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Mick Stranahan #1
Skin Tight
When Nick Stranahan—a 42-year-old private investigator with an unusual record of marital failure—murders a would-be assailant by skewering him with the razor-sharp bill of a stuffed marlin, he sets off a roller coaster ride of events that will drop-kick him into the deep slime of Miami's prosperous and sleazy plastic surgery industry.
15 pages, Audiobook
First published September 1, 1989
About the author
Carl Hiaasen
98 books8,826 followersCarl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. After graduating from the University of Florida, he joined the Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the newspaper’s weekly magazine and prize-winning investigations team. As a journalist and author, Carl has spent most of his life advocating for the protection of the Florida Everglades. He and his family live in southern Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 944 reviews
February 22, 2021
3.5 to 4 stars
3.5 for the story and the writing. But I had a good time with it, so 4 stars!
If you have read Hiaasen before this book will be no surprise to you. It is an irreverent and humorous romp with a crazy cast of characters in Florida. In fact, if Florida Man was a book, he would be a Carl Hiaasen book. I used to think that the types of characters and situations he writes were far-fetched, but after the series of Florida Man articles over the past few years, the storylines seem quite a bit less silly and more plausible. Which is funny . . . but also a little sad!
As mentioned in my star rating – it is not necessarily the most intricately crafted literature. But it really isn’t supposed to be. This is the essence of escapist reading. Something to pick up in the lobby of your beach hotel, read while sipping piña coladas as the waves lap at your feet, and then leave it on the pool deck for the next soul looking for a little vacation for the mind. If that is exactly the type of book you need, then this (or any other Hiaasen book) will be perfect for you!
Also, with all of this in mind, file this author away as one to read after finishing a heavy read or if you are looking to break a slump. Very little stress on the brain with this one and that is sometimes exactly what you need!
3.5 for the story and the writing. But I had a good time with it, so 4 stars!
If you have read Hiaasen before this book will be no surprise to you. It is an irreverent and humorous romp with a crazy cast of characters in Florida. In fact, if Florida Man was a book, he would be a Carl Hiaasen book. I used to think that the types of characters and situations he writes were far-fetched, but after the series of Florida Man articles over the past few years, the storylines seem quite a bit less silly and more plausible. Which is funny . . . but also a little sad!
As mentioned in my star rating – it is not necessarily the most intricately crafted literature. But it really isn’t supposed to be. This is the essence of escapist reading. Something to pick up in the lobby of your beach hotel, read while sipping piña coladas as the waves lap at your feet, and then leave it on the pool deck for the next soul looking for a little vacation for the mind. If that is exactly the type of book you need, then this (or any other Hiaasen book) will be perfect for you!
Also, with all of this in mind, file this author away as one to read after finishing a heavy read or if you are looking to break a slump. Very little stress on the brain with this one and that is sometimes exactly what you need!
October 13, 2011
Ok, this was my first Carl Hiaasen book. So, after reading a couple of chapters, I'm thinking, it's just another typical seventies kind of detective story. Just another writer acting out a testosterone fantasy. Featuring another tough, macho, independent loner who fights large mean disfigured criminals, while standing knee deep in dead bodies and naked women.
But, this guy is a little too eccentric, a little bit, too loose of a cannon. And the sociopath is a little too psychotic and his menacing appearance a little too bizarre and the women are way too approachable and everybody is really vain.
So, it's like I'm supposed to laugh, ... so I do.
So, I started laughing at all of them; the mean intentioned but inept villains, corrupt cops, corrupt politicians, the reality star TV broadcaster, the overly erotic actress, the plastic surgeon, the Florida medical board, the medical industry, the scheming women, but mostly the sheer vanity of it all.
Then I figured it out, its not just a mystery, its about all the things that make this Carl Hiaasen guy mad ..(well that day, anyway). Pretty smart, huh?
Quirky, satirical, over the top and a lot of fun.
But, this guy is a little too eccentric, a little bit, too loose of a cannon. And the sociopath is a little too psychotic and his menacing appearance a little too bizarre and the women are way too approachable and everybody is really vain.
So, it's like I'm supposed to laugh, ... so I do.
So, I started laughing at all of them; the mean intentioned but inept villains, corrupt cops, corrupt politicians, the reality star TV broadcaster, the overly erotic actress, the plastic surgeon, the Florida medical board, the medical industry, the scheming women, but mostly the sheer vanity of it all.
Then I figured it out, its not just a mystery, its about all the things that make this Carl Hiaasen guy mad ..(well that day, anyway). Pretty smart, huh?
Quirky, satirical, over the top and a lot of fun.
April 5, 2009
What I learned from Skin Tight...
1. A stuffed marlin makes a good weapon.
2. A ex-Amish hit man with a weed whacker for an arm and a skin condition shouldn't be laughed at.
3. A fictional thinly disquised Geraldo Rivera is as lame as the real one.
4, I want to be Mick Stranahan (without all those people trying to kill him, of course).
5. Wood mulchers are good for mulching other things.
6. How a nose job could kill you.
and last but not least...
