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102nd out of 1,871 books
—
3,706 voters
Sick Puppy
by
Carl Hiaasen
Independently wealthy eco-terrorist Twilly Spree teaches a flagrant litterbug a lesson--and leaves the offender's precious Range Rover swarming with hungry dung beetles. When he discovers the litterer is one of the most powerful political fixers in Florida, the real Hiaasen-style fun begins.
Paperback, 464 pages
Published
April 12th 2005
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published January 4th 2000)
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This book is about a hundred pages too long and is a poorly developed story about an unstable environmentalist that stalks an asshole lobbyist/exotic game hunter because he saw him toss trash out the window of his car. The most frustrating thing about this book is that it has potential to turn into an interesting story, but it moves in a bunch of roundabout directions and never delivers. Worst of all, it seems like the author wanted to use every strange character he had ever developed in one boo...more
Twilly Spree is a trust-fund baby and eco-terrorist with some anger-management issues. When he witnesses blatant littering by the driver of a Range Rover with vanity plates, he is compelled to teach the litterbug a lesson. Within a few pages the reader is immersed in the usual Hiaasen scenario featuring a dog-napping and peopled with corrupt Florida politicians and ruthless developers; among the characters here are a former Toyota salesman who is now governor, a hunt-trophy-happy lobbyist, a mil...more
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I love Carl Hiaasen. I am not a big mystery/thriller person and his stuff is great! His characters are OTT and at the same time so very human and in this instance humane. How can you not love a man who would chase down an idiot for throwing trash out of his car doing 80 on the freeway?!?! Twilly Spree is my hero. With Hiaasen you just never know where you will wind up - except that it will be in Florida, that much you know.
My mother-in-law recommended Carl Hiassen as someone who amusingly sends up Florida politics and corrupt politicos. What I liked is that this book spares no one. The environmental nut really is a total nut, not someone you necessarily want representing your cause. It was funny. What I disliked is how completely irredeemable the bad guys are. Hiaasen paints with broad brush strokes, and the bad guys aren't just bad, some of them are incredibly twisted in ways that seem too horrid and brutal for a...more
This book was pretty funny but also rather gross. The very interesting descriptions of people we imagine exist (the wealthy conservative game-hunting politician with a trophy wife; the psychotic, environmental terrorist with an anger management problem, etc.) made for an outrageous and dark comedy. Still, something about the book didn't feel good to me.
Maybe I'm just too serious, but reading about people this dysfunctional and the havoc they wreak on each other and the world around them just lea...more
Maybe I'm just too serious, but reading about people this dysfunctional and the havoc they wreak on each other and the world around them just lea...more
This was definitely not my favorite Carl Hiaasen. Twilly comes off as a spoiled rich brat who feels justified destroying things when he doesn’t like something, and he really doesn’t grow at all by the end of the book. The “big game hunting” made me sick to my stomach. There was too much death. The only remotely likable character in the book was Desie, and she was just window dressing. I barely talked myself into finishing this one. If this had been the first Hiaasen I read, I would never read an...more
Jun 15, 2007
Ann
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
ridiculous people like me
Shelves:
hilarious
man. this book made me laugh. hiaasen is friggin hilarious. the book has crazy floridian creeps causing eco-mistakes. the main character simply doesn't like it. picture an entire truck load of dung beetles being dumped onto your fancy SUV because you threw a mcdonalds wrapper out your window. and Skink, the vagabond with good teeth, gives me the smiles. just - if you are wanting to laugh, this is it. so silly. and there is always a good message about development destroying the world and whatnot....more
Excerpt Publisher's Weekly review.....its been a long time since I read the book.
