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Skinny Dip

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 19,053 ratings · 1,738 reviews

Marine biologist Chaz Perrone can't tell a sea horse from a sawhorse. And when he throws his beautiful wife, Joey, off a cruise liner, he really should know better. An expert swimmer, Joey makes her way to a floating bale of Jamaican pot-and then to an island inhabited by an ex-cop named Mick Stranahan, whose ex-wives include five waitresses and a TV producer. Now Joey wan...more

Mass Market Paperback, 495 pages

Published May 1st 2006 by Grand Central Publishing (first published 2004)

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Aug 09, 2007 Seth Hahne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who like darkly funny crime novels

Carl Hiaasen is right at home in that collective of modern, witty crime fiction writers who are neither Dashiell Hammett nor Raymond Chandler and hope against that you won't attempt the comparison. That he's good, there's no doubt. It's just: he's not genius.

And that's fine. Not everyone can abide in stellar heights, unreachable and ever-gunned-for. Skinny Dip was a perfectly enjoyable ode to revenge. All the bad people got what was coming to them and none of the good people ever fell prey to th...more

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May 26, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Joey Perrone is pissed--and she has every right to be. On their second wedding anniversary, her husband, Chaz, surprises her by booking a romantic Carnival-style cruise. He surprises her again by getting her drunk, throwing her overboard in the middle of the night, and leaving her as shark bait. What Chaz doesn't know is that Joey survives by clinging to a wayward bale of Jamaican weed. She's found, exhausted and a little worse for wear, by Mick Stranahan, a recluse who lives on a private island...more Joey Perrone is pissed--and she has every right to be. On their second wedding anniversary, her husband, Chaz, surprises her by booking a romantic Carnival-style cruise. He surprises her again by getting her drunk, throwing her overboard in the middle of the night, and leaving her as shark bait. What Chaz doesn't know is that Joey survives by clinging to a wayward bale of Jamaican weed. She's found, exhausted and a little worse for wear, by Mick Stranahan, a recluse who lives on a private island and shuns the mainland after being forced into early retirement from the police force after killing a politically well-connected criminal. If Fate dealt Joey a cruel blow that night on the cruise ship, it's certainly making up for it by creating the perfect situation in which to exact revenge on her philandering and murderous husband. What follows is a bizarre, tangled, and amusing revenge scheme that reveals just what a lowlife Chaz Perrone really is.

Carl Hiaasen books are quick, funny reads with a soul. Skinny Dip is full of quirky characters (such as Tool, the bodyguard with a bullet lodged in the crack of his ass and a penchant for collecting roadside crosses; Red Hammernut, the Yosemite Sam like billionaire making big profit off of thwarting EPA rules; Ricca, Chaz's mistress who has, shall we say, some peculiar artistic tendencies when it comes to personal grooming), implausible plot lines, and witty dialogue. However, for all of the absurdity, there is an underlying environmental message about the Everglades and how big money and political influence can circumvent the very agencies who are trying to do right by our planet. The message is never preachy; Hiaasen simply uses the characters and the plot to point out how corporate corruption is going on beneath our very noses and how industrial farming's mismanagement of natural resources is making itself felt in our water supply, our land, and in the animals who inhabit the very ecosystems we're destroying. However, if you're not looking for an environmental message, that's cool--still consider giving Hiaasen a try. There are plenty of zany capers, madcap adventures, and fun to be had.(less)

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Apr 09, 2007 Tara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: archives

I do love to junk out on Carl Hiaasen - his characters are the best of the best as far as endearing-bizarre-flaky. A failed attempt at killing his wife leads a fantastically sleazy, comical and completely unlikable pseudo-biologist down a hot, sticky, mosquito-infested, crocodile-ridden, and ridiculously ill-fated path... from a previously bland housing-development life in Boca Raton to the depths of the swampy Everglades. Crimes against the environment and one miserably failed murder attempt af...more

4 likes · like · see review

Sep 06, 2007 Shirley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: alreadyread

This is a favorite author of mine. He has the very best of characters. Bizarre, misdirected, lost, but always fun.

