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134th out of 1,873 books
—
3,699 voters
Skin Tight
by
Carl Hiaasen
Mick Stranahan, a forty-two-year-old former Florida state investigator, is minding his own business when a man turns up to kill him. He doesn't succeed--Nick spears him with a stuffed marlin head--but as he heaves the body into the bay, Mick tries to figure out who wants him dead, and why. The results are suspenseful and hilarious. A L.G.
Paperback, 420 pages
Published
April 12th 2005
by Warner Books
(first published 1989)
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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'...more
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...more
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...more
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...more
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...more
I really enjoyed reading this book but it was a little to cliche. The actual content was one i have read before especially the lines. Skin Tight is about an ex detective type man who is wanted dead by a plastic surgeon who in the past kills a woman during her surgery. The big gist is that he wants to be left alone and will do anything and everything to do so. What i liked alot about the novel were the characters (too funny). Each were their own personality and had nothing in common with one anot...more
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 vitriolic 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 atta...more
Carl Hiaasen masterfully creates another mystery, adventure packed novel with charismatic characters you can’t help but laugh at. Mick Stranahan, a former Florida state investigator, is in grave danger seeing that most of everyone he comes in contact with is trying to kill him. In one instance he uses a stuffed marlin to defend himself against a man with a pistol. Hiaasen is able to put a comical flair onto his murder mysteries and give it the essence of a light-read. This is a great technique t...more
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...more
By now, I'm pretty used to the Carl Hiassen formula: a neurotic hero, a cast of cynical, corrupt, and grotesque characters--including one who normally ends up disfigured in some way--and a multi-layered plot which normally ends in a late-night rendezvous somewhere in the Florida wilderness. Who cares if it's not Shakespeare, and he rarely deviates from it--it's damn entertaining.
This is probably one of his best. The plot is especially inventive and creative in the way it layers mutliple absurdit...more
This is probably one of his best. The plot is especially inventive and creative in the way it layers mutliple absurdit...more
This was another typical Carl Hiaasen book. I could not help but think of Dan Brown (who obviously came later than this eighties book) - it was full of exaggerated and grotesque characters, and to be honest the ending was predicitiable, but the speed of the story was great, and I was always longing to squeeze a crafty read in here and now.
From this book it is obvious that the author feels a little bewildered / bemused by "modern" America and its values. This book was exposing the folly of cosmet...more
From this book it is obvious that the author feels a little bewildered / bemused by "modern" America and its values. This book was exposing the folly of cosmet...more
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 outland...more
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 outland...more
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 fash...more
This was a fun book to read and didn't take much brain power. It is a little different from other crime novels that I have read because it has a darkly comical undertone. The characters are vivid if a bit cartoonish. I would reccomend this if you are looking for a light easy read with a little humor.
"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"... With an opening description like that, who wouldn't want to read this? A gritty, noir detective novel that managed to make me laugh out loud, more than once. Filled with a cast of unbelievable characters including a vain plastic surgeon who's getting away with murder, a giant of a man - 6'1" or 8'2" depen...more
It's Miami and everyone is trying to kill each other. (and NOT over drugs)Is it a safer place when multiple fish are used as weapons?
A young woman disappeared 4 years ago and the case went cold. New evidence may be coming out through an obnoxious TV journalist.
Former investigator from the state attorney's office, Mick Stranahan, has enough on his hands with 5 ex-wives. He's also killed 5 men, and angered more. WHO is after him now, and WHY?
This is a book filled with MOTIVES and most seem to have...more
A young woman disappeared 4 years ago and the case went cold. New evidence may be coming out through an obnoxious TV journalist.
Former investigator from the state attorney's office, Mick Stranahan, has enough on his hands with 5 ex-wives. He's also killed 5 men, and angered more. WHO is after him now, and WHY?