7. I NEVER...EVER...want to get plastic surgery.
and I learned that Carl Hiaasen is one very funny writer.
1. A stuffed marlin makes a good weapon.
2. A ex-Amish hit man with a weed whacker for an arm and a skin condition shouldn't be laughed at.
3. A fictional thinly disquised Geraldo Rivera is as lame as the real one.
4, I want to be Mick Stranahan (without all those people trying to kill him, of course).
5. Wood mulchers are good for mulching other things.
6. How a nose job could kill you.
and last but not least...
7. I NEVER...EVER...want to get plastic surgery.
and I learned that Carl Hiaasen is one very funny writer.
January 29, 2015
If you believe that Florida is the sewer where a majority of the country's human waste ends up, you'll love Carl Hiaasen.
A former police reporter for the Miami Herald, Hiaasen clearly has a love-hate relationship with the state he resides in.
Mostly hate. But he shares his vitriol with a smile and laughter.
It is hard not to laugh at the inanity of most of the criminals in his books.
In "Skin Tight", for example, an incompetent hit-man loses an arm from a barracuda attack, and instead of attaching a prosthetic arm, he decides to have a weed-whacker attached. So, for the rest of the book, he's walking around with a weed-whacker as a limb. Priceless.
Okay, so if you don't find humor in that, Hiaasen may not be for you, but if it brings even the slightest twinge of a smile to your face, please do yourself the favor and read a Carl Hiaasen book.
"Skin Tight" starts off with a typical Hiaasen character, Mick Stranahan, a former cop who just wants to enjoy his privacy on a deserted island in the Keys, killing a mafia hit-man by stabbing him through the heart with a blue marlin. From there, the story just gets wonderfully crazy.
As in all Hiaasen books, there is an enormous cast of characters, ranging from a Geraldo Rivera-like TV reporter who actually tries to get beaten up on every episode by his guests, a plastic surgeon who is so bad at his job that even he doesn't want to perform surgeries, as well as the afore-mentioned weed-whacker-for-a-hand assassin who desperately needs a dermabrasion.
And, as in all Hiaasen books, there is plenty of hilarious social commentary. In "Skin Tight", Hiaasen takes aim at the plastic surgery industry, and he gives it a new a--hole. Funny, exciting, relevant, entertaining stuff. (Unless you're a plastic surgeon, in which case, you may not like it...)
A former police reporter for the Miami Herald, Hiaasen clearly has a love-hate relationship with the state he resides in.
Mostly hate. But he shares his vitriol with a smile and laughter.
It is hard not to laugh at the inanity of most of the criminals in his books.
In "Skin Tight", for example, an incompetent hit-man loses an arm from a barracuda attack, and instead of attaching a prosthetic arm, he decides to have a weed-whacker attached. So, for the rest of the book, he's walking around with a weed-whacker as a limb. Priceless.
Okay, so if you don't find humor in that, Hiaasen may not be for you, but if it brings even the slightest twinge of a smile to your face, please do yourself the favor and read a Carl Hiaasen book.
"Skin Tight" starts off with a typical Hiaasen character, Mick Stranahan, a former cop who just wants to enjoy his privacy on a deserted island in the Keys, killing a mafia hit-man by stabbing him through the heart with a blue marlin. From there, the story just gets wonderfully crazy.
As in all Hiaasen books, there is an enormous cast of characters, ranging from a Geraldo Rivera-like TV reporter who actually tries to get beaten up on every episode by his guests, a plastic surgeon who is so bad at his job that even he doesn't want to perform surgeries, as well as the afore-mentioned weed-whacker-for-a-hand assassin who desperately needs a dermabrasion.
And, as in all Hiaasen books, there is plenty of hilarious social commentary. In "Skin Tight", Hiaasen takes aim at the plastic surgery industry, and he gives it a new a--hole. Funny, exciting, relevant, entertaining stuff. (Unless you're a plastic surgeon, in which case, you may not like it...)
December 12, 2020
I make it a point to revisit Hiaasen when I need a good dose of some riotous, witty satire - always a guarantee I will laugh till it hurts. . . and then some! Thank God for Carl Hiaasen!!
November 25, 2016
My first Hiaasen - picked it up in a thrift store based only on the cover (THE BLURB ON THE BACK! - blurb - back, OK, OK, settle down people). It totally rocked my world and I was an instant fan. This is the first book starring ex-cop Mick Stranahan - one of the best of the more or less improbable characters of the roller coaster rides which are the Hiaasen books of the time. The fifth star is part pure entertainment value and part nostalgia I'm sure. But those are fine justifications in my view.
October 6, 2007
Carl Hiaasen's books are uniformly fun. The good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve. They are well worth the reading--and the occasional rereading.
Hiaasen's detective/adventure/action/humor books feature unlikely heros and unlikely--but possible--situations. They are set in a Florida which seems like the perfect place to steal an election on TV.
Skin Tight is one of the better ones. Mick Stranahan just wants to be left alone, but it seems he just can't relax without someone trying to kill him.
It sounds serious and is--except that there is something to laugh about on pretty much every page.
