I read and reread this a LOT in middle school.

This simple fact just goes to show that parents really should pay more attention to their kids’ reading habits.

During those crucial middle school years, the books we read can have a significant impact on our development, both intellectually and emotionally.

If parents are not vigilant, their children might be exposed to inappropriate or unbeneficial reading materials.

Moreover, by guiding and monitoring their kids’ reading habits, parents can help them discover new interests, expand their vocabulary, and improve their critical thinking skills.

So, it is essential for parents to take an active role in their children’s reading lives and ensure that they are reading books that are both enjoyable and educational.

This is a favorite author of mine.

His works are truly captivating as he has the very best of characters.

The characters he creates are not ordinary. They are bizarre, with unique personalities and behaviors that make them stand out.

Some of them are misdirected, going down paths that seem unexpected and yet are strangely fascinating.

Others are lost, searching for something in life, which makes the readers empathize with their struggles.

Despite their flaws and oddities, these characters are always fun.

They bring a sense of excitement and entertainment to the stories, making it impossible for the readers to put the book down.

Every time I pick up one of his books, I know I'm in for a wild ride filled with interesting characters and engaging plots.

He truly has a talent for creating a world that is both strange and wonderful, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

This was far better than I had initially anticipated. It was extremely funny, yet still serious enough to present an interesting story with a powerful message about pollution.

Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry, both having worked at the Miami Herald, collaborated on a significant amount of work. Dave Barry is undeniably a very humorous individual, but his books often lean towards the juvenile side and might have the greatest appeal to high school or college males with a penchant for excessive beer drinking and such. Consequently, I had some concerns about this particular book. However, it was nothing like that at all.

The basic storyline revolved around a real loser who, against all odds, managed to obtain a PhD in Biology, despite his inability to think his way out of a paper bag. He was极其 self-centered, to the extent of attempting to kill those he believed might pose a threat to him. Fortunately, he was a complete failure in that regard, just as he was in everything else. All he truly desired was to play golf and seduce every woman he encountered, even those he intended to harm. He held a job testing for pollution in the Everglades, which he loathed, and was bribed by a wealthy polluter, who was almost as stupid as he was but far meaner, to falsify the data.

There were several other losers in the mix, including one who, over time, more or less emerged as a somewhat decent guy. He began with a bullet wound that he couldn't seek treatment for, so he resorted to taking pain medication, which he obtained by sneaking into hospitals and stealing pain killer patches from patients, mostly seniors. What a nice guy.

My first encounter with a Carl Hiaasen book was an absolute delight. It was like taking a fun little romp through a world filled with unique characters and exciting adventures.

The story had me hooked from the very beginning, with its witty dialogue and fast-paced plot. I found myself completely immersed in the narrative, unable to put the book down.

Carl Hiaasen has a remarkable talent for creating engaging stories that are both entertaining and thought-provoking. His writing style is vivid and descriptive, making it easy to picture the scenes and characters in my mind.

After reading this first book, I am definitely eager to explore more of his work. I can't wait to see what other adventures and surprises he has in store for his readers. I highly recommend Carl Hiaasen's books to anyone looking for a fun and enjoyable read.

This is my first encounter with a Hiaasen book, and I can firmly state that it will not be my last.

It is an incredibly fun read, a captivating blend of comic suspense. It's a multiple murder mystery, yet few bodies actually make an appearance! I'm well aware that this might seem like an oxymoron, but once you pick up the book and start reading, you'll see that I'm not wrong.

Every single main character in this book experiences a significant alteration in their life in some completely unexpected way, and each of these changes leads to a surprisingly satisfying outcome.

There are a couple of sections that might seem a bit textbookish, where the crime of swamp pollution is explained. I suspect that this is part of Carl's hidden agenda, but I didn't mind being informed.

Hiaasen clearly has an in-depth knowledge of the Everglades, including its flora, fauna, muck, and everything in between. I was able to happily embark on a safari right from the comfort of my armchair!