This is a book filled with MOTIVES and most seem to have...more
A lawyer friend gave me a copy of Skin Tight and said I'd love this book, "In fact, Bobby, he's the type of writer who will make you laugh out loud." You know what? He was right. I did laugh out loud. In fact, I laughed out loud on many occasions.
Not only did I read this story, but I've read a few of his other novels, and I've never been disappointed. ( And I continue to laugh out loud when I become emeshed in his colorful yarns.) His characters are quirky without being unrealistic, he addresses...more
Not only did I read this story, but I've read a few of his other novels, and I've never been disappointed. ( And I continue to laugh out loud when I become emeshed in his colorful yarns.) His characters are quirky without being unrealistic, he addresses...more
This is the perfect kind of book for a teacher to read to escape from her end-of-year craziness. It's easy and trashy but there a spark somewhere in there that makes it fun. If somebody told: "Here, read this book- it's about a tough-guy ex-private investigator, a crooked plastic surgeon, an Omish hitman with a strange skin condition, and a slew of other weird and slightly offensive characters", I'd say "Umm, no thanks." But, I picked up this book b/c I have a weakness for anything set in Florid...more
Another fun ride in Hiaasen's Florida filled with people so nutty you know they are not too far from real characters he has encountered during the decades spent living and working in the Sunshine State.
The truly despicable get theirs. Readers are rewarded by the consummation of the relationship of the couple with simmering sexual chemistry rather than some writers who leave it hanging, I'm looking at YOU, Chelsea Cain and Chuck Hogan! It's a pretty tame "sex" scene, one star from Hiassen. And t...more
The truly despicable get theirs. Readers are rewarded by the consummation of the relationship of the couple with simmering sexual chemistry rather than some writers who leave it hanging, I'm looking at YOU, Chelsea Cain and Chuck Hogan! It's a pretty tame "sex" scene, one star from Hiassen. And t...more
Ahhh - what an enjoyable read. I've read several of Hiaasen's books and enjoyed them, each and every one. This was probably the best one I've read. Such adorable characters, and hilarious dialogue - I laughed more while reading this than I ever have reading a purposely 'humorous' book.
Oh yes, some gruesome things (murders, disfigurements, and so on) happen in this book - but the author does a great job of ... keeping it light, believe it or not. All the bad guys are total dorks - losers, incred...more
Oh yes, some gruesome things (murders, disfigurements, and so on) happen in this book - but the author does a great job of ... keeping it light, believe it or not. All the bad guys are total dorks - losers, incred...more
Poor Mick Stranahan. He wants to enjoy his early retirement on Florida’s Biscayne Bay but too many bad guys are out to do him bodily harm. As a former investigator for the State Attorney’s Office, he has plenty of enemies. And the list is growing: a personal injury lawyer of billboard fame, a notorious TV journalist, an ominous looking hit man, and a fumbling but ruthless plastic surgeon.
Skin Tight is one of Carl Hiaasen’s early novels, copyrighted in 1989. I’ve read many of his tales about cr...more
Skin Tight is one of Carl Hiaasen’s early novels, copyrighted in 1989. I’ve read many of his tales about cr...more
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 lea...more
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 lea...more
Mar 12, 2012
Jack
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jack by:
Various friends
When I tell people what kind of books I write and what I like to read, inevitably, the name Carl Hiaasen comes up. I've read a couple books by him and, well, they're okay, but didn't hold my interest like Lee Child or even Raymond Chandler.
I don't know why I didn't like this, other than it's very dated. I can't say that it's because I dislike Florida because I like Jimmy Buffet's books, which are based there, and the main character in this book, Mike Stranahan, is a jaded ex-cop and ex-prosecut...more
I don't know why I didn't like this, other than it's very dated. I can't say that it's because I dislike Florida because I like Jimmy Buffet's books, which are based there, and the main character in this book, Mike Stranahan, is a jaded ex-cop and ex-prosecut...more
Nov 27, 2011
Beau
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
nobody
Shelves:
books-i-didn-t-finish-that-sucked
Had been reading a lot of crime fiction lately, and was looking for something else in that genre. I read the back of this book, and it sounded promising. Bizarre story, over the top characters, good stuff, right?