I really enjoy the light reads that can be read again later with as much enjoyment as the first time and Hiaasen's books qualify for that.
Hiaasen's detective/adventure/action/humor books feature unlikely heros and unlikely--but possible--situations. They are set in a Florida which seems like the perfect place to steal an election on TV.
Skin Tight is one of the better ones. Mick Stranahan just wants to be left alone, but it seems he just can't relax without someone trying to kill him.
It sounds serious and is--except that there is something to laugh about on pretty much every page.
I really enjoy the light reads that can be read again later with as much enjoyment as the first time and Hiaasen's books qualify for that.
September 7, 2014
Fake. I guess there's some unintentional irony playing out when a book, poking savage fun at the cosmetic surgery business in phony and corrupt Florida, is itself a do-over of sorts. Hiaasen is a good writer, but one I've always felt owed, nearly everything, to Elmore Leonard. What gets him over the top, usually, is that he's a good student, and he adds his own outrage at what Florida has become. Skin Tight has the usual formula of ex-lawman, bizarre criminals, seedy but exotic landscape, and twisted plot. However, in this case, it's awfully thin stuff. The sad thing is, that the idea of a crooked and inept cosmetic surgeon (in the 1980s), dispatching hitmen to hide a nosejob gone wrong, is kind of cool. But a number times throughout the story, Hiassen goes unnecessarily over the top. Just a little closer to earth, and this story would have hummed. One thing that troubled me is that much of this could have been fixed. Instead the book reads like a draft (and a quick one at that). All of that aside, there was one golden moment where I thought Hiassen captured the 1980s perfectly -- or at least offered some powerful commentary on those trashy years. In it he has a bitchy ex-wife, dressed in a shiny sailor suit from Lord & Taylor, catching an anchor tossed by a killer, and following it to the bottom of the sea. That's right up there with Tony Montana burying his head in a mountain of coke.
February 19, 2018
One couldn't ask for a more fun summer read. Nobody is playing with a full deck. There are characters who are whacky good people types and those who should be locked up in an insane asylum, but whatever side of law and order they live on, entertaining is most certainly the strongest attribute of everyone involved in the nefarious plot.
It all begins with an accidental death. A Florida plastic surgeon, Dr. Rudy Graveline, with more PR talent than actual skills, kills a rhinoplasty patient on the table. Too frightened of getting bad publicity, he decides to enlist the help of his tree trimmer brother who owns a large tree chipper - just the right thing for getting rid of a body. Unfortunately, the nurse, Maggie Gonzalez, who was helping with the surgery, is not so easily handled. Later, in thinking things over, she believes there might be a way of making some money and protecting herself, say, like selling her story to the famous TV journalist, Reynaldo Flemm.
Dr. Graveline does not agree. He decides to call in an assassin. Chemo seems to fit the bill in murderous ability, even if he tends to draw attention to himself, being six foot nine with damaged facial skin looking like rice crispies had been glued on. Dr. Graveline promises to fix his face if he kills the gabby nurse and the ex-cop who is handling the unsolved disappearance of Graveline's patient. Chemo, unaware of Graveline's deficiencies as a surgeon, agrees.
The retired police detective, Mike Stranahan, is living peaceably out on a Florida stilt house, happily fishing from his deck and feeding a pet barracuda which has learned to expect fish entrails dumped into the ocean below Stranahan's wooden house. However, Mike's peace will soon be disturbed by unexpected gun-toting killers arriving on a boat. The barracuda will soon get an unexpected tasty treat, and so will readers......
It all begins with an accidental death. A Florida plastic surgeon, Dr. Rudy Graveline, with more PR talent than actual skills, kills a rhinoplasty patient on the table. Too frightened of getting bad publicity, he decides to enlist the help of his tree trimmer brother who owns a large tree chipper - just the right thing for getting rid of a body. Unfortunately, the nurse, Maggie Gonzalez, who was helping with the surgery, is not so easily handled. Later, in thinking things over, she believes there might be a way of making some money and protecting herself, say, like selling her story to the famous TV journalist, Reynaldo Flemm.
Dr. Graveline does not agree. He decides to call in an assassin. Chemo seems to fit the bill in murderous ability, even if he tends to draw attention to himself, being six foot nine with damaged facial skin looking like rice crispies had been glued on. Dr. Graveline promises to fix his face if he kills the gabby nurse and the ex-cop who is handling the unsolved disappearance of Graveline's patient. Chemo, unaware of Graveline's deficiencies as a surgeon, agrees.
The retired police detective, Mike Stranahan, is living peaceably out on a Florida stilt house, happily fishing from his deck and feeding a pet barracuda which has learned to expect fish entrails dumped into the ocean below Stranahan's wooden house. However, Mike's peace will soon be disturbed by unexpected gun-toting killers arriving on a boat. The barracuda will soon get an unexpected tasty treat, and so will readers......