9 likes · like · see review

Jan 19, 2008 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: florida vacationers

Shelves: crime-and-punishment

I read this when I was on vacation in Florida, and I liked it -- it was F-U-N. This is the only Hiaasen I've ever read, though I've started one or two others and not gotten into it/them.

I have to admit, while I was reading this I couldn't stop wishing that Elmore Leonard would care about the environment. I really love that Hiassen works his conservationist agenda in so wonderfully in a way that enhances, rather than detracts from, his fun fun fun story, but I just can't get as into other stuff a...more I read this when I was on vacation in Florida, and I liked it -- it was F-U-N. This is the only Hiaasen I've ever read, though I've started one or two others and not gotten into it/them.

I have to admit, while I was reading this I couldn't stop wishing that Elmore Leonard would care about the environment. I really love that Hiassen works his conservationist agenda in so wonderfully in a way that enhances, rather than detracts from, his fun fun fun story, but I just can't get as into other stuff about him as I'd like to be. It's kind of like going on a date with a cute, charming, alcoholic electrician who's got a lot of wonderful qualities, but you can't stop thinking of another cute, charming, alcoholic electrician from your past, and wishing you were out with him instead. I didn't think this book was so hilarious, and the romance was really cheesy and flat for me. This Florida crime genre seems to be romance-that-it's-okay-for-dudes-to-read, and Leonard writes better romances than the one in here. I also just like his books a whole lot more in general. Maybe it isn't fair to compare them, especially since I've only read this one, but that's who I was thinking of while I was with Carl: Elmore! So there it is....

Also, I enjoyed this book, but I was annoyed by some aspects of it. There wasn't much tension or suspense. You basically knew what was going on from the beginning, so there wasn't much to find out; the husband was a dick, and it didn't make sense that she would've married him, but she did, so that was that. The heroine was insanely rich, which can be done well, but here it just kind of made everything way too easy, plus the author's constant naming of the various designers she was wearing felt kind of distracting and unnatural to me; he'd be like, "Then she bought a blue silk Michael Kors miniskirt, which she looked great in." And you're like, "Well, it sucks about the Everglades, but other than that, is there really a problem here?" But then you're like, "Who cares, this is awesome, I'm on vacation."

Still, all in all, it was very enjoyable, and I 'd recommend this book for someone interested in a madcap caper kind of thing for a beach kind of situation. I would not recommend reading this in the dead of winter if you're someplace cold, because that'd probably make you depressed and bitter.

Should I make an effort to stop comparing him unfavorably to Leonard, and read more Hiassen? People (e.g., Jen, Mom) love him. If so, what's good?(less)

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Jul 25, 2008 Mike Reiring rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Skinny Dip is character and dialog driven fiction. The plot is original and well constructed, but it's the characters that make you want to keep reading. There's a chronically inept biologist, his remarkably resilient wife, a morally bankrupt Florida agri-mogul, and his dim-witted minion. Hiaasen weaves sparse narrative with crisp dialog to keep the story moving along.

This is not life changing, morally uplifting fiction we're talking about here. The book is simply fun, easy reading. I found myse...more

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Jul 17, 2007 Reader rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, from_the_library

So I just finished Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen. I had read his Strip Tease and Lucky You a while ago, but forgot how funny he can be. While I look forward to reading more of his books, they certainly don't make me want to visit Florida anytime soon.

Strong women seem to be a theme in his work. It made me think of Maureen Dowd's essay in the NYT Magazine, "What's a Modern Girl to Do?". A rather rambling collection of her musings regarding feminism, post-feminism, the feminisation of feminism, and t...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Shireen McQuade rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love this author! I actually laugh out loud, he is so funny but it is dark humor, with terrific wit, and is not everyone's cup of tea. In this novel, the heroine is being pushed off a cruise ship by her husband of three years. As she is falling, the narrator makes the observation that her husband must have forgotten she was the captain of the swim team, so she knows how to enter the water from a great height. And then the fun begins . . .

I have read all of Carl Hiassen's novels. But some peop...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Almeta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: serial, mysterious

This is my first Hiaasen book and won't be my last.

