palmer Stoat a corrupt lobbyist who is the middle of getting the Shearwater Island Resort throught the capitol. After a few hilarous pranks, Spree finds out about the resort and is determined to stop the resort and save the small island from the bulldozer. He ends up dognapping Stoat's dog, a lovable black lab named Boodle. Boodle whose name gets changed too McGuinn is the star of this novel. The following events are funny involving great characters, both good and bad that only Hiaasen can create. I did notice that this book is much more well rounded than the previous two. Hiassen uses his typical style and timeline to create another fantastic read. This one is a must for any Hiaasen fan.
Rating:
Summary: Great as literature or a musical instrument!
Review: Sick Puppy is a wonderful book. A good read, and also it makes really cool noises when you scratch it (hardcover). I read the book, and when my eyes got tired, I played Classic Rock on the book jacket. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but could Skink be the antichrist? There are a lot of parallels in Hiaasen's books that would indicate that it might be the case. After all, religious scholars say the antichrist is in human form here on earth and is a militant environmentalist. Supposedly, eating roadkill would fit the description, too. Antichrist is supposed to not kill animals himself, but has no qualms about eating those which are already dead. That's my belief, and it is a bit bizarre, but it makes reading Hiaasen all the more fascinating. Well, if not, the scenarios in his books (which are filled with the type of events that would potentially be leading up to the second coming and Skink himself), are eerily similar to what religious scholars believe to be true.
Rating:
Summary: the funniest thing i've ever read
Review: Anyone who criticizes Carl Hiaasen's work obviously has no sense of humor. I've found every book that I've read by Mr. Hiaasen (5 to be exact) to be so funny that I would be grocery shopping, thinking about what I read, and all of a sudden just burst out laughing. Never in my life have I laughed at anything more than his books. Even stand up comedians haven't made me laugh as much as Mr. Hiaasen has. He gives you such a vivid picture of what these characters look like and the things that they go through, it's as if I'm watching a movie in full color. Mr. Hiaasen, I thank God that there are people out there like you who have such a wonderful sense of humor. Laughter is good for you and I thank you for giving me so many laughs over the years.
Rating: 
Summary: Still funny
Review: I've read all but two of Hiaasen's books at this point so I think I'm pretty familiar with his oeuvre, as they say. And although this may not be Hiaasen at his quintissential best, it's still a very funny book. The situation with the two powdered-rhino-horn snorting, twin Barbie dolls, the way the bad-guy hit man, Mr. Gash, ironically winds up as a 911 emergency himself (he gets off listening to tapes of 911 calls), and the final climactic hunting scene with the senile rhino are all hilarious. Ex-governor Skink also has a major role, which I missed from the last two Hiaasen novels I read, where he wasn't present. His friend and protector, Jim Tile, the devoted Florida State Trooper, is also back in this book, and they always make a good pair. The way the culpable lobbyist, Palmer Stout, comes in for various abuses at the hands of Twilly Spree (not to mention the occasional hilarious descriptive details, such as Hiaasen referring to Stoat's "shrunken genitalia") had me laughing again. Although some of Hiaasen's themes are getting a little used at this point, this is still a funny book and I would recommend it to Hiaasen fans as well as newcomers to his fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Sick Puppy
Review: I think the sick puppy is the author.
Rating:
Summary: First Hiaasen
Review: Must admit this is my first Carl Hiaasen book...Loved it. I was never sure which way the story would go. The originality and comedic touches were great. The characters and there eccentricities were outstanding. Everything from Clapley's barbie doll fetish too Stoats' misquotes (from song lyrics) too Mr. Gash and his need for a 911 fix. With the many interesting characters and oddball situations, I found this to be one great read. Highly recommended...
Rating:
Summary: Owned by a Lab?
Review: If you own a Lab, or are owned by one, you will appreciate this book. Yes, the premise is absurd, delightfully so. If you are in the mood for an easy read - and a funny read - this is a nice little book to spend some time with.
Rating: 
Summary: Tired Puppy
Review: Hiaasen keeps writing the same book over and over. It started out as a laugh-out-loud, wildly entertaining read, but has grown stale with repetition. Sick Puppy offers some vintage Hiaasen lines, but if you've read the others, you won't find anything new here.
Rating:
Summary: Same old crop of baddies...
Review: same old formulaic mess. Hiaasen uses the stock plot of just about every novelist in the current stable. Keen disappointments abound. Trust me, you can wait for the paperback to confirm what I'm saying here.
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