December 11, 2017
Simply put, "Miami Vice on Steroids." There are not many authors who can deliver a 400+ page comic crime mystery, (Tim Dorsey does it in about half the length and both authors set their work in Florida) who can throw the ball up in the air on page one and keep it spinning. Hiaasen goes for it, and I almost gave this one a 4-star rating (it's a wild-ass blast), as I read the whole thing between Sunday afternoon and this morning (oh, remember back in the day, Saturday Night Fever and then an all-day Sunday recovery instead of reading?), but the author has a tendency to take his jokes a bit too far, perhaps to a condescending level. "Reynaldo disliked the cordless clip-on microphones; he favored the old baton-style mikes....Christina Marks called it Reynaldo's "phallic attachment." Okay, fine, got the joke. But Hiaasen wants to make sure we get it, so he adds, "She postulated that, in Reynaldo's mind, the microphone had become a substitute for his penis." Hence Hiassen takes us needlessly from maybe 350 pages to over 400. It's fascinating to behold how Hiaasen gets people naked, a lot, here, but then again this book is about skin (well, rather, the extreme pitfalls of cosmetic surgery). I like this Mick Stranahan guy who lives in a stilted house out in the tidal flats of South Florida as he reminds me of Travis McGee who lives on a boat in a marina also in South Florida. So Hiaasen, like Dorsey, takes the MacDonald/McGee style crime thriller into much weirder, much wilder plots. More sex, more unbelievable, over-the-top capers doesn't make for work better than MacDonald. But still, it's pretty much all fun stuff (but Dorsey takes the violence to a level I don't particularly like) and Hiaasen has the good sense to, indeed, reference that 1980s TV show, Miami Vice. And, yes, I'll have at least one more Stranahan adventure.
September 30, 2009
If you are a Hiaasen fan, this book will not disappoint you. If you have never read one of his books, this is a wonderful place to start. Carl Hiaasen is one of my favorite comedic authors. His brand of humor is over the top and will keep you laughing all of the way. Carl Hiaasen has been an inspiration to me as an author of comedic books!
In order to enjoy this book, you need to have an appreciation for dark humor which is satire at its best. His characters are zany and the scenarios are outlandish. He is consistent in that regard within all of his books. This book offers its readers pure escapist fun. It also was the kind of book that I didn't want to put down. I gobbled it up in the same manner that a little child eats candy. Enjoy a wonderful adventure!
Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"
In order to enjoy this book, you need to have an appreciation for dark humor which is satire at its best. His characters are zany and the scenarios are outlandish. He is consistent in that regard within all of his books. This book offers its readers pure escapist fun. It also was the kind of book that I didn't want to put down. I gobbled it up in the same manner that a little child eats candy. Enjoy a wonderful adventure!
Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"
February 21, 2020
Very entertaining book, and a good narrator. The story was interesting (as long as you don't try to take it seriously) and humorous. I like Carl Hiaasen's humor; it's a lot like Dave Barry, a coworker from the Miami Herald, but perhaps a bit more mature. They have done things together, and I can imagine it's pretty funny.
He mostly makes fun of Miami, an easy target. Also in this story, Geraldo. Some of the action is pretty outrageous, but lots of fun. The criminals are mostly complete idiots, so there's never very much suspense about something bad happening to anyone who matters (cold, I know, but they mostly deserve it). Mick Stranahan always seems to be on top of everything that happens, more or less; you can't always predict what a complete idiot will do, but he still comes out on top.
He mostly makes fun of Miami, an easy target. Also in this story, Geraldo. Some of the action is pretty outrageous, but lots of fun. The criminals are mostly complete idiots, so there's never very much suspense about something bad happening to anyone who matters (cold, I know, but they mostly deserve it). Mick Stranahan always seems to be on top of everything that happens, more or less; you can't always predict what a complete idiot will do, but he still comes out on top.
October 18, 2012
What an odd story. It reminded me of Travis McGee in many ways, but an insane version. Normally I don't have an issue with satirical stories, but Skin Tight couldn't seem to decide if it was serious or totally loopy. One or the other, but not both. Mr. Hiaasen seems to have forgotten that old saying about not being able to have ones cake and eat it too. It was just too jarring. So I must say that ,in all in all, I didn't care for the book at all. I know that I should say more, but I simply didn't care for the book. I've heard about Carl Hiassen for years and now that I've finally gotten around to reading him I'm not impressed. I know that one shouldn't go off of one book, but it doesn't bode well.
September 24, 2014
A typical Hiaasen mixture of good guys, bad guys and good plots sprinkled with humor. 7 of 10 stars
February 25, 2015
Love his books!!!!!
December 1, 2024
I actually kinda liked this somewhat dated skewering of the cosmetic surgery industry! Nobody is more surprised than me.
Mick Stranahan is a former police investigator now living in a stilt house in the undesirable part of southeastern Florida (swampland). His career was riddled with bad guys coming to bad ends; without hard evidence that Mick was at fault for any of it, he was simply encouraged to take an early retirement.
In this tale, a doctor is spooked that an old missing person case could be resurrected based on new evidence. To ensure the key witness from the original trial doesn't get a second chance for a conviction, he hires a low-rent hitman to take out Miami PD Detective Stranahan (Ret.) The hitter goes by "Chemo," and he's had his own rough history with plastic surgeons: a dermoplasty gone wrong left him with a severely scarred, waxy complexion. Coupled with his seven-foot frame, Chemo isn't blending into any crowds.
