Wayland Smith's Reviews > Skin Tight

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.