Rating: 
Summary: Worth a read!
Review: Sick Puppy is another Hiaasen classic. Full of unusual characters, humor, twisted and psychotic villains, this novel makes you laugh as well as ponder the impending future of humans versus nature. Fortunately "Skink," the ex-Governor of Florida returns, as well as the introduction of a new hero to champion the natural, unblemished part of Florida and oppose the crass commercialism of development and golf courses. Along with a black labrador, a beautiful but dissatisfied housewife, and a greedy lobbyist, this book is pure entertainment, a real page-turner! I loved it. I can't wait to read his next novel!
Rating: 
Summary: "Somebody's got to be angry or nothing gets fixed. "
Review: This is a book about vicariously doing what you know you "shouldn't" do--taking direct, personal action against those individual who profit from screwing up the world for the rest of us. Carl Hiaasen targets politicians, lobbyists, and developers who seek to line their own pockets at the expense of the common welfare. Not a dull, moralistic diatribe, Hiaasen dances with the absurd and exhibits a truly warped sense of humor that deeply satisfies the reader's sense of justice.Twilly Spree, the "hero" of this novel, makes an entrance into the tale by tailgating Palmer Stoat, a lobbyist and litterbug (among other, unredeemable personality traits). Twilly is out to teach Stoat a lesson--trying to change his sociopathic behavior. Stoat, however, seems not to have learned, not even in kindergarten, how to behave in society. No matter how extreme Twilly gets (and he does get extreme), Stoat remains clueless. Hiaasen demonstrates a truly enjoyable sense of the outrageous and improbable. In order to explain a forest bulldozing engineer's bent towards destruction, he spins the following: "Krimmler's antipathy toward nature was traceable to one seminal event: At age six, while attending a Lutheran church picnic, he'd been bitten on the scrotum by a wild chipmunk" (p. 292). Yet another character, Mr. Gash, enjoys layering audio tapes of 911 calls over classical music. Then there's Mr. Clapley, who carries Barbie dolls with him, and the hooker who only prostitutes herself for registered Republicans. All these characters pale, however, against Skink, the ex-governor who lives in the wild, dining on road-kill and preying on Florida's despoilers. If there is any redeeming value, beyond twisted humor (isn't that in and of itself redeeming?), in this book, we find it in a short speech by Skink to Twilly, who he has begun to mentor: "Son, I can't tell you what to do with your life--hell, you've seen what I've done with mine. But I will tell you there's probably no peace for people like you and me in this world. Somebody's got to be angry or nothing gets fixed. That's what we were put here for, to stay p_ss_d off" (p. 457). It's easy to finish the book, and go on to the next. After all, it's only fiction, right? I grew up in the San Bernardino Valley. Back then, orange groves ruled the land. Now, only a few remain. Developers are planting survey stakes in the hills where my friends and I used to build our fortresses and catch poison oak. It's not just Hiaasen villains who despoil the land, it's real life developers and politicians--destroying farmland and wilderness to make a fast buck, leaving the rest of us trapped in ever more gridlocked rush hour traffic. Maybe, between books (or even book reviews), you can find the time to check out your local conservation groups, and do a little something to throw a monkey wrench at the Stoats, Artemuses and Clapleys of this world. (If you'd like to discuss this book or review further, please click on the "About Me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)
Rating:
Summary: When you want something different
Review: I was weary with the "Oprah Book List" and other cathartic stories that people kept recommending to me when I came across this book. It's different...in a really good way. The characters are unique and entertaining with a little of the ridiculous thrown in (who of us hasn't dreamed of terrorizing a litterbug?), and the ending is a bit fantastic (cancel my Zoo Atlanta passes). But still, it makes you stay up late at night just to see what this band of screwballs will do next. I like the twists and turns Hiaasen gives us with this story. When you want to break away from the reading grind, this is a good book to try.
Rating: 
Summary: thin characters
Review: Verry thin characters in this book. Everyone is painted as all good or all bad, while in life this is not true. Not only are the characters thin but it seems that everyone was developed from a single childhood experience.