Classic Hiaasen.
Of the less-than-a-handful of Hiassen novels I've tried, I liked this one the most. It's the least slapstick, I guess, while keeping to the offbeat humor - if that makes any sense. I dunno; Carl Hiaasen is a writer people either love or hate. Seeing as how this one appealed to me, I think I'll give the other Stranahan a try: Skinny Dip.
Mick Stranahan is a former police investigator now living in a stilt house in the undesirable part of southeastern Florida (swampland). His career was riddled with bad guys coming to bad ends; without hard evidence that Mick was at fault for any of it, he was simply encouraged to take an early retirement.
In this tale, a doctor is spooked that an old missing person case could be resurrected based on new evidence. To ensure the key witness from the original trial doesn't get a second chance for a conviction, he hires a low-rent hitman to take out Miami PD Detective Stranahan (Ret.) The hitter goes by "Chemo," and he's had his own rough history with plastic surgeons: a dermoplasty gone wrong left him with a severely scarred, waxy complexion. Coupled with his seven-foot frame, Chemo isn't blending into any crowds.
Classic Hiaasen.
Of the less-than-a-handful of Hiassen novels I've tried, I liked this one the most. It's the least slapstick, I guess, while keeping to the offbeat humor - if that makes any sense. I dunno; Carl Hiaasen is a writer people either love or hate. Seeing as how this one appealed to me, I think I'll give the other Stranahan a try: Skinny Dip.
July 29, 2012
Every so often I gotta have my "Hiassen fix." This guy writs hilarious, violent, complex and generally outlandish mysteries set in Florida and his works are very supportive of the ecological balance there, pus he sets to right those whose egos are bigger than their brains. Case in point: Rudy Graveline, plastic surgeon to the stars and anyone else with a LOT money to preserve their frail vanities. Seems a young student, Victoria Barletta, disappeared after a nose job some years ago, and now the hitherto-unsolved case is coming back up into the forefront. The hero, Mick Stranahan (Hey, where did I see that name before? Oh yeah! In "Skinny Dip," the ex-investigator for the DA who got terminated after he put away a crooked judge; in that one he rescues a woman who is tossed overboard and survives by hanging onto a huge bale of floating marijuana, but I digress; read the book, you'll laugh), seems to have several people out to kill him and it's leading back to this here "nose job" case. Mick reminds one of Jack Reacher, of Lee Child's series, all well worth reading; Mick, like Jack, is tough, a loner, not good with relationships with women, but with an overriding sense of justice as a motivator. In the middle of this is Reynaldo Flem (read "Geraldo Rivera" or "Jerry Springer"), a sensationalist TV host who gets ratings by angering and then getting beaten up on camera by his sleazy interviewees. His production assistant, Christina Marks, is growing tired of this egomaniac but continues to go along with his flamboyant excesses, well, for awhile, and becomes a sort-of love interest for Mick. We add Maggie Gonzalez, former nurse to Dr. Graveline, who promises to give Reynaldo an exclusive interview about what really happened to Ms. Barletta; a thug nicknamed Chemo who at one point gets fitted with an -well, let's say "appendage" which helps his work; Rudy's brother George Graveline, tree trimmer (yup, he has a par); Chloe, third of Mick's ex-wives; Al Garcia, homicide cop; Kipper Garth, Mick's brother-in-law, sleazy attorney; and Roberto Pepsical, crooked (well, ain't they all?) county commissioner, and a twisting plot and the glee doesn't stop. Oh yeah, Biscayne Bay, where Mick's stilt house is, is also a sort-of "character" in this work. Very enjoyable book, meets all expectations, kudos to Mr. Hiassin!
Wait! Here's the REAL fun part! This book was published in 1989, and has MANY pop-culture references that most of those under 40 won't get. I'll just give a few, but there are many more: Pernell Roberts (now deceased; played Adam on "Bonanza," then "Trapper John, MD", sort of a latter-day spinoff of MASH); Sandy Dennis (actress with a pert nose that is a running reference for those rhinoplasties (now deceased also; best known for "Up the Down Staircase," and "The Out-of-Towners" - first one); Collect calls; "Miami Vice"; teleytpes; Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal ("Dallas"), and VCR tapes. Accidental sources of chuckles these 23 years later. Actually I was gonna give this one five stars just for the unintended fun factor, but of course one must rate on the merits of the work in itself. Please to enjoy.
Wait! Here's the REAL fun part! This book was published in 1989, and has MANY pop-culture references that most of those under 40 won't get. I'll just give a few, but there are many more: Pernell Roberts (now deceased; played Adam on "Bonanza," then "Trapper John, MD", sort of a latter-day spinoff of MASH); Sandy Dennis (actress with a pert nose that is a running reference for those rhinoplasties (now deceased also; best known for "Up the Down Staircase," and "The Out-of-Towners" - first one); Collect calls; "Miami Vice"; teleytpes; Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal ("Dallas"), and VCR tapes. Accidental sources of chuckles these 23 years later. Actually I was gonna give this one five stars just for the unintended fun factor, but of course one must rate on the merits of the work in itself. Please to enjoy.
