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Dec 17, 2009

Bronwen rated it:

Stormy Weather follows Carl Hiaasen's usual fomula, with his normal cast of characters. The confused female victim of the greedy jerk rescued by the "crazy" recluse and the caring, law-enforcement hero. The story takes place in the Florida Everglades, as usual, and contains the author's requrired amount of environmental "preachiness."

If Hiaasen's books are all so predictable, why do I like reading them so much? Because he is an incredibly clever writer with a dar More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 29, 2011

Dennis rated it:

Fool me twice, shame on me. What on earth was I thinking taking on a second installment by the same author responsible for writing Star Island? As if that calamitous wonder wasn't bad enough, this glutton for punishment nevertheless vowed to forge his way through Stormy Weather simply because it was sitting there on his desk for the taking. Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky.

This time the author scrambles a muddle of cartoonish characters whose lives intersect implausibly More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 07, 2008

Cyrus rated it:

This was the first Carl Hiaasen book I'd read, and probably the first example of "popular" not-quite-literary fiction I'd read in quite a while. I've been reading too much heavy stuff (Under the Volcano, The Savage Detectives etc.) and was looking forward to a light, fast paced read with some good laughs thrown in, and I'd always heard that Hiaasen was a perfect example of what they call a "beach read." Also I was intrigued by the idea that his books are always set in Flo More...

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Sep 27, 2007

Terry rated it:

In this book, Hiaasen achieves a nice feat. He blends a modern noir with patches of dark hilarity, like the Coen Brother's Fargo. This is a tale of grifters ranging through post-hurricane-Andrew Florida, ripping off victims who have just been through a terrible natural disaster. Snapper, a grifter who had his jaw rearranged by a game warden, is so stupidly menacing he needs a part-time prostitute named Edie to mediate between him and the rest of the world. Edie and Snapper naturally are tryi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 13, 2007

Emily rated it:

This is one of my favorite Hiaasen novels. It has 10 or 12 crazy characters (including a one-eyed ex-governor who lives off the wild in the Everglades) and it's hilarious! If you haven't read any Hiaasen, he is based in the Miami area and his books are all humor/crime novels that usually have basically the same theme: a somewhat crazy environmentalist fighting evil, corrupt forces (Florida govt., land developers) in the Everglades. It's really a love-it-or-hate-it genre, but if you love one Hiaa More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2008

Eric_W rated it:

Virtually everyone and everything is corrupt, except perhaps the deranged ex-governor of the state, in Carl Hiaasen's marvelously funny Stormy Weather.

Bonnie and Max Lamb are on their honeymoon at Disney World when the one-hundred year hurricane hits. Max, being a good red-blooded American, immediately grabs his video camera and heads for the path of destruction to tape all the gore and devastation. Bonnie is not happy, feeling this is somehow disrespectful, but when Max is kidnappe More...

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Aug 12, 2011

Geoff rated it:

I love a good Carl Hiaasen book, alas this was not a good Carl Hiaasen. It starts off strong, sweeping the reader into the story following the wake of a hurricane. The cast ballons quickly and just as quickly gets thinned down in a series of gruesome endings, which, for the most part, are not ironic, fitting, or funny. As the cast dwindles down so does the plot, which revolves around: Bonnie and Max Lamb, the mismatched newly wed couple; Augustine, the good guy skull juggler; Edie, the con-wo More...

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Jun 01, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Usually I start reviews with a brief plot summary, but I'm not even sure how to sum this one up. The story takes place in the immediate aftermath of a hurricane that has hit Florida, and hard -- that part is easy enough. But against this backdrop Hiaasen sketches a tale that could only take place in one of his novels. With the normal social boundaries washed away by the storm, Florida becomes a land of chaos, and Hiaasen's characters reveal very interesting aspects of human nature.

In More...

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Mar 01, 2011

Book Concierge rated it:

Audio book performed by George Wilson

After a massive hurricane flattens Southern Dade County Florida, the place is overrun with various chiselers, scam artists, would-be contractors, insurance adjusters, and even honeymooning tourists. Hiaasen peoples this romp with the usual mix of characters – Bonnie and Max are on their honeymoon at Disney World when the hurricane hits, and Max just [u]has[/u] to head south to get home videos of the aftermath. Augustine Herrera has recently inheri More...

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Oct 29, 2009

Andrea rated it:

Not my favorite Carl Hiaasen book. If I hadn't already read everything he's written on my library shelves, I probably wouldn't pick up another. It's hard to say why I didn't enjoy this one as well as the others. The book contained all the same fun, comical, almost cartoon-like characters, great dialogue, great story-telling, but I didn't have the sense of a strong main character I could cheer for.

