Skin Tight

I used to find Hiaasen's books funny; now I just find them depressing. Was I not in the right mood this week, or am I a different person? Anyhow, this was fun in the slow-motion-wreck kind of way: you don't read it for the mystery or the narrative arc, you do so in a chewing-gum way to while away a few hours with explosions and ever-increasing body count. (I haven't watched TV in about thirty years, but it reminded me of what TV shows were like).

But the absurdity in this one was a little over the top; it wasn't clear what was deliberate farce and what was just carelessness. And the real-world aspects — half the characters are shallow, or venal, or corrupt, or all three — just reminds me too much of Puerto Rico and why I left. Even though Hiaasen plays it for yuks, it just saddens me to know there are so many people like that. The good characters, otoh, are a little too good, too decent. Which is enjoyable, I guess. We need some of that once in a while.