A very fun read. A comic suspense. (view spoiler) I know, I know that’s an oxymoron, but read it and see if I’m not right.

Every main character in this book had their life altered in some unexpected way; each to surprising satisfaction.

There are a couple of textbookie spots where the crime of swamp pollution was explained, and I think that it is part of Carl's hidden agend...more

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Jun 25, 2007 michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up at a used bookstore because I had seen it several times before and it looked somewhat amusing. And that's about all it was: somewhat amusing. The main characters are hollow and stereotypical, and the plot, for all its twists and turns, is fairly predictable. (I did like Ricca, the Woman On The Side... she was the only character whose manner and speech were both realistic and funny throughout.) The worst part about this book is the writing style: repetitious and unimaginitive, Hi...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-recommend

Chaz Perrone is driven by two things--money and releasing sexual energy. His wife, Joey, helps with one of these drives and gets in the way of the other. So, he chucks her overboard on their anniversary cruise.

Joey Perrone is familiar with tragedy... her parents died when she was young, her first husband died in a freak accident, and her second husband has, well, chucked her overboard on their anniversary cruise. But, Joey survived her fall.

The reader discovers the why's and how's of Chaz's crim...more

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Dec 14, 2008 A.F. rated it 3 of 5 stars

A quick enjoyable read--I was looking for something to read while traveling on the train. Just wanted something entertaining and found this to be so. Good sense of humor, good mystery-type story--I'll read more by this author when I want a quick, "no brainer" (easy) read.

1 like · like · see review

Jul 30, 2007 Sylvia rated it 4 of 5 stars

yes, carl hiaasen is prone to somewhat stereotypical characters, but having spent a lot of time in florida ... well, i think there are a lot of people who manifest even less depth of character than those in hiaasen's novels. at least his books are replete with the absurd, something i appreciate. (strip malls with pawn shops and flea markets, palms and the nouveau riche ... this is the florida i recognize).

i laugh out loud a lot reading hiaasen's books, and that's no easy feat. :) for "caper" fic...more

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Jan 30, 2009 sdw rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: environment, food-justice, fiction

I can't help it. I enjoy Carl Hiassen books as a guilty pleasure. Its like a beach-book or an airplane book. Its a book to read for a quick escape rather than high literary art. I don't read Carl Hiassen books for introspection or lovely turns of phrases.

Hiaasen is a modern Abbey. The women are always impossibly beautiful and frequently naked. The bad guys are always polluting the earth. The good guys are always willing to shot guns and beat the bad guys up and save the day. The good guys get t...more

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Jan 02, 2009 bookczuk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, favorite-author

Hiaasen with a heart. I enjoyed this book enormously, just for the sheer silliness of it. And there was a cameo appearance of Skink!!! My only complaint is that I read it at night so that my dreams became quite Hiaasenesque. Actually, my favorite character was Tool, the hirsute hit man. (Well, he's not really a hit man, but the alliteration was just too good to miss!)

Amazon Editorial Review:

Charles "Chaz" Perrone fancies himself a take-charge kind of guy. So when this "biologist by default" susp...more Hiaasen with a heart. I enjoyed this book enormously, just for the sheer silliness of it. And there was a cameo appearance of Skink!!! My only complaint is that I read it at night so that my dreams became quite Hiaasenesque. Actually, my favorite character was Tool, the hirsute hit man. (Well, he's not really a hit man, but the alliteration was just too good to miss!)

Amazon Editorial Review:

Charles "Chaz" Perrone fancies himself a take-charge kind of guy. So when this "biologist by default" suspects that his curvaceous wife, Joey, has stumbled onto a profitable pollution scam he's running on behalf of Florida agribusiness mogul Red Hammernut, he sets out right away to solve the problem--by heaving Joey off the deck of a luxury cruise liner and into the Atlantic Ocean, far from Key West. But--whoops!--Joey, a former swimming champ, doesn't drown. Instead, as Carl Hiaasen tells in his 10th adult novel, Skinny Dip, she makes her way back to shore, thanks both to a wayward bale of Jamaican marijuana and lonerish ex-cop Mick Stranahan (Skin Tight, 1989), and then launches a bogus blackmail campaign that's guaranteed to drive her lazy, libidinous hubby into a self-protective frenzy.

