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Summary: All is Fair in Love, War and Real Estate
Review: Sick Puppy was a remarkably fast book, action packed with lots of humor. It all starts when Twilly Spree starts stalking a litterbug along a Florida highway. His pranks, targeted at getting Palmer Stoat to realize the error of throwing trash from his car, don't seem to really connect until Stoat's wife and dog get involved. Twilly fast goes from juvenile pranks to serious action as one thing leads to another and the cast begins to fill with more and more hilariously sinister characters. From a Barbie fixated land developer with a hit man on retainer to a used car salesman turned governor who dredges up a loose cannon from the past, all is fair in love, war and real estate.
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Summary: Classic Hiaasen -- with bite!
Review: "Sick Puppy," while perhaps not Hiaasen's greatest novel, is a return to form for the author, whose anger against venal politicians, lobbyists and developers has renewed vigor in this novel, making even his most well-worn recurring characters seem fresh and vital.The plot is vintage goofy Hiaasen, with an over-the-edge environmentalist (a Hiaasen standard) going after petty polluters, but things quickly spiral out of control, until he ends up kidnapping the dog, and periodically abducting the wife, of on of Florida's most loathsome lobbyists. From there, we get serious repurcussions and goofy supporting characters (including a hooker who will only sleep with registered Republicans), all vintage Hiaasen fare. While I've long been waiting for him to change up on his subject matter, like he did with "Stormy Weather," if only to recharge his creative batteries, "Sick Puppy" proves that even when staying in his traditional vein, Hiaasen can still write hits. Recommended for Hiaasen readers who have already read "Tourist Season," "Native Tongue" and "Skin Tight," and Elmore Leonard readers.
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Summary: Another great book by Hiaasen
Review: Hiaasen brilliantly makes you love the madman Twilly Spree who will stop at nothing to punish those who dare to litter or damage the environment. The twists and turns in the exciting plot will keep the reader on the edge of his seat and guessing all the way through this seedy novel. In his style of writing, Hiaasen is unashamedly reckless, which makes this book a step out for anyone used to reading childrens literature, or any writing where the author is even somewhat safe in the novel's content. This book holds back nothing, will teach you a couple of new terms, and plenty of new ways to use terms you probably already know. For those who cringe at the sound or thought of explicit language, drug use, or other adult situations, this book is not for you. It is a reckless but very well written book for the adventurous reader. If you are feeling a bit reckless yourself, pick this one off the shelf.
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Summary: Very Entertaining....
Review: This author can put you into the story! From reading late into the night to bringing it to the dinner table I was enthralled. I am not sure if it was more from the story makingm e laugh out loud or the fact that one particular part made me gag on my food!
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Summary: Twilly Spree is no Hayduke
Review: Twilly Spree is no Hayduke-- he is not the primeval he-man who hunts for survival, satirized instead in the former governor Clinton Tyree, which Hiaasen uses to wink at Abbey. Twilly is a disturbed, post-modern, spoiled brat with a penchant for pranks. A man with no subconscious that becomes the ideal subconcious of the reader. Hiaasen introduces the great casts of characters, but for most of the novel doesn't seem to know what to do with them. Parts of this novel are hilariously funny, and yet some others read like unedited, hurried up stuff. It's a pity, as Hiaasen's satiric look at pork-barrel politics and developers' greed is unrivaled in contemporary fiction. Cut a hundred pages or two (I picked up the paperback, your mileage might vary) and we could have something really funny, and thought provocative too: a rare and precious combination.