A funny caper revolving around the environmental exploitation in Florida by greedy developers. When Twilly Spree, an environmental terrorist, begins a campaign of sabotage against a grotesque litterbug named Palmer Stoat, he gets much more than he bargained for. Stoat is a political fixer, involved with a bevy of shady types: Dick Artemus, ex-car salesman, now governor; Robert Clapley, a crooked land developer with...more
A funny caper revolving around the environmental exploitation in Florida by greedy developers. When Twilly Spree, an environmental terrorist, begins a campaign of sabotage against a grotesque litterbug named Palmer Stoat, he gets much more than he bargained for. Stoat is a political fixer, involved with a bevy of shady types: Dick Artemus, ex-car salesman, now governor; Robert Clapley, a crooked land developer with...more
Very funny book. First I've read one of his books. Understand there are a lot of similarities between different ones, and many of the characters are recurring. Hiassen has a real gift for comic writing. I laughed out loud at several points. His timing is really sharp. Even throwaway characters are rendered well. One character, an auto executive, is described as something like the "man who single-handedly destroyed the Mustang." May not be funny to everyone but I read Lee Iacocca's autobiography...more
You gotta love a dog story and especially one which nails the essence of a dog as well as Carl Hiaansen’s Sick Puppy. It is clear that Hiaansen has been around his share of dogs with descriptions such as this:
“That’s the thing about being a Labrador retriever--you were born for fun. Seldom was your loopy, freewheeling mind cluttered by contemplation, and never at all by somber worry; every day was a romp. What else could there possibly be to life? Eating was a thrill.......And everywhere you wen...more
“That’s the thing about being a Labrador retriever--you were born for fun. Seldom was your loopy, freewheeling mind cluttered by contemplation, and never at all by somber worry; every day was a romp. What else could there possibly be to life? Eating was a thrill.......And everywhere you wen...more
This is a story of a book that could have, but sadly did not.
Firstly, this is the only book I've read by this author, and it's not one of his earlier ones. Apparently, many of his books are similar in theme, structure, and erm humor. This being the case, I think I'll pass.
Let's first look at what almost made this book work. Not the typical psycho killer, intelligent, charming, and clever. No overworked alcoholic police officer who's had many failed marriages. To be honest, there's no real hero...more
Firstly, this is the only book I've read by this author, and it's not one of his earlier ones. Apparently, many of his books are similar in theme, structure, and erm humor. This being the case, I think I'll pass.
Let's first look at what almost made this book work. Not the typical psycho killer, intelligent, charming, and clever. No overworked alcoholic police officer who's had many failed marriages. To be honest, there's no real hero...more
When Twilly Spree, an environmental terrorist and financially independent, sees Palmer Stoat throw trash out of his car window on the freeway, he is on his tail seeking revenge. Stoat is a political fixer involved with all sorts of characters: Dick Artemus, ex-car salesman, now governor; Robert Clapley, a crooked land developer with an unhealthy interest in Barbie dolls; and his goon, Mr. Gash, who plays his favorite 911 compilations in the tape deck.
Twilly, after filling Stoat's car with dung b...more
Twilly, after filling Stoat's car with dung b...more
Okay. I'll concede that there are oversimplifications in this book. The bad guys are irredeemably bad; the good guys are little better than the bad guys. That's true of most of us, isn't it? The destruction of habitat for condos is a central Hiaasen theme, so don't get your Speedos in a wad. The characters are too wild and crazy to believe? Have you ever spent time in Florida? Every nutjob who isn't on a survivalist ranch in Idaho picks up their mail in Florida (it used to be California before l...more
The book is about the angry antics of a millionaire eco-terrorist named Twilly, who follows a litterbug throwing trash out of his car while on the highway. The litterbug named Stoat is actually a corrupt lobbyist brokering deals for corrupt politicians and real estate moguls. When Twilly kidnaps Stoat’s black labrador (the sick puppy of the title) and eventually Stoat’s wife Desie, the mayhem begins. A multi-million-dollar real estate deal is endangered, bringing into play various goons of the b...more
Sick Puppy is my introduction to Carl Hiaasen, an author that my girlfriend felt would be a good way to get me introduced to Florida. I'll probably read him again, although I found this book to be one of diminishing returns. It starts out as a satisfying read; Twilly Spree is a maladjusted and overgrown trust fund kid who gets to live out a popular revenge fantasy: he spots a litterbug on the Florida highway and decides to spend as much time and energy as possible to teach the litterbug a lesson...more
Carl Hiassen's "Sick Puppy" was a raucous adventure featuring characters who were extreme in their being. This alone made them each comical and entertaining. Taking the cake may have been Boodle/McQuinn the labrador retriever, who was a big part of the story throughout.
