Antics in Florida

Writer Carl Hiaasen is an investigative journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald. As such his books have a tendency to be set in Florida, particularly in the Miami area. They are not exactly a series, in that they do not have a recurring main character. But some characters do reappear in other books. This particular book is set at North Key Largo.

The main character is Joe Winder, a one-time award winning journalist, now stuck as a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills, a theme park in North Key Largo. His boss is the sycophant Charles Chelsea. The owner of the park is Francis X. Kingsbury, a mafia snitch, who has made good of his time in the witnesses relocation program. He started out in real estate deals that made him rich enough to start this theme park, which he thinks he can hide in long enough that the mob will never find him.

But from the beginning of this story, Kingsbury's kingdom starts to unravel. Someone snatches a pair of exotic blue-tongued Mango voles, small rodent type creatures. They are though to be the last pair alive. Kingsbury thought a show of being an environmenal protector might attract more people to the park, even though he personally didn't care. Joe Winder is blamed for subsequent negative publicity and is fired.

Joe enlists the help of an ally within the park, Carrie Lanier, who plays the Robbie Raccoon character. She steals some official stationary from the park office and Joe Winder begins releasing phony press releases to the papers and TV. Chelsea has to scramble to write rebutting releases to try to do damage control.

Meanwhile, Molly McNamara, an elderly woman, and her friends the Mothers of Wilderness, were responsible for stealing the voles. Unfortunately Molly hired a couple of bumbling burglars to do the job and the voles end up dead. But they still make their point. Kingsbury is also trying to develop the adjacent property into a golf resort. This will destroy the last remaining wild lands of the key and destroy some rare trees. The two sets of characters ultimately meet up and find that they have a common goal--the destruction of Francis X. Kingsbury.

The two returning characters are Jim Tile and Skink. Jim Tile is a large black cop. His role in this story is smaller than in other stories. But he plays a key role in bringing down the Kingsbury empire. It helps that his size intimidates most people into doing what he demands. Skink is a hermit who once served as the governor of Florida. Unfortunately he was too honest and ultimately forced out of office. He hides out in the swamps, wearing a panther tracking collar and eating lizards and snakes. Skink is the tie between both sets of characters as Joe knows him, and he knows Molly.

There are other crazy characters too. Molly is a feisty thing. She has a tendency of shooting people in the hand or the foot if they don't do what she wants. Her toadies Bud and Danny are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but Danny ultimately becomes just as rabid as she in protecting the environment and soon doesn't watch anything on TV but nature shows. Bud thinks he can bargain with the mob and get a reward for telling where there former snitch is living. Pedro Luz is Kingsbury's head of security. He is a huge man, pumped up on steroids and other intravenous goodies. He tries to mug Molly and gets the tip of his finger bit off for his troubles. And all of his employees are ex-cops who got into trouble for one thing or another and don't exactly have stellar records. Nina Whitman, one-time girlfriend of Joe, has a job as a 1-900 operator. Later she turns to writing erotic poetry for her bosses.

These characters and their problems take place mainly in the theme park and the land around it. I can't say that I remember too many books that take place at a theme park, so I enjoyed the unique setting. You get a bit of insight on how these type of businesses might operate, though not with the disasters of course. There are also a couple of scenes in the island forest and on the bridges between the keys, that are very unique and could only happen in Florida.

About the only thing negative about this book is that the plot and the theme are not too terribly deep and it is evident pretty early on that Kingsbury is going to be the target. He deserves it, if for no other reason, than he is just a big arrogant jerk. And you know right away who stole the voles. It's the journey and how the characters all come together for a common goal that really makes the story. Because the plot isn't really very complicated.

The nutty characters and the author's writing style make it work though. Hiaasen writes as if he doesn't take anything very seriously. Much of the dialogue is written with a good deal of sarcasm, which feels real for the situations these characters find themselves in. And though the plot isn't terribly complex it IS executed quickly with very little time devoted to destruction, but mostly devoted to action. Short chapters and snappy dialogue keep the plot moving along.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, its characters, and its story. There is mild profanity in it, but not much. There are one or two sexual scenes, though not explicitly described. There are one or two violent scenes, but again they are not gruesomely described, though perhaps taken a little too lightly, but that's just the mood of the story telling. Let's just say everyone gets their just deserts. And everyone lives happily ever after.