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Summary: Typical Hiaasen... and that's not a bad thing
Review: I had read a couple of Hiaasen books a while ago and then got on another reading bent and had forgotten to get back to him. I was in the library the other week lamenting how I had been reading child psychology, technical, and otherwise fairly heavy books for a bit and wanted something amusing and interesting to read, I remembered Hiaasen. If you're not familiar with him Hiaasen rights rather zany books about strange goings on in south Florida. I wouldn't say he is formulaic, but you could pick out his books without an author credit pretty easily once you've read a couple. This one is no different. Palmer Stoat is a professional lobbyist, a man proud that he massages the system for the benefit of his clients. He's also a pretty sleezy guy with some bad littering habits. Twilly Spree is an environmentalist with a screw loose who starts stalking Stoat when he catches him littering. Spree has money, Stoat has money, a beatiful wife, and a dog. Twilly learns what Palmer is lobbying for currently, a beachfront real estate development headed by a former drug trafficer with a perverted obsession with Barbie Dolls, and kidnapps the dog to deter him. Much zany hijinks ensue... and you've got a pretty funny and well written book. I can't say I've read all of Carl's books to say which one is the best, but this one is pretty good. You've got some BIZARRO characters, with some nice touches (the 911 tapes and the buzzard beaks to name two). I really enjoyed the story, though the zaniness makes some of the plot points and twists just a bit hard to suspend THAT much disbelief. But at the end of the book I enjoyed having read it. If you've read Hiaasen or Dave Barry novels before and enjoyed them, you're probably going to enjoy this one too. If you haven't enjoyed the others this isn't likely to change your mind and if you've never tried them this is a good enough example of the style to give it a shot.
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Summary: Sick Puppy: a nauseating read
Review: A miserable read! Thought he was kidding with the enviro-nut spin in the 1st 10 pages, but it kept getting worse. The celebrated characters are criminals, and the romantic interlopers are a pair composed of an unbathed deadbeat living off inheritance (obviously wouldn't understand economics) and a cheating wife (who also had not clue about economics). More nauseating than the most left-wing paraphernalia you can buy in the free world (but maybe you could get worse in Cuba or China; maybe France). I can read a book every 1 - 2 nights, but it's been over a week and I can't finish this piece of rot. Rare that I put a book down without finishing, but I've had pushishment enough already. MISERABLE!
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Summary: Neatness Counts!
Review: Have you ever been annoyed by seeing someone throw trash from a car window into a pristine environment? If yes, what did you do? Chances are that you muttered a few words and soon forgot the incident. Twilly Spree goes into total road rage in such situations (after first stopping to pick up the trash). In this waking daydream, Twilly pursues corrupt lobbyist Palmer Stoat hoping to cure him of his littering. In the process, Twilly finds that Palmer is a greater threat to the environment than through his littering. Mother Nature, Stoat's dog (renamed McGuinn rather than Boodle) and Stoat's wife team up to help Twilly right the wrongs that Stoat is pursuing. The satire concerning corrupt politicians and developers is pretty extreme, so be prepared for broad humor. In their quest for power and the fast buck, these men end up acquiring the counterfeit version of everything they seek . . . and usually are too obtuse to tell the difference between counterfeit and the real thing. At the same time, they are totally oblivious to the natural beauty around them. Twilly and the environmentalists come across as a modern-day anti-litter S.W.A.T. unit. Their lives are crazed by the indifference to nature that they see around them. Sick Puppy is a wonderful choice title for this book, because the dog is the least sick puppy in this book. Why did I rate the book four stars rather than five? In a number of places, the plot slows down to preen the heroes. Mr. Hiaasen didn't seem to fully respect his own story in the process. I was tempted, though, to give the book five stars anyway for the ending. It's quite imaginative. So what will you do the next time you see someone littering?
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Summary: unexpected depth
Review: After reading "Basket Case," which felt like enjoyable high-end trash, I picked up "Sick Puppy." The difference in sophistication of voice and character depiction was striking; "Puppy" moves up to enjoyable low-end literary fiction (if there really ARE such snobbish distinctions). My strongest reaction is that this is the best T.C. Boyle novel that T.C. Boyle never wrote. The similarity in voice, character, matter-of-factness about the dark and absurd, etc. is astounding but not off-putting (I like Boyle, and am curious if Hiaasen really was reading his work during the writing period for "Sick Puppy"). This book probably takes a strong sense of dark humor and a strong liberal bent to stomach, but for those who have both, it's a bit more than just a fun read.
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Summary: The Perfect Summer Read in any Toxic Paradise
Review: I have read all of the Hiaasen novels since 1993 when a good friend in IRELAND first told me about "Skin Tight". "Sick Puppy", although more introvertedly humorous, still produces the occasional belly laugh. Characterizations are Hiaasen's strength with the narative being secondary. In "Sick Puppy" the title drives the book, a metaphor for both it's protagonist and the wealth of secondary eccentrics. LONG LIVE SKINK!
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