Rating: 
Summary: Half-hearted Hiaasen
Review: I read this book and Hiaasen's Sick Puppy back-to-back. The styles are almost like two different writers. This particular book adds nothing to Carl Hiaasen's works that he has not done before. The plot really had some potential, but was never realized. The idea of ruthless lottery winners not being satisfied with winning only half the lottery is not that farfetched. But the characters, in typical Hiaasen style are out there, slightly resembling some people you could find in the real world. The hero and heroin share a strange attraction and team up to recover her stolen ticket from some not-ready-for-primetime militia leaders. In between these characters lie a group of people taking advantage of religious beliefs and so-called miracles. The typical Hiaasen trademarks are in here; something always seems to happen to someone's appendages and there are the cracks on the evil tourist industry in Florida. Unfortunately, the author almost seemed to be writing this half-heartedly. This book is light reading and moves pretty quick but for real humor, you should check out his other books.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite the same
Review: As a devoted Hiaasen fan, I was a little let down by this book. It did satisfy in the sacastic and peculiar manner to which his fans have become accustomed but, the finished product was not up to par with his others. The story contains the usual set of characters: disgruntled-newspaper-writer-turned-sleuth, strong-willed woman that has captured the writer's eye, an area of virgin land that is threatened by "progress," and an army of bizarre and eccentric characters which are Hiassen's trademark. These are enough to keep you interested. The only problem is that the book begins to drag on with too many loose ends to tie up. It seems that instead of putting more into each character, there were more surface characters added. This is still a very good read. Few other novels can match the wit of Hiaasen. For those that have not familiar with this Hiassen maybe this is a good introduction. Then go back and read the earlier books (and the latest Sick Puppy), to understand just how funny and imaginative he is.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good!
Review: This was the first Carl Hiaaen novel that I've ever read, and I must say that I enjoyed it. The novel is about Grange, Florida, women JoLayne Lucks, and how she wins the lottery, loses her ticket, and then gets it back. Carl Hiaasen has a truly twisted and funny mind, and "Lucky You" shows it. He brings in a cast of pshycopaths, Christian Pilgrims, crazy people, and just normal people. That combined with an original, imaginative plot, gives you a very funny read. This wasn't the funniest novel that I've ever read, but certainly a good one. So, if you're looking for a good, fast read, then "Lucky You" is for you. Buy this book and enjoy. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: Still twisted
Review: I picked up my first Hiaasen in an airport for an easy read over 10 years ago. Fell in love with his work. I was living in south Florida at the time and was familiar with many of the areas he mentions, as well as many of the personalities. This book wasn't as entertaining as Tourist Season, or as gut busting as Double Whammy but all in all an entertaining read. I look forward to his next book. Maybe a little something about the blue haired on florida's west coast?.....
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Reviews Here Would Indicate
Review: Reading a Carl Hiaasen novel is somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me, as I am indirectly a target of many of Carl's jokes being a South Florida lawyer. However, whenever I am temporarily tired of heavy prose or detailed non-fiction and in the mood for a "quick fix", a page turner written with humor and a little suspense by an author who doesn't take himself too seriously , I pick up a novel by someone like Hiaasen or Kinky Friedman. You will not find the "young handsome hero gets chased by the CIA and/or FBI as he falls in love with the beautiful Supreme Court law clerk" nonsense of thrillers by Baldacci and Grisham, just some goofball characters giving Florida a bad name who ultimately get what's coming to them. In Lucky You, the plot centers around a Lotto ticket stolen from a female African American veterinary assistant by two bizarre rascists, who envision forming a neo-Nazi militia with the extra 14 million bucks. The two hapless crooks, Bode Gazzer and Chub, have one 14 million dollar winning ticket of their own, but with taxes and extended payouts they assume 14 million will be insufficient for their grandiose plans, and thus they pilfer the other winning ticket. Our heroine, ridiculously named JoLayne Lucks, is everything a character should be in Hiaasen's world - she loves nature, is kind to animals, and wants to use her winnings to buy a pristine plot of land and prevent some Mafia developers from bulldozing the whole thing for a tax-shelter shopping mall. She lives in tiny Grange, Florida, a city known for its religious "miracles" including the self-mutilated "stigmata" man, a lady who thinks a road stain of brake fluid depicts the face of Christ, and a shrine to the Blessed Virgin which, on command, emits tears. These tears, scented with cheap perfume, are