Rating:
Summary: Funny - funny - funny
Review: While not a book I plan to re-read, this meets another high mark - a book I would recommend to a friend. The characters are over the top, but you can identify with something in them all. The outrageous antics and craziness make this one of the few books I laughed out loud while read - a few times quite loudly, much to the dismay of my fellow air travelers.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much
Review: This was a very amusing book at the beginning. The characters were inventive and crazy enough to be intriguing. After a while, though, it just got to be way too ridiculous. In this book, golf course developers are all evil, and psychotic, murderous eco-terrorists are the good guys. At first I was willing to go along with this idea for entertainment's sake, but it shortly stopped being entertaining. Another problem I had with this book is that every character can trace back the core of his/her personality to one incident from childhood. For example, the contractor became a contractor because he hates nature because once a squirrel bit him in the scrotum. That seems a little adolescent to me. I was struggling between 2 stars and 3, and decided on 3 because it did have a promising start.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: When life feels like it's closing in on me, I reach for one of Hiassen's bizarre, irreverent books. Sick Puppy did not dissapoint. Having just finished it, I now feel much better and am again prepared to take life less seriously!
Rating:
Summary: Warped, wicked, fun
Review: If you have a cynical, sardonic, warped, wit and look upon government and industry with a jaundiced eye you will love this book. Those distraught over the devastation caused by development and disgusted by the subversion of government by lobbiests, and who occasionally respond by indulging in dark, gallows humor (rather than simply being severely depressed) will find this a tonic -- it is a great belly laugh. In "Sick Puppy" Hiaasen savagely and delightfully lampoons lobbiests, politicians, real estate developers, game hunters, cigar smokers, conspicuous consumption, and the decadence of the '90's. The ground he covers is all too familiar to anyone awake in recent years and he's careful to incorporate nearly all taboos. This book is outrageous and extremely entertaining -- it will make you laugh out loud (repeatedly) and is a great alternative to anger and depression. Clearly Hiaasen's attitude is if you can't beat them, mock them, which he does with gusto.
Rating:
Summary: And the dog isn't feeling good either
Review: Twilly Spree is a mid-twenties slacker living in the wilds even though he has the benefit of a five million dollar inheritance from the fruits of his grandfather's labors. Idealistic, he sees it as his moral responsibility to protect the environment from violators whether the act of denigration is a carelessly discarded cigarette butt or illegal dumping of toxic waste. Twilly has uncontrollable anger management issues, not comprehending the concept of measured response. When he encounters Palmer Stoat, an egotistical lobbyist for Floridian politicos, tossing food wrappers out of the window of his pristine Range Rover, Twilly sees it as his obligation to teach the self-absorbed conspicuous consumer a lesson he'll not soon forget. But the obtuse Palmer doesn't make the connection forcing Twilly to do something that could not be misunderstood. He kidnaps the lobbyist's lovable black labrador, McGuinn nee Boodle, leading to a series of extenuations, including a liaison with Palmer's trophy wife, Desi; relentless pursuit by a sexually deviant thug aptly named Mr. Gash; and the curious intervention of the eccentric ex-governor of Florida, Clinton Tyree. By the middle of the book, it wasn't entirely clear who is the titular 'sick puppy': 1) Hiaasen, for writing it; 2) any or all of the menagerie of delusional/psychotic/self-indulgent/perverted characters; 3) the dog; 4) me, for enjoying the demented romp, or; 5) all of the above. By the conclusion, "3" thru "5" were excludable. Up to the midpoint, Hiaasen had written a irreverent farce that had me chuckling with each succeeding page. The uptempo, witty dialogue is engaging and the scenarios he created were inspired. But suddenly, the story lost its' thrust, devolving into another 'hero in peril' story. Hiaasen also elects to incorporate narration from the dog's perspective, which would have been alright if the dog's view had been included from his first appearance. After 180 pages, it came across as an ineffective gimmick. The major deficiency is the story became too predictable and somewhat tedious. Whereas earlier I couldn't wait to see where Hiaasen was going, now I couldn't wait for him to just get there, all the time hoping he had some surprises in store. He didn't. SICK PUPPY has a top-notch beginning, but like an also-ran 400 meter sprinter, it labors down the stretch.
Rating:
Summary: Life going sour? Read Sick Puppy for a rememdy.
Review: This is the type of book to take on a cross country flight or read at the beach. Don't be surprised if people stare at you every time you burst out laughing from reading a passage in the book, there should be enough outbursts they'll think you're nuts. Go ahead, humor yourself, buy the book.
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