I've read a lot of Carl Hiaasen books in the past. I love his Florida-based tales of sickness and depravity with their monstrous characters and warped humor. Hadn't read one for years and had a sudden urge to get stuck into a new one. So I did a search in the Kindle store and bought the first one that came up, it was called "Hoot" and was rated 5 stars. Can't go wrong, I thought. 
 
Well I'm about halfway through it and starting to realize that it doesn't have the bite of the other ones I've read. Where's the sickness? The depravity? The senseless crime? The sex and drugs? It's turning out to be rather tame. Has he lost his edge? 
 
So I went back to the Kindle store to read those reviews and see if it's just me. 
 
Turns out he also has a line of books for children, and I'm reading one of them. What an idiot. 

Too many vowels!  Too many vowels...

welcome to young adult fiction !

I ended up finishing the book because well, I'd bought it, and if I'm honest I was actually quite enjoying it even though it was a little "simplistic" compared to Hiaasen's meat and potato fiction. They saved the baby owls at the end and that's all that matters
 
But the first thing I did upon finishing it was to download Hiaasen's first novel, "Tourist Season," and it was sick and depraved from the get go so I'm happy. I must have read this 20 years ago but it's still full of surprises.

sharke
 
 
But the first thing I did upon finishing it was to download Hiaasen's first novel, "Tourist Season," and it was sick and depraved from the get go so I'm happy. I must have read this 20 years ago but it's still full of surprises.

 
Have you read any Iain Banks? His debut novel 'The Wasp Factory' is brilliantly twisted, as are 'The Bridge' (the opening chapter is one of my favourite pieces of fiction) and 'The Crow Road' He got pretty depraved on occasion.

jamesg1213

sharke
 
 
But the first thing I did upon finishing it was to download Hiaasen's first novel, "Tourist Season," and it was sick and depraved from the get go so I'm happy. I must have read this 20 years ago but it's still full of surprises.

 
Have you read any Iain Banks? His debut novel 'The Wasp Factory' is brilliantly twisted, as are 'The Bridge' (the opening chapter is one of my favourite pieces of fiction) and 'The Crow Road' He got pretty depraved on occasion.

It's funny but I swear I had read The Wasp Factory but when I read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia I didn't recognize it. Mind you that's not saying much because no matter how much I enjoy books, I almost completely forget the plot after a few years. I definitely read Espedair Street though, and one other which may or may not have been The Wasp Factory! Great author.

Hiaasen fans might like Christopher Moore.  He's got an odd appreciation for the warped that's not unlike Hiaasen's MO.  I've only read a couple of his novels, but could suggest "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" as a good introduction.