Rating: 
Summary: Hiaasen Light
Review: Less manic and mean than most of Hiaasen's previous books, "Basket Case" is 1 part Leonard, 1 part Fletch, and 1 part Dan Jenkins (and that's a BIG compliment). The books is semi-tender (girl-boy stuff), but very tough on the business of journalism; Hiaasen feels as strongly about it as he does about the ruination of Florida, his other favorite subject. Throw in his obvious love for rock & roll and a by-the-way murder mystery and you have one terrific and witty book.
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Summary: Spectacularly Performed Unabridged Audio
Review: When Basket Case first came out, I read the book and enjoyed it very much. Finding myself in the mood for some humor in my audio cassette listening while I drive, I was delighted to see that Recorded Books has produced an unabridged version of the book narrated by George Wilson. His treatment of the book greatly improved how much I enjoyed it the second time. If you have neither read the book nor listened to an audio cassette version, I recommend that you listen to the audio and skip the book. You will double your laughs if you do!Only a talented journalist could have ever concocted this story. It's filled with love for the profession and appropriate warnings against too much focus on the bottom line. As the book opens, Jack Tagger, aged 46, explains how he came to serve as an obituary writer on the Union-Register, now owned by the publicly traded Maggad-Feist. In protest against the ham-handed policies of the new owners, Jack insulted the CEO (whom he likes to call Master Race Maggad III) at the shareholder's meeting. Maggad was afraid to fire Jack because of the potential for a law suit, so Jack was relegated to the obituary pages . . . hoping he would resign in disgust. Instead, he hangs on for dear life, hoping to make life difficult for all those around him, including his young editor, Emma. His objective is to drive her out of journalism (for her own good). The humor quickly becomes apparent as Jack reveals a morbid fascination with how old celebrities were when they died. Did you know that Jack Kerouac died at 47? Into this mess of a frustrated career and life falls a brief notice of a death of one James Bradley Stomarti at 39. Something rings a bell, and suddenly Jack realizes that Stomarti is also known as Jimmy Stoma of the recording group, Jimmy and the Sl_t Puppies. Jack sells Emma on the idea of doing a feature on this, pointing out that the new managing editor is a Sl_t Puppies fan. Over the course of the book, you'll learn what caused Jimmy Stoma to die, the ages at which a lot of celebrities died, and quite a bit about the newspaper business. The main theme is that good reporting will win out, and make the world a better place . . . both for the readers and for the reporters and editors. This story has enough charm and convolutions to keep anyone amused for weeks. I recommend that you listen to the audio in small doses so you can cherish each wonderful line. After you finish listening, think about where persistence can pay off in your life. How can you make the world a better place?
Rating:
Summary: Hiaasen keeps on producing hits
Review: I think I've read every Carl Hiaasen novel written. Some border on the utterly insane, like Double Whammy, Native Tongue,and Stormy Weather. A very few border on the halfway serious, like Skin Tight. Others are somewhere in between the "halfway but not completely there" normality of Skin Tight and the "utterly insane" of Double Whammy and Stormy Weather. Basket Case falls in this middle category. I say this because it seems to be heading toward utter insanity much of the book, but the final chapters return to a bit of normality rather than pushing the "pedal to the metal" nuttiness that continued through the climax of stories like Double Whammy. The plot centers around Jack, who writes columns about the recently deceased. Jack has been demoted from a news reporter for having the audacity of telling the new owner of the paper that the cutbacks and layoffs have resulted in an inferior paper. (Presumably, rather than fire him for insubordination and risk a lawsuit, the owner figures just demote him to the obits and hope he quits in embarrassment or boredom.) But Jack notices that a former rock star of which he was fond years ago has died locally, and he begins investigating, ostensibly to write a news column of the celebrity death, and quickly finds serious inconsistencies in the stories and strange maneuverings going on. Hiaasen produces another cast of whacky characters, among which is a sister of the deceased who earns her living stripping in her home for Internet voyeurs, a developing romance between Jack the reporter and his younger female supervisor, and intrigue between stockholders in the newspaper corporate ownership. Over the years, Hiaasen has figured out that his "niche" in the publishing world as an author is the comedy murder, or telling of crazy capers and creation of insane characters. Pete Hautman is another author who appears to be following in Hiaasen's footsteps and success in this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Par for the course for a slick dialogue master like Hiassen.