This book is truly hilarious!

Moreover, it is superbly written. It's my first Carl Hiaasen book (excluding Hoot for children, which was also excellent).

The characters in this book are outrageously horrible and no-good, getting involved in extremely absurd situations, much like the casts in Elmore Leonard or Harry Crews' novels.

Set against the backdrop of the Florida Everglades, the swampy plot keeps becoming more and more convoluted as the sociopathic leads recklessly rush towards their own karmic downfalls.

Did I mention that it's funny and superbly written? Yes, I did.

It's such a delight to find a book, enjoy it to the fullest (x 65), and know that the author has numerous more books waiting to be devoured.

This is my first encounter with Hiaasen's work, but I strongly suspect it won't be my last.

It was an enjoyable, fast-paced, and delightfully quirky read that had just the right amount of humor and drama to maintain my interest from start to finish.

The genre of pop mystery/thriller isn't one that I typically delve into deeply, but if more books were like Skinny Dip, I probably would.

This story brought to mind those dark, zany movies such as A Fish Called Wanda. Some of the characters were a touch too outrageous and one-dimensional, and some of the situations bordered on the absurd. However, it all works due to its light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek approach.

I believe Hiaasen is attempting to expose the absurdities within his own genre by playing with them in unconventional ways. For comparison, I witnessed a similar thing in Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods. I have a particular fondness for this type of meta-self-critique.

For example, in order for a thriller to be thrilling, there must be numerous close calls. This implies that the protagonist is either extremely lucky or the antagonist is very inept. Normally, we don't give this much thought; in fact, the author likely hopes we overlook it. Hiaasen, though, in creating an inept killer, exaggerates this aspect of the character and even has the hapless (attempted) murderer comment on his own futility.

This book isn't flawless, but I don't think that was its intention. The result is highly entertaining and refreshingly irreverent.

A humorous crime novel tells about a husband who throws his wife's body into the sea with a mysterious motive. The needle hidden for a long time also comes out, but before it comes out, it stabs everywhere, making other things also scared.

As mentioned, the needle stabs everywhere, which means that in the process of understanding the husband's motive for the crime, the detective in the story also discovers a lot of the filth and garbage of American society at that time, such as buying a doctorate, political intrigues in environmental reform where the person behind is a rich man in the agricultural industry, the harsh working system and environment of "slave" farmers in Florida... The accumulated filth will burst as soon as the needle stabs it. If there is money to cover it up, it will be covered up, otherwise... death, in a bad sense!

The book is a warning about the environmental problem based on a lively and coherent story, so it is more interesting (for me personally) than documentary films or marketing campaigns about environmental protection. And not to mention that it uses this to criticize and expose the negative, insidious, and dirty strategies of some agricultural groups with politicians and even the bribed scientific community.

The highlight is about the wife Joey. A woman whose life changes after a near-death experience by clinging to a lifebuoy. Life is wonderful if you know how to rise! Her life goes up and down all because of men. She is a typical example of a talented, rich, and independent woman but with an unlucky fate in love. After her first husband, she falls into the hands of Chaz, a singer who is a playboy and a womanizer, and he finally throws her into the sea (in a bad sense). But, ladies, after the heavy rain, you can see the beautiful sun, so don't give up. Her life soars when she is rescued by the kind old man Mick, who doesn't like the bustling and suffocating city, loves hunting, and knows how to be affectionate and gentle. Who knows what to expect, who knows that there will be a delicious meal after being in a mess.

The bright spot in the dark and gloomy swamp of vice comes from the bodyguard Tool with the old woman Maureen. Probably Tool goes to the nursing home to find a plaster to reduce the pain of his buttocks that were shot, and accidentally meets the seriously ill Maureen. The old woman makes Tool remember... his own grandmother, so he loves and cares for her, and finally, besides working hours, he often comes to visit her. Thanks to Maureen, his cruel and cold heart has become warm again and he knows the way to turn around and be kind. A rather interesting subplot.