You've got to hand it to Hiaasen: He's perfected a formula for crisply written, satirical crime fiction that makes the best use of imaginatively repulsive villains, as well as less thoroughly venal scoundrels and victims who ultimately overcome their antagonists, all while stumping for the preservation of Florida's environment, particularly the Everglades. In Skinny Dip, we find Chaz (who'd rather be golfing than puttering around the "hot, buggy, funky-smelling and treacherous" reaches of nature) falsifying water samples to help Hammernut turn the 'Glades into "God's septic tank." That scheme, though, is endangered not just by Joey's sudden disappearance, but by the suspicions of a python-loving police detective and Chaz's own outstanding inability to tame his Viagra-enhanced tumescence. Even by assigning Chaz a baby-sitter--the hulking, hirsute, and painkiller-addicted Tool--Hammernut can't keep his pet biologist out of trouble. As Joey and Stranahan unfold their revenge plot, and Tool's conscience grows in competition with Chaz's ego, the reader can only marvel at the extent of the train wreck ahead.
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Apr 30, 2013 Jonathan Reed added it

Chaz Perrone is a Marine Biologist thats not the sharpest tool in the shed. When Chaz is on a trip with his wife Joey on a ocean liner Chaz tries something new. Chaz throws his wife Joey overboard into the ocean trying to kill her, but Chaz forgets Joey is an excellent swimmer. So Joey finds a floating bale of garbage and wades her way to an Island inhabited by an ex-cop named Mick Stranahan who has had a number of ex wife's from waitresses to a TV producer. So as Mick and Joey are on the islan...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cannonball-4

I have a fondness for Carl Hiassen books that is directly linked to the fact that I spent my formative years living in South Florida and that I was raised by two incredibly sarcastic folks. This means that I am hardwired to love this man and his books.

And I do.

I decided that a return trip into the land of Hiaasen was a great way to start the upcoming summer season so over Memorial Day weekend I dove right in (pun intended). Skinny Dip starts off with a woman recounting being tossed into the Atla...more I have a fondness for Carl Hiassen books that is directly linked to the fact that I spent my formative years living in South Florida and that I was raised by two incredibly sarcastic folks. This means that I am hardwired to love this man and his books.

And I do.

I decided that a return trip into the land of Hiaasen was a great way to start the upcoming summer season so over Memorial Day weekend I dove right in (pun intended). Skinny Dip starts off with a woman recounting being tossed into the Atlantic Ocean from a cruise ship by her husband, and trying to puzzle it out while also swimming for shore – which is many, many miles away. Our fateful heroine ends up fighting a shark, she thinks, but instead ends up holding close to a bale of marijuana to float closer to shore, and he rescuer who lives alone on a small island in Biscayne Bay.

Joey Perrone is our castaway and her rescuer is a former Miami cop, Mick Stranahan. We learn throughout the book about each character’s difficult pasts. She was orphaned at a young age, he’s been married six times. Because this is a Hiaasen book it’s not a romance, but it is a comedy (Joey’s parents die in a plane crash which was most likely caused by a trained bear waking up in the co-pilot’s seat and he has had his boat stolen several times by exes looking to leave the island).