A huge hurricane has hit south Florida, and all the scumbags, low-lifes, and sleaze buc More...

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Jan 04, 2010

Gabriel rated it:

This book is an exciting tale about a hurricane and how it affected people. Some people took advantage of people. Some got taken advantage of. There are all kinds of characters and they all tie together in the end. Snapper is a crook. Edie is his partner in crime. Bonnie is a newly wed. Max is her kidnapped husband. Augustine is a salesman who helps Bonnie. Skink is an ex-governor.

I have a text to world connection. This book connects to how people suffered in the Katrina More...

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Dec 20, 2011

Blain rated it:

This was a nice break from the more heavy Hunger Games and 11/22/63 which I had most recently read. Carl Hiaasen always has some really crazy larger-than-life Floridians in his books. They're eccentric, ridiculous, and usually pretty funny. Hiaasan usually takes on some social issue in his books, and in this case it was the aftermath of a hurricane. Specifically, I think it was Hurricane Andrew, the 1992 bruiser which wiped out a good bit of A1A and the surrounding area where the mainland an More...

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Feb 05, 2010

Cathie rated it:

I think this book would be a great read for the right personality. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good read for my personality. With that said, though, I will say there were a couple of places where a did snigger a little at the absurdity of some of the situations.

The basic premise of this book is a screwball comedy of errors involving a bunch of con artists who descend upon Florida after a major hurricane. There are about 15 different main characters whose stories are all taking pla More...

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Sep 30, 2009

Davis rated it:

I love Carl Hiaasen's brand of humor. It has inspired me as a new author in the humorous fiction genre. Like all of his books, Stormy Weather is satire at its best. It is dark at points, outrageous at others, and over-the-top. It is pure fun; more fun than my first roller coaster ride!

Mr. Hiaasen has an active imagination which allows him to create delightfully memorable characters. He is consistent in this regard in all of his books. I haven't read one that has disappointed me yet a More...

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Jan 06, 2009

Janelle rated it:

Carl Hiaasen's works are usually very funny, intelligent, witty, creative, with a happy ending. What could you want more from an entertaining lite read? The imaginative characters, the adventure, the great use of irony and sarcasm, he keeps you guessing how things could possibly all work out for the best, and they do in his books which I like. I always find good qualities to admire in his heros, and can easily despise the villians, cheering when they meet their demise...in whatever creative f More...

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Jan 27, 2009

Ethan added it

Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen is a hilarious book, centering around a couple visiting Disney World in Florida, when an extremely dangerous hurricane hits. The husband, Max, who is obsessed with natural disasters, goes in harms way to get video footage of the storm, where he is kidnapped by a former governor who is an insane environmentalist. Sound nuts, huh?

The author, Carl Hiaasen, while maintaining a comedic tone, manages to make all of these events sound so normal, as if it were More...

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Feb 21, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

This was an interesting and very quick read. The author does a really great job of tying all the charachters lives together in the aftermath of a hurricane.

I can still see the image of the guy that tied himself to the bridge to endure the heart of the storm.

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Jan 01, 2012

Frederick rated it:

I listened to this on tape.The Carl Hiaasen book about Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. It is populated with a corrupt building inspector who makes sacrifices to a cuban voodoo God, a smug mobile home salesman (whose products blew away in the storm), his greedy estranged wife, a mafia hit man, two naive tourists - one an opportunistic ad executive from New York - the other his innocent wife, an ex-governor turned backwoods pioneer, a wealthy zoo owner who likes to juggle skulls, a b More...

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Mar 31, 2010

Sean rated it:

This is extremely disappointing for a Carl Hiaasen novel. It's as funny as Hiaasen's best, but the plotting is horrible. This is one of those books with two storylines that eventually converge, but they do so in the most haphazard way, and afterwards it's not clear why the characters don't just go their separate ways.

Both plots center upon a massive hurricane that strikes Miami. In one we have a tourist couple, a pair of newly weds who were honeymooning at Disneyland. When the hurric More...

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Jul 28, 2009

Judy rated it:

Another entertaining Carl Hiassen read starring Jim Tile, state trooper, and Skink, former governor of Florida reeking havoc on those who would destroy the environment. This story takes place after a hurricane when some ne'er do wells would try and defraud insurance companies. As all Hiaasen books, there are lots of characters who get intertwined and it all comes out in the end. This time we have a newly married couple whose husband is obsessed with taking videos of those suffering from the h More...

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Oct 24, 2009

Tom rated it:

Two honeymooners wake up early, make love twice, and brace themselves for a spectacle they won't be watching from the sidelines.

