Product Description

Independently wealthy eco-terrorist Twilly Spree teaches a flagrant litterbug a lesson--and leaves the offender's precious Range Rover swarming with hungry dung beetles. When he discovers the litterer is one of the most powerful political fixers in Florida, the real Hiaasen-style fun begins.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35392 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780446695688
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Carl Hiaasen's characters ride and flail on little verbal hurricanes, and his literary storm shows no signs of dying down. Sick Puppy shares Dave Barry's giddy gift for finding humor in South Florida horrors, and a bit of Elmore Leonard's genius for pitch-perfect dialogue spouted smartly by criminals who are dumb as stumps. The title of Hiaasen's eighth novel could apply to most of its characters, but it chiefly refers to an ebullient Labrador retriever named Boodle and the millionaire eco-terrorist Twilly Spree. Let's just say that Twilly has a singular affliction: poor anger management in the face of environmental irresponsibility. When he spots Boodle's owner, Palmer Stoat, tossing litter from a car, Twilly goes to Stoat's home and removes the glass eyeballs from the animals that the bloated lobbyist had shot and mounted on his walls. Boodle gulps down the eyeballs, sustaining no small amount of digestive difficulties.

Soon Boodle and Stoat's wife, Desie, are fugitives from Florida's nature despoilers (who include the Governor, a "gladhanding maggot," the amusingly slimy Stoat, the human bulldozer Krimmler, the cocaine-importer-turned-developer Clapley, and the hit man Mr. Gash, who's fond of sex with multiple beach bimbos in iguana-skin sex harnesses to the tunes of The World's Most Blood Curdling Emergency Calls). Desie, who has a knack for calamitous romance, is smitten with Twilly, but urges him not to kill any litterbugs or pelican molesters: "Jail would not be good for this relationship." What keeps pure farce at bay in a novel that romps with the abandon of a scent-crazed Labrador is the otherwise charming Twilly's creepy edge of implacable fanaticism. And what redeems the funny/ugly violence from cliché is its colorful bad guys (they're as iridescent as oil slicks), Hiaasen's excellent wit, and the music of his prose. To evoke a drunk asleep on the beach, he adds a pungent detail: "a gleaming stellate dollop of seagull shit decorated his forehead."

Hiaasen is not unflawed. His original eco-terrorist character, ex-Florida governor Clinton "Skink" Tyree, seems like an interloper from the earlier books. But Hiaasen's the master of madcap ensembles (which is partly why the star-vehicle film of his fine book Strip Tease flopped). And even when you can see a chase scene's denouement coming for a beachfront mile, each paragraph packs descriptive delights to keep you going at breakneck pace. --Tim Appelo

From Publishers Weekly
Florida muckraker Hiaasen once again produces a devilishly funny caper revolving around the environmental exploitation of his home state by greedy developers. When budding young ecoterrorist Twilly Spree begins a campaign of sabotage against a grotesque litterbug named Palmer Stoat, he gets much more than he bargained for. Stoat is a political fixer, involved with a bevy of shady types: Dick Artemus, ex-car salesman, now governor; Robert Clapley, a crooked land developer with an unhealthy interest in Barbie dolls; and his business expediter, Mr. Gash, a permed reptilian thug with ghastly musical tastes: "All morning he drove back and forth across the old bridge, with his favorite 911 compilation in the tape deck: Snipers in the Workplace, accompanied by an overdub of Tchaikowsky's Symphony No. 3 in D Major." After a wave of preemptive strikes centered on a garbage truck and a swarm of dung beetles, Twilly ups the ante and kidnaps both Palmer's dog and his wife, Desie, who finds Twilly a great deal more interesting than her slob of a husband. In doing so Twilly uncovers a conspiracy (well, more like business as usual) to jam a bill through the Florida legislature to develop Toad Island, a wildlife sanctuary, in a deal that will make a mint for all the politicos concerned. Chapley wants Twilly silenced and dispatches Mr. Gash. Palmer wants his wife and dog back and asks Dick Artemus to help in the rescue without derailing the bill. Who should be called upon but the good cop/bad psycho duo of Trooper Jim Tile and ex-Governor Clinton Tyree, aka Skink or the Captain, whose recurring appearances throughout Hiaasen's novels have made for hysterical farce. While there may be nothing laughable about unchecked environmental exploitation, Hiaasen has refined his knack for using this gloomy but persistent state of affairs as a prime mover for scams of all sorts. In Sick Puppy, he shows himself to be a comic writer at the peak of his powers. 200,000 first printing; first serial to Men's Journal; Literary Guild alternate; simultaneous audiobook. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In typical Hiaasen fashion, this story involves corrupt, crazed, and powe-hungry Florida politicians accidentally pitted against quirky but innocent individuals. Twilly Spree is trying to save Florida from litterers, so when state lobbyist Palmer Stoat starts throwing trash from his Range Rover, he is incensed. The next time Stoat and his wife go out to dinner, Spree buries their BMW convertible in trash, but this fails to reform him. In continuing to pursue Stoat, Spree uncovers a pork barrel deal that will transform wild Toad Island into Sheerwater Resort. To stop the project Spree kidnaps the Stoats' family dog. The mayhem that follows includes kinky sex, bulldozers, hit men, a big game hunt, and an ex-governor turned ecoterrorist. In the end, good triumphs over evil. Hiaasen's hijinks are outrageous, unbelievable, and thought-provoking. The worrysome grains of truth and reality in the story give pause. Masterfully read by Edward Asner, this audio is recommended.AJoanna Burkhardt, Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Best Hiaasen Book Ever
I , as a Floridian, am a huge Hiaasen fan. I was quite disappointed by LUCKY YOU, it had none of that Hiassen flair I am used to. I bought SICK PUPPY the day it came out, and ended up staying up all night reading it for 6 hours straight. It is his best yet (even better than TOURIST SEASON and STORMY WEATHER, his best two if you ask me). It is great to have Skink and Jim Tile back, and I love ther charater of Twilly. This is a must have book for all Hiaasen fans. Allyou have to do now is buy his book on Disney and your collection is complete.........

Ecoterrorist, a dog, politics, what a book!
This is a great book. I read it all in one sitting and it really made me think, and laugh, all at the same time. The characters were great, the plot flowed well, and I loved the rhinoceros hunt. All in all a funny and meaningful book. Sound like the author is mad, but laughing. I am too.

A Very Entertaining Read - But He's Done Better
Carl Hiaasen's "Sick Puppy" brings back his usual madcap hijinks, something that I felt was missing in his last novel, "Lucky You". The crooked politicians are there as is an environmental terrorist and the ever popular ex-Governor of Florida, Skink.

The story has some extremely hilarious moments. I particularly liked the 911 calls listened to by Mr. Gash, they were hilarious! The bad guys get their (unusual) due at the end, always a fun thing about a Hiaasen book and Skink rides off in the sunset waiting to appear again (probably in Hiaasen's book after the next one - he has a pattern of showing up).

My only criticism is that Hiaasen's books are starting to sound the same. Twilly Spree, the environmental terrorist, is like Skip Wiley from Tourist Season. Palmer Stoat is like Francis X. Kingsbury from Native Tongue and Desiee Stoat is like the lead female character in every Hiaasen book. The only thing he didn't do this time was have a reporter or former reporter (Hiaasen's regular gig) as a character in this book.

I think Carl Hiaasen needs to look at a whole new type of plot for his next novel, one that doesn't involve trying to save the ever-shrinking Florida landscape. I think he could really write the ultimate comedy novel if he broaded his horizons. And with all of the crookedness in Florida, it shouldn't be a problem.