While a good chunk of the story is about Joey and Mick, the larger part of the story is about Joey’s revenge on her husband, Charles ‘Chaz’ Perrone and his reasons for attempting to off Joey in the first place. Chaz, it turns out, is part of Samuel ‘Red’ Hammernut’s plan to keep polluting the Everglade. Red is a crooked farm tycoon who owns large vegetable fields adjacent to the Everglades, which he pollutes with fertilizer run-off. Chaz is officially employed by the state authorities to test swamp water for pollutants but he is also on Hammernut’s payroll, forging the test results and allowing Hammernut to continue doing as he has always done. Chaz thinks Joey has found him out, and the only way to keep her from telling the authorities is to kill her. When Joey comes to on Mick’s island she asks him to keep her rescue a secret and allow everyone, including her husband to think that she is indeed dead and launches a plan to exact her revenge and eventually uncover Chaz’s off the books job.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as things devolve into madness. If you’re a Hiaasen fan there are also sightings of favorite Everglades’ hermit Clinton ‘Skink’ Tyree and Twilly Spree. Mick Stranahan is himself a repeat offender in Hiassen’s novels, originating in Skin Tight. I completely loved my time in Hiaasen’s world, and I’m sure I’ll venture back in again before the summer is out since there are a bunch that I haven’t read. For the parent types out there Hiaasen’s Hoot is fantastic.
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May 14, 2012 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

My preconceived notions of Hiaasen, based mainly on the cover art for several of his books, was that he was a step between trashy romance novel and cheap fiction. Then I heard him being interviewed as a guest on NPR's 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me,' and he seemed like a pretty funny person. 'Skinny Dip' was the only one of his books that the library had on audiobook, and so my choice was made.

It turns out that the subject matter in this case was about as smutty as I'd imagined - dirt bag husband atte...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Misha Erementchouk rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: new-history

Yet another specimen of plot based literature, books for which usage of spoilers is absolutely required. The body of a book is a wrapper for a gem of author's imagination. There is nothing wrong with this philosophy per se, it goes well back in time and already Aristotle laid out the whole deal. The problem is when the gem (plot) is unremarkable and the wrapper is so-so. This is where "Skinny dip" goes. Except first few pages and scattered passages here and there nothing catches the eye. Pretty...more Yet another specimen of plot based literature, books for which usage of spoilers is absolutely required. The body of a book is a wrapper for a gem of author's imagination. There is nothing wrong with this philosophy per se, it goes well back in time and already Aristotle laid out the whole deal. The problem is when the gem (plot) is unremarkable and the wrapper is so-so. This is where "Skinny dip" goes. Except first few pages and scattered passages here and there nothing catches the eye. Pretty quickly the plot becomes clear and it becomes pretty difficult to justify unfolding quite voluminous wrapper: I've tried really-really hard to finish the book and finally gave up.

The book is written within the traditions of socialist realism: bad characters (usually politicians and businessmen) are hands down bad, greedy and stupid, and do their bad stuff mostly just for the sake of their inner badness; good characters ("working class") are absolutely good, few character develop conscience and drift from the bad camp to the good one. As a result, personages are boringly predictable and, I risk to add, look very stupid. I did have a bit of compassion built-up by the first chapter but it quickly disappeared. And don't get me started on how women are portrayed.

At this point someone usually jumps forward with the concrete argument "this is pulp fiction, you know, if you want characters go read James Joyce". It doesn't seem persuasive but, okay, let's look into the plot. The whole story is a compilation of well used motives: Monte Cristo syndrome, environmentalism, greedy bourgeois, dirty politicians and such. Don't think there is even a single twist in the book, which is not a cliche. Again, there is nothing wrong with this since there are only as many stories. When they are thrown into the batch carelessly, however, nothing good comes out of the oven. For example, Joey doesn't want to go to the police after she's rescued because she's afraid to loose in court. Indeed, with mere 13 million dollars in her pocket how's that possible to debunk the incriminating effect of the single case of DUI in her record. It's much better idea to make a former cop to become a criminal (blackmail, obstruction of justice, forgery, battery). Yeah, right. That poor hair stylist girl gets a bullet in her leg because of this decision (thanks to the author she didn't get killed while being shot from some thirty feet and then get rescued by a kind lunatic, what a luck!) but she probably deserved it and a bullet in the leg, pfff, is not a big deal anyway.

