Carl Hiassen ---  Sick Puppy

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born March 12, 1953, in Fort Lauderdale, FL; Education: Attended Emory University, 1970-72; University of Florida, B.S., 1974. Memberships: Authors Guild, Authors League of America. Addresses: Home: Islamorada, FL. Office: Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33101. Agent: Esther Newberg, International Creative Management, 40 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Novelist, journalist, columnist, and environmentalist. Cocoa Today, Cocoa, FL, reporter, 1974-76; Miami Herald, Miami, FL, reporter, beginning 1976, columnist, beginning 1985. Barry College, professor, 1978- 79.

AWARDS:

National Headliners Award, distinguished service medallion, Sigma Delta Chi, public service first-place award, Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, Clarion Award, Women in Communications, Heywood Broun Award, Newspaper Guild, and Pulitzer Prize finalist in public-service reporting, all 1980, all for newspaper series about dangerous doctors; Green Eyeshade Award, Sigma Delta Chi, first-place award for in-depth reporting, Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, grand prize for investigative reporting, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and Pulitzer Prize finalist in special local reporting, all 1981, all for newspaper series on drug-smuggling industry in Key West; Silver Gavel Award, American Bar Association, 1982; Newbery Honor book designation, American Library Association, 2003, and Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award, 2005, both for Hoot; Damon Runyon Award, 2004.

Carl Hiaasen's hilarious satiric thrillers for adults combine bizarre characters, madcap antics, caustic wit, and a vivid depiction of Florida as a sultry natural paradise debased by human greed and folly. The violence in his books is not very graphic, with much left to the imagination. Some episodes of extreme cruelty and depravity may be too much for the squeamish, and there is ample sex and profanity. His books for teens feature eco-themes as well, but are very well-suited to younger readers. Start with: Tourist Season (Adults); Hoot (Teens).

Sick Puppy

An eco-terrorist in Florida strikes at a polluter by kidnapping his wife. In the process, Twilly Spree discovers a conspiracy by state politicians to turn a wildlife sanctuary into a golf course. He also discovers that the polluter's wife fancies him.

NOVELS

• Powder Burn, 1981.  (With William D. Montalbano)
• Trap Line, 1982.  (With William D. Montalbano)
• A Death in China, 1984.  (With William D. Montalbano)
• Tourist Season, , 1986.
• Double Whammy, 1987.
• Skin Tight, , 1989.
• Native Tongue, , 1991.
• Strip Tease,  1993.
• Stormy Weather, 1995.
• Naked Came the Manatee, 1996.
• Lucky You, 1997.
• Sick Puppy. 2000.
• Basket Case, 2002.
• Hoot, (young adult)  2002.
• Skinny Dip, 2004.
• Flush (young adult), 2005.
• Nature Girl, 2006.
• Star Island, 2010.

OTHER

• Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World (nonfiction), 1998.
• Kick Ass: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen, University Press of Florida 1999.
• Paradise Screwed: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen, 2001.
• The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport (memoir), 2008.

Author Read alikes from NoveList

Aalborg, Gordon

 Aalborg and Hiaasen offer the reader fast-paced high-stakes adventures with unique settings against the backdrop of nature, unexpected twists, tautly suspenseful plots with romantic subplots, strong women who proactively work against injustice, environmental issues, a demonstrably offbeat sense of humor, and biting sociopolitical commentary. -- Lynne Welch

Abbey, Edward,

Those in accord with Hiaasen's uncompromising, spirited attacks on ecological recklessness will certainly appreciate Edward Abbey. Seething with barbed wit, his incendiary capers have inspired and amused a generation of militant environmentalists, establishing eco-fiction as a viable genre. -- Shauna Griffin

Bracegirdle, P. J.

If you like Hiaasen, you may also like Bracegirdle. Both write funny Mystery stories books for older kids about Resistance to land development.

Crews, Harry,

If raunch doesn't disturb you, take it up a notch with Harry Crews, whose wildly improbable stories showcase relentless, mordantly funny freakshows and bizarre and desperate misfits. Violent, grotesque, surreal, and definitely not for the squeamish, the prolific Crews takes black humor to new heights, and depths. -- Shauna Griffin

Dorsey, Tim

Readers who appreciate Hiaasen's edginess will enjoy Tim Dorsey's noir thrillers recounting the maniacal misadventures of anti-hero Serge Storms, a psychopath fixated on a suitcase full of money and intrigued by local history. Dorsey, however, escalates the pace, the violence, and the demented humor, while including dollops of diverting Florida lore. -- Shauna Griffin

Lecard, Marc

These two authors both write darkly humorous, satirical capers about bumbling criminals. Both mix farce with memorable casts, but Marc Lecard's novels contain rather more violence and are generally darker and grislier than are Carl Hiaasen's. -- Shauna Griffin

Robbins, Tom

Carl Hiassen and Tom Robbins write books punctuated with the sound of laughter bubbling up from within you. Implausible situations with oddball characters make their ingenious books more fun than folly. -- Tara Bannon Williamson

Shames, Laurence

For a kinder, gentler comic caper, try Laurence Shames's books, which feature bumbling gangsters mixing it up with eccentric retirees in sunny Key West. Amusing oddballs and loutish lowlifes in farcical situations abound, yet are handled with a light, lyrical touch that allows for wistful evocations of Florida's natural beauty. -- Shauna Griffin

White, Randy Wayne

Randy Wayne White shares Hiaasen's concern for the environment, ironic worldview, and taste for bizarre characters and situations. His loose-knit plots vary hard-hitting action with social commentary and stunning descriptions of Florida's rich oceanic environs, as well as of the denizens of her criminal underworld. -- Shauna Griffin