Rating: 
Summary: Only for the addicted
Review: Carl Hiaasen's books are, well, different. They are not mysteries but essentially satire, bitter and almost off-the-wall commentary on south Florida and its seedy, greedy denizens. Blood, gore, and plenty of action characterize Skin Tight which examines the world of incompetent plastic surgeons and Geraldo-type TV confrontational hosts. Of course there is a hero--Mike Stranahan--who bears a faint resemblance to Travis McGee, minus the cerebral musings of what-life-is-all-about. Somebody wants Mike Stranahan killed, a guy with five previous wives and five people he's killed, including two in Vietnam, who now retired from law enforcement lives in a stilt house out in the mud flads of south Florida with his only companion a barracuda that Stranahan feeds each day. A 6 foot 9 hit man with a disfigured face and, later in the story, with a weed-whacker attached for an artificial arm, a couple of unbelievably nasty cops, a crooked lawyer who's married to Stranahan's sister, and, of course, a few assorted females of varying degrees of integrity and beauty are included in the cast. One thing in Hiaasen stories is that the bad guys usually get their come-uppance, usally very messily and sometimes ghoulishly amusing. I'd remembered other Hiaasen stories as reasonably well written. Perhaps my standards have changed, but Skin Tight has most of its characters talking in interchangeable words and expressions. So if you're addicted to Hiaasen, go ahead. If not, there are other authors who give you a better read for the time.
Rating: 
Summary: One of his best three!
Review: If you're gonna' buy Hiassen, get this one, "Double Whammy", and "Tourist Season" and leave the others alone. I personally consider this one the best of the best for Carl. When I was reading it, I stopped and laughed out loud at several places, especially the "weed whacker" parts.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the Squeemish....
Review: 'Skin Tight' is one of the most appropriately titled novels I have read recently. Set in South Florida, Hiaasen unleashes his wit and sarcasm on the field of plastic surgery. A last in his class, Harvard-educated plastic surgeon named Rudy Graveline has made thousands if not millions off of nose jobs and liposuctions. His big secret is that most of the work has been farmed out to his associates, yet his reputation as 'the best' is far flung. Mick Stranahan, a former state investigator, has killed five men in his life, including a crooked judge. By dispatching the judge, Stranahan's career as a state investigator came to an end. Stranahan's most recent kill was a New Jersey hitman that invaded his stilt house. The ex-state investigator dispatched him with the bill of a blue marlin. Before he knows it, this confrontation leads him back into a case of a missing young woman that went cold years ago. The sheer absurdity of the novel is part of what makes it fantastic. As Stranahan becomes involved with looking into the case, the situation gets even stranger. Before he knows it, the New Jersey hitman is replaced by a nearly seven foot thug with a major complexion problem, who agrees to take out Mick in exchange for a debrasion to clear up his face. When a nurse attempts to sell the story of the missing young woman to the media, Reynaldo Flemm arrives on the scene. Flemm is an investigative reporter that specializes in getting beat up on camera. He has taken the essence of the Jerry Springer show and molded it into his investigative technique. Flemm is just another of the great characters that populate the novel. My only complaint is that the book got to be a bit on the gory side. At least, it was a bit bloodier than usual for Hiaasen. I suppose with a topic like plastic surgery, that is bound to happen by nature. However, one too many characters is dispatched in particularly graphic and bloody fashion. I admit, this caused me to squirm in my seat a few times. This novel really doesn't qualify as a mystery or a thriller, but it definitely falls into the crime fiction genre. There is no mystery to speak of as the guilty parties are revealed quite early in the novel. Hiaasen has taken a place near Elmore Leonard's with his unique style. I'd recommend this novel to any fan of crime fiction or anyone interested on a humorous commentary on another of Florida's institutions.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: This is the funniest book I've ever read. Hiaasen has a great eye for the lunacies of modern culture and the ability to skewer them in an very entertaining manner.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book ever! Crazy,Fast & Awsome!
Review: This is the best book ever, I really miss the people in the story, I felt like they were a part of me.
I wanna nother story just like it. Does anyone have any suggestions?
BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Abridged Too Far
Review: I had previously listened to the unabridged version from the library. It was hilarious. A year or so later when I wanted to hear it again, the library no longer had it so I bought this abridged version. There is so much wackiness in this book that you can't follow it in the abridged version, it just sounds silly.
Rating:
Summary: Hiaasen's next victim: the rich and (wannabe) beautiful..
Review: Skin Tight is a classic roller-coaster comic mystery by that Carl "Florida - paradise lost" Hiaasen. His satire has never been so caustic, or so humorous. Some folks might find it all a bit cruel and, if you've read anything else by Hiaasen, a bit repetitive. Yet Skin Tight delivers belly laughs, which has to be a good thing. As for the (complicated and over-the-top) plot, we have an incredibly crooked and incompetent plastic surgeon suspected of killing a patient and disposing of the body (in a very creative fashion). As the police and other interested parties come down on this surgeon he employs very colorful thugs to eliminate these troublemakers ... yet everything goes wrong. On top of this he has a Hispanic shock-TV host (similarities to Geraldo Rivera are probably intentional) wanting to capture this ... on live television. Everything spins wildly out of control. Yet the vibrant characterizations, the clever one-liners, and cruel attacks on these rich, selfish and vain individuals make Skin Tight very enjoyable. And unlike his other works, the story is not too Florida-centric (although it takes place in Miami) ... and so it should be enjoyable to most everyone who is familiar with American popular culture. Bottom line: sick, twisted and very funny. Perhaps Hiaasen's best. Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Skin Tight
Review: This is a great book for the beach. I thought the parts concerning the plastic surgeon and patients were hilarious.
Rating:
Summary: Facelift
Review: You'll need a construction crane to suspend your disbelief high enough to savor the the local and imported scum covering this tale of revenge, ambition, corruption and looking for love. One only hopes that the author, a columnist for the local newspaper, exaggerates the depth and breadth of corruption in the Miami and Florida regimes, although he probably knows the truth. The hero is another beaten-down, but still formidable and straight, ex-cop. There is enough suspense and surprise and characters to hiss and cheer to keep one involved through all the twists and turns.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorite books.
Review: I remember when I first read this - I had never read anything like it - it was cliche "laugh out loud funny", totally off the wall, one of the most engaging, clever, fast paced books I've ever read. None of his others has been as good, although I've enjoyed them. If you read this, just have your tongue in your cheek.
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