The problem was that the writing was awful. Many times I had to re-read paragraphs just to figure out what the author was trying to describe. This was most noticeable during action scenes where I'm sure the author had an idea that made sense in his head, but just could not transfer it to...more
The problem was that the writing was awful. Many times I had to re-read paragraphs just to figure out what the author was trying to describe. This was most noticeable during action scenes where I'm sure the author had an idea that made sense in his head, but just could not transfer it to...more
This is my 3rd Carl Hiaasen book (Skinny Dip, Sick Puppy). I was generally not impressed with the first two, but I can honestly say that Skin Tight had me engaged and laughing throughout the whole book. This book is in the typical Hiaasen style - where the good guys always win, even if they have to cross lines to do it. While Hiaasen is not a classic, award winning writer; I find his books to be light-hearted, easy reading that are also entertaining. His books are a good reprieve between heavier...more
If you like Elmore Leonard and Nelson DeMille you'll love this book by Carl Hiaasen. The bodies are piling up but the humor keeps everything in check. Exciting action and sharp retorts from the characters makes this a very enjoyable read. We have a six foot nine inch killer with a pock-marked face who is trying to kill the good guys and at the same time trying to get dermabrasion on his face. There is the television talk show host who acts exactly like you would think they really do. Amazing cha...more
Carl Hiaasen sometimes teeters back and forth between black humor and just plain black. His situations are occasionally too disturbing to be funny, or simply uncomfortable to read. However, with Skin Tight, he's found his balance (I haven't read many of his other novels, so maybe he's normally like this, but after this one, I'm bound to read more). The characters are all perfectly bizarre, and yet they manage to act like real human beings. Even the hit man burned in an electrolysis accident, who...more
This is one of my favorite authors. Just love his nonchalant main character-Stranahan. There are always crazy Florida side characters revolving around the main character. Chemo, who has a weed whacker as a prosthesis and a crazy lazy money making plastic surgeon are just a few. It always has a sub-plot of love too. His books always make me want to visit Florida. His love of the nature of Florida always comes through. Skinny Dip is one of his funniest though if you haven't read any of his.
For some reason, Hiaasen's books don't age very well. This is an excellent book, funny and memorable characters, detailed plot with just enough twists to make each chapter interesting. However, there are also just enough references to items of a topical nature that when reading it 15 or 20 years later (I think this was published in the early 90s) it just rings oddly. A little too graphic in parts as the story involves a plastic surgeon and mayhem ensues when people start looking into a missing p...more
I was suggested this book when I asked for more of the same when I ran out of Janet Evanovich numbers books...these writers from Florida all write about the same stuff... and I can appreciate that but there has to be some thing that really captures the reader too. I enjoyed this book because it is light and captivating read, not too descriptive and not too far out in left field, with a little bit of action, romance and good guy / bad guy plot.
Mar 26, 2009
Nevada
added it
this is my favorite book so far.
Mick's character is awsome and if he asked me to marry him after the first time sleeping together (which is what he has done with his preivous wives) i would be very tempted to say yes.
best part was when he ran the guy through with the stuffed marlin head in the beginning of the book.
definetly would recomend this book for anyone to read because it's brillent.
Mick's character is awsome and if he asked me to marry him after the first time sleeping together (which is what he has done with his preivous wives) i would be very tempted to say yes.
best part was when he ran the guy through with the stuffed marlin head in the beginning of the book.
definetly would recomend this book for anyone to read because it's brillent.
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Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his family. After graduating from the University of Florida, he began writing for the Miami Herald. As a journalist and author, Carl has spend most of his life advocating the protection of the Florida Everglades. He and his family still live southern Florida.
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Jun 01, 2009 06:08pm