April 20, 2017
I'm fairly sure I've read this one before and managed to not log it, which is very unusual for me. But it was worth a reread anyway.
The weirdness of South Florida provides a lot of opportunities for story telling. Carl Hiaasen is a master at setting his tales here. There's a repetition of themes in his work, but it's always a fun ride.
Mick Stranahan is enjoying his forced retirement from the State's Attorney's office, living simply out in the rural bywaters off Miami. He gets a most unwelcome visitor as a hitman from up north suddenly shows up one day to kill him. Mick dispatches him in a unique way that kicks off a truly bizarre adventure.
Rudy Graveline is a well known (and utterly incompetent) plastic surgeon. He trades on his patents' vanity and then farms out the cases to his staff who actually know what they're doing. But, a few years ago there was a mistake. Being the intrepid soul that he is, Rudy panicked and covered it up.
Now the case is coming to light again. The story has a Geraldo-like shock tv personality, a competent and lovely producer, a crazed, giant killer with a unique face, a few actual good cops, a few nasty corrupt cops, and a crooked tree trimmer, as well a scheming criminal nurse and a naive movie star. These characters all come together as Mick tries to figure out what's going on, who killed who (as more bodies pile up), and what he can do it. Mick is quite happy to be left alone, but when he's prodded (like say, sending a hitman after him) he becomes a really dangerous force for justice (not the law).
There is lots of satire, a scathing attack on the way medical law worked in Florida in the 80
s (gods I hope it's been fixed since), violence, and utter absurdity. We have death by plastic surgery, anchor, and wood chipper. It's bitingly sarcastic, and Mick is arguably more anti-hero than hero, but it's a fun story.
The weirdness of South Florida provides a lot of opportunities for story telling. Carl Hiaasen is a master at setting his tales here. There's a repetition of themes in his work, but it's always a fun ride.
Mick Stranahan is enjoying his forced retirement from the State's Attorney's office, living simply out in the rural bywaters off Miami. He gets a most unwelcome visitor as a hitman from up north suddenly shows up one day to kill him. Mick dispatches him in a unique way that kicks off a truly bizarre adventure.
Rudy Graveline is a well known (and utterly incompetent) plastic surgeon. He trades on his patents' vanity and then farms out the cases to his staff who actually know what they're doing. But, a few years ago there was a mistake. Being the intrepid soul that he is, Rudy panicked and covered it up.
Now the case is coming to light again. The story has a Geraldo-like shock tv personality, a competent and lovely producer, a crazed, giant killer with a unique face, a few actual good cops, a few nasty corrupt cops, and a crooked tree trimmer, as well a scheming criminal nurse and a naive movie star. These characters all come together as Mick tries to figure out what's going on, who killed who (as more bodies pile up), and what he can do it. Mick is quite happy to be left alone, but when he's prodded (like say, sending a hitman after him) he becomes a really dangerous force for justice (not the law).
There is lots of satire, a scathing attack on the way medical law worked in Florida in the 80
s (gods I hope it's been fixed since), violence, and utter absurdity. We have death by plastic surgery, anchor, and wood chipper. It's bitingly sarcastic, and Mick is arguably more anti-hero than hero, but it's a fun story.
February 4, 2020
Classic Hiassen. A little bit darker and more violent than a lot of his other books, but still full of that sun-baked neo-noir, dark humour, and sardonic mockery of media culture.
November 18, 2024
My third book by Hiaasen (and the third he wrote) and, I'll be honest, if this one hadn't grabbed me I was tempted to give up on him. But this one definitely grabbed me...so I'll keep him in the rotation.
Mick Stranahan is an ex investigator for the States Attorney who was put out to pasture after shooting a judge (usually a righteous kill). Now he just kind of hangs out in his stilt house and leads the life of a beach bum...that is until someone decides that he needs to die. Judicious use of a stuffed marlin saves the day and pulls Stranahan back in to an unsolved missing persons case. We get a very bad plastic surgeon (in more ways than one), an ex-Amish killer with a very bad skin condition and a weed whacker for a hand, a thinly veiled version of Geraldo Rivera who is just as annoying and just as incompetent and a whole lot of silly fun.
I've noticed a number of people kvetching about the "number" of women that Stranahan sleeps with in the book. A.) it's a genre convention. You got to deal with that sort of thing. B.) It's two. Two women. And both of them actually make sense. So...just a dumb complaint. There are legit avenues to critique the book (I do think it's very good) but that ain't one of them.
This is a fun book and it definitely shows growth by Hiaasen as a writer.
Mick Stranahan is an ex investigator for the States Attorney who was put out to pasture after shooting a judge (usually a righteous kill). Now he just kind of hangs out in his stilt house and leads the life of a beach bum...that is until someone decides that he needs to die. Judicious use of a stuffed marlin saves the day and pulls Stranahan back in to an unsolved missing persons case. We get a very bad plastic surgeon (in more ways than one), an ex-Amish killer with a very bad skin condition and a weed whacker for a hand, a thinly veiled version of Geraldo Rivera who is just as annoying and just as incompetent and a whole lot of silly fun.
