On the HahaFiction shelf
Squeeze Me
Skink Series · Book 8 · 2020
Audiobook available · 11 hr 40 min
Palm Beach society has a missing donor, a very large python and a president eager to blame immigrants. Wildlife handler Angie Armstrong is called in to deal with the reptile, then finds herself caught in the criminal mess surrounding Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons's disappearance from a charity gala.
From the author’s blurb
“A hilarious novel of social and political intrigue”Read the full description at Carl Hiaasen, official book description
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What makes it funny?
Angie has a practical answer to a customer whose credit card won't work: she can put the raccoon back in his kitchen. Her blunt replies cut through the elaborate manners around her, while the society set manages to turn even an irritable bowel syndrome fundraiser into a spectacle.
The comedy at work
Hiaasen gives the person who handles dangerous animals a firmer grasp of reality than the people managing public life. The political satire is broad and pointed: the president supplies a convenient villain before anyone has established what happened, and his circle helps keep the story going.
Try this if…
Readers who enjoy angry political satire threaded through a crime plot will find plenty here. Angie's dry replies offer a different register from the bungling and grotesque mishaps, but the attack on Trump and his wealthy supporters is direct.
Good to know
Expect strong language and grisly material alongside the jokes. This Skink novel can be read on its own. The 384-page Vintage paperback includes a new epilogue.
A few distinguishing details
- A wildlife handler caught in a Palm Beach disappearance
- A presidential scapegoat story colliding with an enormous python
- Deadpan customer service during a raccoon removal
More funny amateur sleuth
Sources & further reading
- Author synopsis and cover
Author commentary
- Kirkus audiobook review
Review
- Modern Mrs Darcy reading guide
Review
- Publisher and excerpt
Publisher
- Audiobook edition
Book information
- Publishers Weekly review
Review
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