Twilly Spree is the trust fund son of a developer father, who is compelled to single-handedly educate people who harm the environment. He comes across Palmer Stoat throwing trash out his window and plans to teach the man a lesson....more
Twilly Spree is the trust fund son of a developer father, who is compelled to single-handedly educate people who harm the environment. He comes across Palmer Stoat throwing trash out his window and plans to teach the man a lesson....more
I haven't read any Carl Hiaasen in about ten years. It's worth saying that based on his first 5 books, his investigative reporting and the fact that he once appeared on IN SEARCH OF alongside Leonard Frickin' Nimoy, I regard Hiaasen as a genius to be spoken of in hallowed tones. I will now proceed to speak of him in tones more harsh than hallowed, even though I still think he's one of America's greatest writers and one of the top 10,443 crime novelists in god damned South Florida; since they all...more
Hiaasen is one of my favorites. His characters are outlandish. Protagonists are quirky but usually have high and noble ideals. Their approach to problems - and problem people - is to punish them. His bad guys are, without exception, greedy, manipulative, over-sexed and arrogant to a fault. Add to these characters a few people who pop up in many of Hiaasen's books - almost all of them set in South Florida: ex-Governor Clinton Tyree, State Patrolman, Lt Jim Tile - among others.
Our story begins wi...more
Our story begins wi...more
Unbelievably, I have never before read Carl Hiaasen despite being urged to do so by various friends! I borrowed this from a friend - when I told her I was going to spend five days in Las Vegas & had nothing airplane-appropriate to read, she gave me this book. It is both airplane-worthy and Vegas-worthy! If Charles Dickens had been born in Florida in about 1960, & had had a violent streak, maybe he would have come up with this kind of book! Don't get me wrong, this is nothing like Dickens...more
Dec 02, 2008
Jason
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Floridians, Lobbyists, Environmentalists, haphazard activist madmen, my mom
Recommended to Jason by:
I found it in a yurt
what my fellow reviewers fail to realize about this book is that it is a complete cartoon. The bad guys are irredeemably bad and the good guys are insanely noble to the point of crusader BECAUSE this is the story of elmer fudd and wile e. coyote. One stalks the other in brambled confusion, the other stalks the other with absurd moral vindication. I will say that the ending is pretty corny (but sometimes ***SPOILER ALERT*** it's pretty awesome to just let annoying characters that are gonna win an...more
The rumors are all true. Carl Hiaasen is very funny and creates characters from the worst impulses of human nature. But I spent this book rooting *for* the corrupt lobbyist, governor, and developer. They seemed the most human and rounded characters - they were all motivated by a desire to be happy and that happiness eluded them no matter how much money or influence they put behind their efforts. The sanctimonious, shallow, and irritating ex-governor and environmental terrorist were just holier-t...more
Beach Books On A Bus 2 continues...!!!
So, The Name of the Rose might be a bit cerebral, but Sick Puppy really feels like an archetypal paperbook best enjoyed while reclining under the sun with sand between your toes. It's an interesting blend of the trashy and the compelling - lots of opportunities for rubbernecking at the tawdry worlds of strippers, prostitutes, cigar bars, canned big game hunts for rich jerks, drug dealers, hitmen, and so on ... and then more rubbernecking at the even more sto...more
So, The Name of the Rose might be a bit cerebral, but Sick Puppy really feels like an archetypal paperbook best enjoyed while reclining under the sun with sand between your toes. It's an interesting blend of the trashy and the compelling - lots of opportunities for rubbernecking at the tawdry worlds of strippers, prostitutes, cigar bars, canned big game hunts for rich jerks, drug dealers, hitmen, and so on ... and then more rubbernecking at the even more sto...more
Sep 17, 2007
Nathan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People with endearing temper problems.
Shelves:
fiction
One of the funniest books I've ever read. What enjoyable, escapist fiction should be. Twilly Spree is a character Joseph Heller would have been proud of, a hero in anger management classes, and his exploits are so absurd that they are only believable because they take place in the state of insanity known as "Florida". Absolutely fun and all that good, escapist fiction should be.