There is some entertainment in how one kind of crime produced by fear (of exposure) is considered gruesome while another kind of crime also due to fear (of loosing a court battle) is posed as a good thing because it seems justified. Not much entertainment, though, to make me revisit other books of the same author and that is why I'm writing this.(less)

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Jan 17, 2012 Stefanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an entertaining listen, although long. This is not the fault of the reader, who does a great job with the large cast of voices. Rather, this is one of those books that the longer you have to think about it, the less satisfying it is. People do not act this way, and coincidences do not occur with such frequency and so perfectly. (I realize that this book is strongly humorous, and I'm not without a sense of humor, but every reader has a limit on how long they'll suspend disbelief. My limi...more

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Dec 24, 2011 Anita Laydon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult

When I recently saw a book of Carl Hiaasen’s in the library’s adult section, I thought it was shelved incorrectly. Famous to me for his middle grade books “Hoot” and “Flush,” I thought all Hiaasen wrote were children’s books. Hah!

A little research informed me that Hiaasen’s written more than ten novels for adults. I picked up the one I discovered at the library, “Skinny Dip,” the cover featuring a provocative drawing of a woman in water (I don’t how I mistook it for a children’s book), and got...more When I recently saw a book of Carl Hiaasen’s in the library’s adult section, I thought it was shelved incorrectly. Famous to me for his middle grade books “Hoot” and “Flush,” I thought all Hiaasen wrote were children’s books. Hah!

A little research informed me that Hiaasen’s written more than ten novels for adults. I picked up the one I discovered at the library, “Skinny Dip,” the cover featuring a provocative drawing of a woman in water (I don’t how I mistook it for a children’s book), and got to reading.

Like “Hoot,” “Flush,” and Hiaasen himself, “Skinny Dip” is based in Florida. And also like “Hoot,” “Flush,” and the author’s opinion-and-editorial column in The Miami Herald, “Skinny Dip” champions Florida’s fragile ecological environment. But it wasn’t the environmental slant which hooked me on “Skinny Dip.” It was the opening scene.

“Skinny Dip” opens with main character Joey Perrone being thrown off a cruise ship. It’s Joey’s husband, Chaz, who does the tossing. The couple is celebrating their second marriage anniversary, and as Joey hits the water, she is completely baffled as to why Chaz would want her dead. Miles from the coast of Florida, Joey is determined to make it home alive. As a reader, I couldn’t put the book down until I found out whether Joey made it to shore. Plus, I wanted answers about Chaz’s motivations.

“Skinny Dip” is fast-paced and funny. If you’re looking for a great tent read (beach reads are so overrated) for your next camping trip, this may be the one for you. And if you’re sharing the tent with a couple middle schoolers, bring along Hiaasen’s “Hoot” and “Flush,” too.

“Hoot” is the story of Roy Eberhardt, a new kid at Trace Middle School in Coconut Grove, Florida. Roy’s convinced the new-kid experience is all bad, until he meets two friends and a bunch of owls. The owls are endangered, and it’s up to the friends to beat the system and save the owls. If you’ve got power in your tent, the film-version of “Hoot” is available on DVD.

“Flush” is the story of Noah Underwood. Noah’s dad, Paine, is in legal hot water after trying to sink a casino boat. Paine is convinced the boat’s operator is dumping the boat’s sewage into the ocean. With a colorful group of friends, Noah works to clean both Paine’s name and the ocean water.

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May 31, 2011 William Clemens rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hiaasen comes across like a Vonnegut or Robbins, with less imagination.

A crooked biologist pushes his wife overboard on their anniversary cruise, but being a world class swimmer she finds a way to survive. Not knowing why he tried to murder her, Joey Perone must fake her death and attempt to sort out the situation and make her husband's life a living hell. Add to this a drug addled enormous biker with a heart of gold, a greedy corrupt polluting farmer, a Columbo type detective, missing snakes,...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Talia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

On an anniversary cruise, Chaz attempts to kill his wife Joey by flipping her over the edge of the ship and into the ocean. Fortunately, Joey was a champion swimmer in college and lives, being rescued by Mick, a recluse with commitment issues. From there, Joey decides to take revenge on her cheating, dirtbag husband by messing with him psychologically: the hunter has now become the prey.

