DOUBLE WHAMMY
By Carl Hiaasen
Synopsis
R.J. Decker, star tenant of the local trailer park and neophyte private eye is fishing for a killer. Thanks to a sportsman’s scam that’s anything but sportsmanlike, there’s a body floating in Coon Bog, Florida — and a lot that’s rotten in the murky waters of big-stakes, large-mouth bass tournaments. Here Decker will team up with a half-blind, half-mad hermit with an appetite for road kill; dare to kiss his ex-wife while she’s in bed with her new husband; and face deadly TV evangelists, dangerously seductive women, and a pistol-toting redneck with a pit bull on his arm. And here his own life becomes part of the stakes. For while the “double whammy” is the lure, first prize is for the most ingenious murder.
Richard says
Carl Hiaasen was a serious columnist/reporter for a Miami-based newspaper. He found more satisfaction in writing books and has written numerous nationally recognized bestsellers. Most of his books would be classified as humour. I would agree as his style is humourous, his phrasing is often the same. He writes scenes and scenarios that are ‘off the wall’ but very entertaining.
All of Hiassen’s books are set in Florida where he finds a mother lode of humourous material. He makes you laugh and think twice about what your view about Florida and he does this in a very entertaining way. His scenarios are hilarious, his characters surprising, his stories hilarious.
Double Whammy reinforces all the above about Hiaasen’s books. The story is totally unexpected. There are some characters that are incredible in who they are and how they are painted.
In Double Whammy, Hiaasen really pulls out the research stops. He rhymes of the names of fishing lures as if he had been doing the bass fishing himself — Bang-O-Lures, Shad Raps, Slo Dancers, Hula Poppers, Zara Spooks, Wee Warts, Eerie Deeries, Jig-N-Pigs, Lazy Ikes, Bayou Boogies, Mister Twisters and of course, Double Whammys. Maybe he did some real-life bass fishing.
Hiaasen weaves detail, facts and minutia into every book he writes embellishing his writing with living colour from real-life Florida.
Double Whammy excels for many reasons, an intricate and complex plot, an amazingly well developed story that unfolds with suspense and excitement, colorful characters that bring life to the verbal canvas. Hiaasen is a Dali or Picasso of the written word with every book he writes.
Double Whammy confirms all that Hiaasen is as an outstanding writer of Florida life written with lots of fun in it.