operated surreptitiously through a hidden hydraulic pump. All of these scandalous gags are meant to fleece tourists, on holy pilgrimages, out of their modest earnings. The straight man in the novel, features writer Tom Krome, goes to Grange to write a story on the lottery winner Ms. Lucks and is inexplicably drawn into her efforts to get the ticket back from Chub and Gazzer. As in all Hiaasen books, the slimy characters get what is coming to them, and for the most part the author keeps most of the balls in the air effectively, keeping the reader mildly interested in the sensational plot even though you knowingly suspend belief from page one. The book has its faults to be sure- I wish Hiaasen would not be so over the top with his names, like a lottery winner named "Lucks", and a neo-Nazi named "Gazzer." Also, I thought the actions of Sinclair, Krome's boss at the paper, should have been deleted by a sympathetic editor. Sinclair, trying his best to catch up with Tom Krome, heads to Grange where he proceeds to sit in a moat full of turtles (painted like religious figures) and utters nonsense babble in rapturous delirium. These passages, unlike most of the book, were difficult to read. All in all, while Hiaasen will never be confused with F. Scott Fitzgerald or Henry James, he has written a very entertaining novel here with passages that were downright hilarious. Some here... have insisted that Lucky You is his worst novel, which still would not be that bad in my opinion. As for my own "ranking order," I certainly feel Lucky You was every bit as good as Strip Tease and Stormy Weather, maybe a spot below Native Tongue and Tourist Season, but who cares? Ranking them is like comparing different types of melon. If you like his style, you'll enjoy this novel. I give it 4 stars, and am glad I picked it up.
Rating:
Summary: A few laughs.....lots of wierdos
Review: I did laugh at many places in this novel. I enjoyed the authors ability to turn a phrase. I did feel that it was a bit more violent then I like. I don't think the ending was very moral.
Rating: 
Summary: Carl, You Ain't No Kinky Friedman
Review: Carl shouldn't have to try so hard. After all, the protagonist is a hack columnist for a Florida newspaper (Wow, what a stretch! Hey, your Miami Herald teammate Dave Barry is able to push the envelope more than that!), but in Hiaasen's backbreaking effort to be droll, he does little but weave a heavy-handed, mean-spirited caricature of Florida's "little people" (in the sense that Hillary or Leona considers most of us little people). The net product is an ugly yarn that goes on too long. For a dark, misanthropic, sarcastic novel with outlandish characters that is actually funny, I recommend Kinky Friedman, who manages to amuse while getting his "politically correct" (guns and Republicans are bad) point across. Try "Spanking Watson" or "Roadkill" for some real fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite simply not Hiassen's best work
Review: I have read all of his books, including collaborative works with other authors. Typically I can't put his novels down, often staying up to all hours of the evening just to finish reading the complete text. "Lucky You" festers where Hiassen's other books shine. The action has become almost formulaic, as if the author felt the need to satisfy his contract more than he wanted to satisfy his readers.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Beach/Plane Fare
Review: Hiassen's South Florida schtick is fairly entertaining stuff, suitable for airplanes, beaches, and so forth. His forte is creating oddball characters and setting them loose to bounce off each other until the good guys inevitably come out on top. The plot here revolves around two lottery winners, a beautiful black veterinarian's assistant, and a stupid, but dangerous white supremacist cracker. She wants to use her money to buy some land for a nature preserve, while he decides $14 million isn't enough to finance the militia he wants to start up, and thus decides to steal the other ticket. Entering into this is a laconic newspaperman sent to do a story on the woman. Wacky antics and a little nasty violence ensue, everyone gets their just desserts, etc...
Rating:
Summary: Hateful Hiassen Holier Than Thou, Hypocritical
Review: I've enjoyed several of Hiassen's other works, but Lucky You was mediocre at best. It read like a liberal revenge fantasy, sort of a left-wing Mack Bolan novel. The whole thing just seemed like an excuse for him to take cheap shots at NRA members, fundamentalists, Southerners, white males (both the angry and guilty kinds), writers, actresses, lawyers and anyone who didn't choose to believe the government's lies about what happened at Waco. His hypocrisy shows through, since his hero and heroine have to use guns to beat the bad guys (but being good liberals they feel guilty about it) and they see nothing wrong with leaving the person they shot and beat to die of hunger and thirst (but do so in order to "save the earth and protect all living things"). I read this waste of a tree during a long flight, and I am reminded of the comment a friend once made after attending a free screening of a bad film: "How was it? I don't want a refund. I want those 2 hours of my _life_ back." Avoid this stinker and read some Kinky Friedman instead.
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