I really like Hiassen’s books. They’re all easy to read with a slew of colorful characters, and they seem to a...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Crystal Starr Light rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-at-your-own-risk, mystery

Okay, so I know that I am lame. I picked this book out based solely on the fact that I discovered that it was on Dr. Shephard's shelf. However, I saw it also came highly recommended. So I thought I'd check it out.

Plot:
Charles Perrone, a crooked marine biologist who drives a Hummer and doesn't recycle, dumps his wife, Joey, off a cruise ship into the Key West waters to die. Joey, a champion swimmer, however does not die and is rescued by first a bale of marijuana and then Mick Stanagan, a chronic...more

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Jun 07, 2010 Larissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, usa, crime-fiction, spontaneous-reads, vicarious-travel, humor-satire

Having never read any Hiaasen, I picked up Skinny Dip on an outdoor book cart for a $1 and figured I'd give him a shot. This is definitely a summer book and a whole lot of fun. I finished it over the course of this last, sweltering weekend, and while my vague (though expanded) sense of Florida hasn't really improved my perceptions of the state (it seems sort of like a combination of Arizona and Las Vegas with a beach), I did briefly get enthralled by the idea of tooling around off-coast Floridia...more Having never read any Hiaasen, I picked up Skinny Dip on an outdoor book cart for a $1 and figured I'd give him a shot. This is definitely a summer book and a whole lot of fun. I finished it over the course of this last, sweltering weekend, and while my vague (though expanded) sense of Florida hasn't really improved my perceptions of the state (it seems sort of like a combination of Arizona and Las Vegas with a beach), I did briefly get enthralled by the idea of tooling around off-coast Floridian islands and eating a lot of shellfish on a beach. which actually still sounds great.

The book is satisfying for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Hiaasen is adept with absurd humor and cultivates the type of amusing morbidity that I haven't really read in such full effect since reading Roald Dahl books as a kid. In James and the Giant Peach, James' parents are killed in a freak zoo escape/rampage. In Skinny Dip, Joey Perrone's parents are killed in a plane crash with their pet bear, who was, we're told, strapped into the co-pilot seat and being fed Bailey's Irish Cream right before the nosedive. Another character is dispatched when a sky diver plummets from the sky after a parachute malfunction. In effect, Hiaasen's off-kilter Florida is one which is just one shade too wacky to be taken as reality, and yet when combined, all of the eccentricities and odd happenings and general absurdity seem to fit together in a believable fashion.

Secondly, there's the plot. It's snappy and really action-driven, and follows the sort of vicarious, righteous vengeance scenario that you know it will from the start. Joey's louse of a husband (Chaz--and excellent louse of a husband name) throws her off a cruise liner and then she manages to float to an island where she takes up with a craggy, antisocial ex-cop who is twice her age. There, the clever team comes up with all sorts of cinematic ways to mess with Chaz's head "from beyond the grave." From the start, you know that Chaz is going to get his, that Joey and the ex-cop will fall in love, and that the good guys will triumph in the end. All that remains is to wait and see what kind of crazy antics and hilarity will ensue. And that's the fun.

Hiaasen is obviously a great environmentalist and though Skinny Dip is all in good fun, it's moral about the pillaging of the everglades is anything but. His commitment to his environmental message is admirable, although it occasionally comes off as a little Fern Gully with the Bad Nature Killers taking an increasingly farcical attitude towards the Everglades that they are consciously pumping oodles of fertilizers into. After awhile, there's no need for the references to how much they hate recycling, or how they try to shoot baby rabbits on the highway for target practice. We know they're bad people already...

Anyway, great fun summer book.

(less)

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May 30, 2009 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, mystery, realistic, suspense-thriller, gutsy-girls, funny, revenge, relationship-problems, murder, audio-edition, assholes, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Joey Perrone’s husband, Chaz, is a class-A jerk. He gets her drunk and then tries to kill her by throwing her off the cruise ship they’re on – just off the coast of Florida. Joey doesn’t die, though. And after she gets rescued by an ex-cop, Mick Stranahan, she decides to get some revenge. First, though, they have to figure out why Dr. Charles Regis Perrone wanted her dead in the first place.