A seductive con artiste stumbles into a scam that promises more cool cash than the lottery.

A shotgun-toting mobile home salesman is about to close a deal with disaster.

A law school dropout will be chasing one Gaboon viper, a troop of storm-shocked monkeys, and a newfound love life, while tourists by the thousands bail from the Flor More...

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Nov 30, 2011

Mark rated it:

I'll start by saying I don't read much fiction, and this is the first Hiassen book I have read. This was really a fun read and maybe I should be reading more like this. There are about a dozen characters, many with bad intentions, and a few who get sucked into doing things they probably would not otherwise. Having lived in south Florida, I feel like I've seen some of these characters and the endless subdivisions some of the action takes place in. There are many unusual twists, mixed in with More...

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Sep 14, 2011

April the Cheshire Meow rated it:

The usual (maybe not 'usual' except for the folks who end up in the police blotter sections of newspapers) odd Florida characters from murderers to con artists to the distinctly cracked in the head somewhere are involved in various linked ways. This time it's a Florida hurricane which starts the ball rolling, as various couples find the hurricane itself has completely wrecked the lives they had been living before the winds hit and overturned everything that made them the people they felt themse More...

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Mar 05, 2011

Mick rated it:

I got a great buy on a set of Hiaasen's works at a used book sale, and really hit the jackpot. I always enjoy the unique (okay, freaking absurd) characters that populate his stories, and never having been to Florida myself, maybe there truly are such abominable creatures in existence down there. But anyway, this one was another winner, I'm really looking forward to the next one on the shelf, and the books themselves are incredibly eye-catching. Their blazing neon covers brighten up the whole boo More...

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Apr 28, 2009

Linda rated it:

Loopy characters and lots of action. No problem telling the good guys from the bad in the aftermath of a hurricane that leaves Florida's poorly constructed neighborhoods in shambles and provides fertile ground for all manner of nutcases, grifters, and shoddy contractors. You always know the good guys (and gal) will prevail but the ride is great fun and fairly raunchy. This book was written in 1996 but remains fresh and his sarcastic narration about the over-development of Florida still rings tru More...

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Feb 08, 2011

Elena rated it:

This book is typical Hiassen - with characters you love to hate or hate to love; twisting plot of kidnapping and fraud; social (ecological) and personal redemption; the end of superficial attraction and the start of destined love - of course, all set in Southern Florida, post-hurricane. Read this if you need to quickly jump into a book and be held on for a twisting plot and sterotypically funny characters. Added into the crazy plot and characters is a sense of the reality in a hurricane-hit area More...

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Apr 23, 2009

Debbie rated it:

When a hurricane hits Forida, things get real crazy, real fast. A couple on their honeymoon, Max and Bonnie Lamb, get caught up with the post-hurricane madness. Max gets kidnapped by Skink, Florida's environmentally conscious ex-governor and his wife hooks up with wealthy skull-juggler Augustine as she seeks her missing husband.

Edie Marsh is a small-time con artist trying to strike it rich as a result of the storm. As in other Hiaasen novels, the adventures get slapstick at times, More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Jerry rated it:

Hiaasen is known for witty comedic tales, so indeed “Weather” fits right in! A bad hurricane hits southern Florida, blowing away whole trailer parks and all manner of people’s roofs, accompanied by widespread devastation, even a few deaths. We then meet quite a quirky cast of characters: newlyweds Bonnie and Max, with Max abandoning all the honeymoon plans to go south and videotape the damages; “Snapper” and Edie, whose goal is to scam missing homeowners out of their insurance money; Augustin More...

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Dec 18, 2007

Tracey rated it:

I bought a used copy of Stormy Weather and added it to my List of Candidates for this month, not making the association with hurricane season.

Written in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew (among others), Hiaasen provides another scathing satirical commentary on the weird & wonderful Sunshine State. Max Lamb, on his honeymoon at Disney World with wife Bonnie, gets a wild hair to head south in the aftermath of a hurricane, not to assist, but to gawk & take video to share with his ad-man More...

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Aug 30, 2007

Spiros rated it:

I ride Muni. Carl Hiaasen writes clever, enjoyable, somewhat facile farces which make excellent reads on Muni. Hence, I have read an unconscionable amount of Carl Hiassen.
His stories are pretty formulaic; they usually involve an eccentric/reclusive Floridian (our hero) whose life improbably intersects with a greedy sleazeball and his wife/girlfriend. Hero gets girl, sleazeball gets comeuppance, even more unsavory characters get killed in satisfyingly ironic ways. In short, good clean fun More...

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