Review: Basket Case puts us into the shoes of a local Florida reporter named Jack Tagger. Jack has been demoted to writing obituaries after insulting the owner of the newspaper he works for. Jack's reason for doing this is made clear in the book and it is an important one of the many items that gives us a feel for Jack's character. As with most of Hiassen's lead characters Jack is a bit of an oddball. A literary crusader and all around good guy who finds it hard to contain his sarcastic wit when it comes to people that he doesn't like. Jack is a bit of a worrier and the Basket Case of the book's title as he is constantly obsessing about writers who have died at the same age that he is currently. The main plot boils down to, Jack gets put on the obituary of a former rock star and ends up trying to solve a murder. Unlike in previous books Hiassen uses a new set of characters in Basket Case, not going to the well of Florida oddballs he has fictionalized in his past novels. This works out fine as most of the characters are quirky and distinct in many of the same ways that his others have been. I'd say the quirky character factor is moderate here compared to some of his other novels. Hiassen has a knack for creating witty banter for his characters. Jack Tagger's internal thought process is what gives color to Hiassen's world and what speeds Basket Case along despite a murder mystery that isn't actually all that interesting. A series of little plot twists throughout keeps you guessing at what might end up happening in the end though. Overall not Hiassen's best but certainly a fast paced book with plenty of amusing situations, dialogue and characters.
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Summary: good plane reading
Review: Reasonably well-composed and written, with a moderate complexity that one doesn't usually find in the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly conventional
Review: After all those rather outrageous and screamingly funny thrillers by Hiassen, this one comes as a surprise. Very conventionally written,it details the adventures of a veteran journalist who is in disgrace at his paper because he dared to stand up for good journalism and against corporate greed. These sections can be quite preachy. Hiassen is an investigative journalist himself and this stuff probably is very close to his heart, but very entertaining it is not (the environmental issues in his other books were a lot more fun to read). The thriller itself is rather conventional, there's not too much twisting and turning (I'm wondering what the other reviewers meant by that). For another writer, this would come across as a solid thriller. From Hiassen, it's a mild disappointment. There are a few interesting characters and a few good jokes, but if you want to start out with hiassen, start with Sick Puppy. Or Strip Tease. Or just about anywhere else.
Rating:
Summary: Carl Hiaasen is feelin' fine...
Review: There have been some slow patches in the Hiaasen oeuvre (_Lucky You_ comes to mind), but Carl Hiaasen is fit as a fiddle in this outing. Jack Tagger is a death-obsessed obituary writer at a South Florida newspaper taken over by one of today's huge media conglomerates. Like most of Hiaasen's protagonists, he's doing penance for exhibiting a spot of integrity and still mooning over his ex-girlfriend, who is about to marry a daffy poet. A name on a death notice catches his eye and he realizes the deceased is aka Jimmy Stoma of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, who were famous for about 15 minutes and three albums back in the day. His editor doesn't want him to pursue the story but it's too good to resist, so he grabs an interview with the grieving widow, and once again Hiaasen is off to the races. A darned-near perfect read. I loved the characters, especially Ike, the octogenarian fisherman. I finished the book in a day and started again at the beginning. May you find as much pleasure in it as I did.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good!
Review: I quite liked this one, Hiaasen, I think, had gotten what he could out of the environmental Florida thing, Sick Puppy was downright boring!
so keep up the good work Carl :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Did Carl Hiaasen really write this?
Review: I find it hard to believe the same writer who wrote the crisp and hilarious Sick Puppy wrote this book. There are elements of the amusing moments and eccentric characters I known and loved from his previous books but I found myself rushing to the end not because I wanted to see how it all worked out but to put an end to the book and move on to something else ... anything else. I admire his ambitions of moving to different areas of his writing but this book was not even close to his best work. The story was pretty obvious without any truly tense moments. One thing I admire about his books is his way or wrapping everything up in the end through creative means but this books ending was seen coming almost from chapter two. It is almost as if someone else wrote the book while he was out on sick leave. I hope he gets well soon.
Rating:
Summary: Music, Murder and Humor, plus a frozen lizard!
Review: Â Mix one dead (by accident?) rock & roll star, his ambitious widow, and some lost tapes for a comeback album. Add in Jack Tagger, a once famous reporter, now reduced to writing obituaries, who has an idea the rocker's death may not have been the accident it seems. Carl Hiassen's latest romp has wit, style and fun to spare. And if you've ever worked at a newspaper, you'll love all the inside jokes. Hiassen's biting humor, fun characters and inside knowledge of newspapers (and insight into the music biz) make this higly recommended. And there's a unique use of a frozen lizard!
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