We discover that Chaz, who works for an Everglades government project, has been lying about the levels of...more Joey Perrone’s husband, Chaz, is a class-A jerk. He gets her drunk and then tries to kill her by throwing her off the cruise ship they’re on – just off the coast of Florida. Joey doesn’t die, though. And after she gets rescued by an ex-cop, Mick Stranahan, she decides to get some revenge. First, though, they have to figure out why Dr. Charles Regis Perrone wanted her dead in the first place.

We discover that Chaz, who works for an Everglades government project, has been lying about the levels of phosphorous in the water samples he’s been taking – and when Joey sees him filling in the water charts and asks him innocently what he’s doing he gets paranoid, decides she’s on to the scam and tries to take her out. Joey’s afraid to go to the police, because she thinks her sly husband will be able to hoodwink any jury, and Mick decides to give her a hand with the revenge.

What follows is the amusing story of Dr. Charles Perrone’s downfall. He tries to kill two other people (also unsuccessfully), lies to investigators, imagines wild scenarios, gets blackmailed, and a host of other mishaps. After awhile, it becomes obvious that Chaz is screwed. He’s doomed and that there is nothing that can be done to save him – no way he can wriggle out. Then, all that’s left is to sit back and watch his destruction. I can guarantee that by the end of this story, you’ll be ready to see the end of Charles Perrone.

This is my first Carl Hiaasen experience, and it was a good one! I listened to this book on CD, and it’s one of the few that I’ve felt compelled to carry around with me wherever I go so I can finish listening to it. This was highly entertaining throughout, with a few surprising plot twists that will keep you guessing about Chaz’s fate up until the very end (well, not his ultimate end – we already know he’s doomed). It starts out a bit slowly – after Joey gets dumped into the ocean she spends a long time kvetching about her stupid evil husband. And Chaz’s whining throughout can get on your nerves, but, as we’re supposed to loathe him (actually, it’s not loathing its complete disdain; the man is a cretin and a louse) – it’s forgivable.(less)

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May 20, 2009 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars

How can you resist reading a book with a plot such as this: A woman, on an anniversary cruise with her husband, is pushed overboard by that husband. She survives by finding a floating bale of Jamaican pot to cling to and is rescued by an eccentric ex-cop who has been married six times before and is living alone on an island. Instead of going to the police, Joey decides she is going to get revenge on her husband, Chaz. (Isn't Chaz the most annoying name? I dislike him already just because of his...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Христо Блажев rated it 4 of 5 stars

Като пиле в кълчища: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/g...

Няма по-подходяща поговорка за сумиране на “Голото къпане” на Карл Хайасън. Главният герой в нея – пишман биолог, пишман корумпняк, пишман съпруг и най-вече пишман убиец – започва да се оплита от първите страници и в крайна сметка се оказва в най-безумното възможно положение, затънал с двата крака в брутална каша, от която измъкване няма. Но няма и най-малък шанс да ви стане жал за него, Хайасън се е погрижил добре за това.

Отдавна не...more

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May 02, 2012 Cheryl Gatling added it

I liked this book because it was funny. I didn't laugh out loud, but it was wry, dry, sly, and had over-the-top characters and ridiculous situations. Chaz Perrone is an Everglades biologist who hates snakes, insects, and pretty much nature in general. Red Hammernut is an industrial farmer who got wealthy by abusing his workers, polluting the water, and schmoozing with big shot politicians. Chaz and Red have an under the table scam going on. To cover it up, Chaz throws his innocent wife (who he t...more

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Aug 01, 2007 Jojo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: popularfiction

Does it count if I listened to it on tape (CD)? We purchased this for a drive to Vegas and really enjoyed it. I am not a books on tape person, in general, but it was a great way to pass the time in the car. And I love Carl Hiaasen. Always the same formula (evil wreckers of the environment, crazy but loveable vigilantes with money, a good looking woman or two, who doesn't get the respect she deserves from the men in her life, etc.), but always so much fun.

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About Carl Hiaasen

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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“I married an asshole, she thought, knifing into the waves.” — 1 person liked it

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