The minus point for the translation is the wrong spelling in some places, and for someone like me with OCD, it is very uncomfortable. In addition, the translation tries to make it more Vietnamese, but this Vietnamese style is a bit too much, making me sometimes forget that I am reading a story about American society. The translation is also in the accent of the South, so many times when people from the North read it, they may not understand and like it.

Carl Hiaasen's 'Skinny Dip' presents a typically hilarious and bittersweet plot. It revolves around fantastic and ridiculous criminals who operate legally under Florida's lax and corrupt government environmental laws, while the victims believe that vigilantism is more effective than the state's legal system. As the story begins, the beautiful and wealthy Joey Perrone is being murdered by her husband Chaz, a Florida State biologist. On a luxury boat cruise celebrating their wedding anniversary, Chaz inexplicably pushes Joey overboard. Thankfully, Joey, a former co-captain of her college swim team, decides to paddle the miles to shore to find out why her husband wants her dead.

Mick Stranahan, the retired police officer from the previous novel in the series, has moved to a small Florida island to be the caretaker for its absentee owner. He enjoys the isolation and the beauty of the ocean. However, his idyllic days are disrupted when he catches a naked lady floating on a bale of pot. Skink also makes a short appearance from the ongoing Skink series.

It's important to note that Hiaasen's plots are inspired by actual headlines and scandals related to Florida's environmental issues. Despite decades of talk about saving the Everglades, real scientists have measured that only 10% of the original Everglades remains, leading to the disappearance or crash of many animal populations. Additionally, Florida is facing other problems such as sinkholes breaking up neighborhoods and the poisoning of fresh water sources, which are linked to rising sea levels.

Despite these issues, people continue to pave over Florida for fun and profit. Miami Beach, in particular, is experiencing an economic and building boom, adding thousands of hotel rooms and an architecturally celebrated parking garage. However, there are also 'dead' spots in the ocean around Florida beaches. In my opinion, America may face a homegrown refugee problem within a century, and there may not be much help from governments around the world, especially for Florida.

I will admit that the concept of the book is truly delicious.

A botched murder attempt by a self-absorbed, fairly clever yet fraudulent biologist husband, whose wife is far more clever and resourceful, leads to a captivating plot of revenge from "beyond the grave".

The characters are interesting, to say the least. They are often quirky to the point of being nearly absurd.

That said, the question remains: why only 3 stars? By the time the book ended, I found myself not really caring much about what happened to the characters.

The character of Chaz Porrone, the naughty husband, became less interesting as the book progressed. He spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on his "performance" in certain rooms in the house (specifically, the bedroom), and it simply grew tiring.

The possibilities for revenge and for messing with the mind of a would-be murderer who believed he had committed the perfect crime were numerous. However, in the end, I was left disappointed, hoping that he had been messed with on a much greater scale.

The book was occasionally funny. This was my first Carl Hiaasen book/audiobook, and I was expecting more humour. Perhaps it didn't register as strongly in the audiobook and would be funnier when read in print.

In conclusion, it was a great idea with average execution.

Recently, I read a book that didn't make me laugh out loud

There was a time, when I was younger and less jaded, that I would have thought the leathery characters in this book were charming. However, those days are long gone.

This novel is Bukowski-esque in its casual and constant undercurrent of misogyny. The female characters in it are totally unrealistic. Pluralizing this is rather generous, as I'd say in total the 5 - 6 women in the book make up about 1 full person worth of depth.

Perhaps you still have time in your life for books about scummy people behaving scummily, but I don't. I'm tired of such portrayals. I'm looking for something more meaningful and positive in the literature I consume.

Good luck, Hiaasen. Maybe in the future, you'll create something that can touch the hearts of readers like me and offer a more nuanced and respectful view of all genders.