NC
NC
This wasn't my favorite Hiaasen, but it was very entertaining nonetheless. Living in Florida, I can completely envision all of the settings Hiaasen describes. Unfortunately, I can also envision most of the corruption he describes. The characters are written a bit large and excessively weird, it's true, but the baseline corruption level is 100% believable.
(view spoiler)...more
(view spoiler)...more
Don't let the slightly unsavory title put you off this book-to me it's one of Carl Hiaasen's most approachable, ie the horrible consequences for the antagonists are milder than in a lot of his stories. The sick puppy in question is a young black lab who's been kidnapped by 'eco-terrorist Twilly Spree', a former child of privilege who's chosen a simpler and starker life. He's big on calling out wrong-doers and the concept of 'boundaries' does not exist in his world. Like all of Hiaasen's books, t...more
I picked this copy up through BookCrossing; it was a wild release I found in a used book store. The plot is classic Hiaasen: Twilly Spree is a well-off environmentalist who decides to teach a litterbug a lesson. He ends up kidnapping the litterbug's dog and blackmailing him to keep an island off the coast of Florida from being developed. There are tons of other crazy characters, of course, and a lot of political intrigue and wacky high jinks. I found this book immensely entertaining; it was my f...more
Carl Hiaasen is a master of sentence, character and humor of the absurd.
Case in point, this little bit taken from Sick Puppy:
"The killer had a vain streak when it came to his physique. He was driven to take measures that artificially streamlined his midsection, which in recent years had shown signs of incipient tubbiness--an unnerving development that Mr. Gash bitterly blamed on the dull sedentary life of a a hit man. It was an occupation that neither required nor allowed much physical exercise...more
Case in point, this little bit taken from Sick Puppy:
"The killer had a vain streak when it came to his physique. He was driven to take measures that artificially streamlined his midsection, which in recent years had shown signs of incipient tubbiness--an unnerving development that Mr. Gash bitterly blamed on the dull sedentary life of a a hit man. It was an occupation that neither required nor allowed much physical exercise...more
'Sick Puppy' was an easy read, entertaining and enough to make me want to read another Hiaasen book in the future. It wasn't without flaws though - namely the female characters are all pretty vacuous - even the supposedly feisty romantic interest provided for the hero. Also, the author *insists* on interrupting his own action scenes with information asides that really could be dealt with elsewhere - for instance making a narrative diversion to describe a villain's sexual perversions during a rat...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
I’ve seen the book described as Florida Pulp Fiction, Eco-terrorist meets politics, a twisted read, etc.
This was my first Hiaasen and I found it witty and unique. The story opens with an egotistical jerk (Palmer Stoat) who flagrantly and liberally tosses garbage from his moving car, and the vigilante (Twilly Spree) who spots him and makes it his mission to teach him a lesson.
Twilly is a riot, a wealthy vigilante with nothing to do with his day but wreak vengeance on those that, quite frankly,...more
This was my first Hiaasen and I found it witty and unique. The story opens with an egotistical jerk (Palmer Stoat) who flagrantly and liberally tosses garbage from his moving car, and the vigilante (Twilly Spree) who spots him and makes it his mission to teach him a lesson.
Twilly is a riot, a wealthy vigilante with nothing to do with his day but wreak vengeance on those that, quite frankly,...more
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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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“as a lobbyist he had long ago concluded there was no difference in how Democrats and Republicans conducted the business of government. The game stayed the same: It was always about favors and friends, and who controlled the dough. Party labels were merely a way to keep track of the teams; issues were mostly smoke and vaudeville. Nobody believed in anything except hanging on to power, whatever it took. .....”
—
7 people liked it
“...Right now there's a pair of bad cops on their way out here to shoot me."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, you're right," Stranahan said. "They're probably just collecting Toys for Tots. Now go.”
—
5 people liked it
More quotes…
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, you're right," Stranahan said. "They're probably just collecting Toys for Tots. Now go.”
11. Februar, 10:35 Uhr