Razor Girl Doesn’t Make the Cut

Razor Girl: A Novel – Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)

The late great Evan Hunter, better known to many as Ed McBain, was one of my all time favorite writers. Hunter penned a book, I can’t frankly remember which one it was, but it was one shortly before his passing where it became evident via snarky comments in the book that he was flouting his liberal leanings. I was caught off guard by this because none of his prior writing had indicated a political leaning to me as a reader. I visited Hunter’s website, and sent him an email in which I indicated he had lost me as a fan and reader and questioned why he would want to turn off potentially half of his readers. Surprisingly, Hunter responded quickly to the missive, saying he felt the way he felt and he understood my position. I never picked up another Hunter book after that.

Carl Hiaasen was another of my favorite authors and while I was not shocked by his liberal leanings, his latest endeavor, Razor Girl is so chock full of liberal nonsense that it made it for me unreadable. While Hiaasen styles himself as a “satirist” what he practices is not satire. Clearly Hiaasen can’t quite grasp some things so he chooses to try and bludgeon it to death. The story line here features a reality TV family loosely based on the based on the Duck Dynasty crew; clearly Hiaasen can’t quite grasp why the Robertson Family appealed to so many Americans, so he has to mock not only the family, but anyone who would tune in.

Hey I get snarky as much as the next guy, but Hiaasen’s, takes on a holier than thou, too smart for the room attitude. He also continues to flog global warming alarmism like a dead dog. One of the multitude of storylines here features a guy who runs a business that dredges up sand from the ocean. Hiaasen naturally blames global warming for the allegedly raising seas that diminish beaches. Here’s a hint Carl, dredging sand for beaches as been going on forever and this thing called the tide has been around since way before Al Gore became rich off global warming scare tactics.  

At the end of the day, Razor Girl, was not Hiaasen’s best effort, with a jumble of storylines and characters that add up to a mess. It’s not likely that I will be around to see if he rebounds in the future. He is certainly welcome to his opinion, and I am certainly free to disagree.

Beach Read: The Good, The Bad and The Quirky

Bad Monkey – Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)

There’s just something different about a Carl Hiaasen book. When you peel back the layers of the story he tells, there is a certain eclectic mix of characters, setting and style all sprayed on the unique canvas that is his vision of Florida.

Hiaasen’s latest Bad Monkey is a heady mix of quirky characters that will leave you never looking at your vacuum cleaner attachments the same way ever again. I can’t think of another author who could craft a lead character that is a twice disgraced police detective who avoids a fall on felony charges only to land on his feet has a health department restaurant inspector. Given Hiaasen’s graphic description of what Yancey encounters behind the kitchen door, is it any wonder that he’s lost his appetite?

 Where else but a Hiaasen novel could a charter fishing boat scam to fleece unsuspecting tourists, feature a unique twist in the form of severed arm, which with a little help and rigor mortis setting in, has permanently left it flipping off the story’s main players. Add to the mix a dose of voodoo queen, a pinch of scorned daughter, a touch of sexy medical examiner and the usual sprinkling of Hiaasen’s south Florida environmentalist sentimentality and you end up with a tasty little treat, perfect for the beach this summer.