I've noticed a number of people kvetching about the "number" of women that Stranahan sleeps with in the book. A.) it's a genre convention. You got to deal with that sort of thing. B.) It's two. Two women. And both of them actually make sense. So...just a dumb complaint. There are legit avenues to critique the book (I do think it's very good) but that ain't one of them.
This is a fun book and it definitely shows growth by Hiaasen as a writer.
October 4, 2023
Audiobook
The plot moves along at a good pace if you listen at 1.65 speed.
The plot moves along at a good pace if you listen at 1.65 speed.
September 30, 2014
Ja, ich geb’s zu. Ich hab das Buch aufgrund des knalligen Covers gekauft. Das versprüht so einen schönen maritimen Old-School-Charme.
420 Seiten Gewalt, Sex und Schönheits-OPs – Das klang außerdem nach einer vernünftigen Urlaubslektüre.
Und darum geht’s: Der fünffach geschiedene Ex-Bulle Mick Stranahan lebt das süße Leben in einem Stelzenhaus im sonnigen Florida.
Doch ganz stressfrei kann er sein Frührentner-Dasein nicht genießen, denn eine ganze Handvoll skurriler Gestalten trachten ihm nach seinem Leben.
Carl Hiaasen hat schon über zwanzig Bücher geschrieben und ist bekannt für seine durchgeknallten Charaktere und seinen schwarzen Humor.
Auch in Skin Tight tummeln sich wieder reichlich groteske Figuren herum. Ein schmieriger Rechtsanwalt, ein lebensgefährlich untalentierter Schönheitschirurg, ein Profikiller mit Hautproblemen und ein geltungssüchtiger Fernsehreporter.
Sie alle verbindet Geltungssucht, Geld- und Machtgier und eine ungesunde Eitelkeit.
Der Roman ist Ende der achtziger Jahre erschienen und fängt wunderbar den damaligen Zeitgeist ein.
Miami-Vice legte Trends vor, Schönheits-OPs waren groß im Kommen und Auto-Telefone der ultimative Luxus.
Aus all diesen Zutaten mixt Hiaasen einen schwarz-humorigen Cocktail.
Immer wieder geraten seine Figuren in die aberwitzigsten Situationen, die meist reichlich blutig ausgehen. Dabei kommen unter anderem ein ausgestopfter Schwertfisch, ein lebendiger Barrakuda und ein Rasentrimmer-Prothesen-Arm zum Einsatz.
Während der Protagonist Mick Stranahan ein relativ normaler raubeiniger Actionheld ist (der im Übrigen stark an John D. Mac Donalds Travis McGee erinnert), machen insbesondere seine Widersacher, allen voran Schönheitschirurg Dr. Graveline, herrlich viel Spaß.
Einzig die Story lässt zu wünschen übrig. Obwohl Hiaasen immer wieder die Handlungsorte und Perspektiven wechselt, gelingt es ihm nicht darüber hinwegzutäuschen, dass die Geschichte dünn wie eine Skalpellklinge ist.
Fazit – High-Speed Thriller mit Makeln
Skin Tight ist ein überdrehter Spaß um Eitelkeit, Dummheit, Gier und Gewalt.
Schmierige Protagonisten, bissige Dialoge und blutige Operationen sorgen für ein kurzweiliges Lesevergnügen.
Doch wie den Kunden von Dr. Graveline, hätten auch dem Roman ein paar kleine Eingriffe und eine Magerkur nicht geschadet. 100 Seiten weniger und er wäre die perfekte Strandlektüre.
So bleibt es ein Thriller mit Makeln.
Aber Hiaasen ist ein talentierter Autor, der Roman auf Roman aus der Hüfte feuert. Ich bin mir sicher, dass da auch ein besserer dabei ist.
Wertung 3/5
1. Geht gar nicht 2. Is OK 3. Gut 4. Richtig gut 5. awesomatik!
Alle awesomatik Rezensionen auf einen Blick:
http://awesomatik.com/buchfuhlung/
awesomatik Kuriosum
Carl Hiaasen hat auch eine erfolgreiche Kinderbuch-Reihe geschrieben, von der das Naturschutz-Abenteuer Hoot verfilmt wurde.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgT_x...
January 24, 2021
A story of stupid people doing even dumber things with no rhyme or reason and even the likable people are as inane as the villains and there is not a plausible person in the story.
The story is mostly a comic book characterization of how an outsider (the author) would pretend to see the world of corruption mixed with stupidity and simplistically defining people narrowly as if the world was an extended episode of the 1980s version of Magnum PI except this story takes place in Florida not Hawaii, and it’s perfectly acceptable for the hero in this case to torture a criminal with threat of death in order to get a confession.
This book would appeal to anybody who thinks Miami Vice was a documentary and a valid commentary of the time period not the silly inane dribble that it really was.
Oh, yeah. This is available from Scribd and it does give the modern day reader a reflection on how stupid the background of our world was in 1990ish time period and how we are lucky not to have our foreground determined by such stupid backgrounds today.
The story is mostly a comic book characterization of how an outsider (the author) would pretend to see the world of corruption mixed with stupidity and simplistically defining people narrowly as if the world was an extended episode of the 1980s version of Magnum PI except this story takes place in Florida not Hawaii, and it’s perfectly acceptable for the hero in this case to torture a criminal with threat of death in order to get a confession.
This book would appeal to anybody who thinks Miami Vice was a documentary and a valid commentary of the time period not the silly inane dribble that it really was.
Oh, yeah. This is available from Scribd and it does give the modern day reader a reflection on how stupid the background of our world was in 1990ish time period and how we are lucky not to have our foreground determined by such stupid backgrounds today.
September 4, 2020
This is great fun. I have come very late to Carl Hiaason but I am thoroughly enjoying catching up on his books.
In Skin Tight, Mick Stranahan is an ex-Private Investigator living a quiet, isolated existence on a stilt house out in a Florida bay when events at a cosmetic surgery clinic mean that a case he once investigated might threaten the clinic’s owner. As a result, Mick’s own life and those of others are at risk and a convoluted and somewhat bonkers plot ensues – and it’s terrific fun.
Hiaason writes very well, he is genuinely witty (and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny) and has a high old time taking swipes at the worst of Florida: corruption, vain and vacuous rich residents and visitors, slimy lawyers, dodgy plastic surgeons, ludicrous TV hosts and so on. There’s a great cast of characters and Mick himself is a fine, calm and competent protagonist. The whole thing is a pleasure which I can recommend very warmly – and I’ll be reading more Hiaasen very soon.
In Skin Tight, Mick Stranahan is an ex-Private Investigator living a quiet, isolated existence on a stilt house out in a Florida bay when events at a cosmetic surgery clinic mean that a case he once investigated might threaten the clinic’s owner. As a result, Mick’s own life and those of others are at risk and a convoluted and somewhat bonkers plot ensues – and it’s terrific fun.
Hiaason writes very well, he is genuinely witty (and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny) and has a high old time taking swipes at the worst of Florida: corruption, vain and vacuous rich residents and visitors, slimy lawyers, dodgy plastic surgeons, ludicrous TV hosts and so on. There’s a great cast of characters and Mick himself is a fine, calm and competent protagonist. The whole thing is a pleasure which I can recommend very warmly – and I’ll be reading more Hiaasen very soon.
November 30, 2015
I really liked this one. I have read a few other books by this author, and although I have enjoyed them, this was my favorite to date. I love the character of Mick Stranahan and the characters were quite amusing. This was a fun and fast-paced mystery; I'm just sorry it languished on my bookshelf for so long!
September 10, 2016
A nice palate cleanser after not-reading Gravity's Rainbow all summer. Funny and cartoonish in Hiassen's way, but the ending was weirdly confusing and anticlimactic. Expected more to wrap up this darkly funny romp through the Florida Keys and the world of plastic surgery.
July 1, 2021
ReedIII Quick Review: This linear tale follows our hero and other characters through multiple inept murders and inept murder attempts. Everything is improbable and exaggerated. With no formidable villains, our hero doesn't seem in real danger. More comic satire than crime fiction.
December 25, 2024
Oh my... How have I never read Hiaason before? I loved every page of this. It was like a breezier, more fun, Willeford.
December 17, 2017
In Carl Hiaasen's Skin Tight, the first installment in the Mick Stranahan comedic mystery series, this debut will have you laughing out loud and shake your head a few time. Meet Mick Stranahan, a lone man who lives in Stiltsville Florida, and a former private investigator. It all started when someone tried to kill him at his home, when he used his prized marlin to make him into mincemeat and chum out of him. That's when he started to investigate the issue on why someone who wanted him dead and learned it had to do with a cold case of a missing person named Vicky Barletta. For Dr. Rudy Graveline, he was the plastic surgeon who knew the truth and hired Blondell Tatum, aka "Chemo" who's a tall man with a disformed face to track him down. And he ended up with losing his own hand in that brutal fight. Everyone wants a piece of the action like Reynoldo Flemm, who would do anything for a story, and Maggie Gonzalez, who pinned the fallout on Mick and covered up the real truth. And there's Christina Marks, who works for Flemm, and finds out more than she bargained for to get the scoop. Besides crooked cops, doctors and politicians, everybody wants it hushed up before it could ruin everything when the real truth comes out with a grisly ending that can't be missed.
Shelved as 'dnf'
July 13, 2017I don't really feel comfortable giving this a rating as I read the first 100 pages then the last 2 chapters and epilogue. There were some funny parts and I was curious as to what was going to happen (so definitely more than 1 star) but by 100 pages I came to the realization that I, as the reader, knew exactly who had committed the original crime, who was lying, and not only who hired all of the hit-men, but who the hit-man was. The reader is just introduced to those characters and flat out told or shown what crime they have committed. There's nothing to figure out; I guess I was expecting some level of a whodunit. So, a little less than 1/3 into the book and I didn't know why I was reading it anymore.
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