Bad Monkey

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: Arte Johnson

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

A wickedly funny novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Squeeze Me in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida—now, of the Bahamas as well—get their comeuppance.

“[A] comedic marvel … [Hiaasen] hasn’t written a novel this funny since Skinny Dip.”—The New York Times

Andrew Yancy—late of the Miami Police and soon-to-be-late of the Monroe County sheriff’s office—has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its shadowy owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, the sheriff might rescue him from his grisly Health Inspector gig (it’s not called the roach patrol for nothing). But first—this being Hiaasen country—Yancy must negotiate an obstacle course of wildly unpredictable events with a crew of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including his just-ex lover, a hot-blooded fugitive from Kansas; the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; two avariciously optimistic real-estate speculators; the Bahamian voodoo witch known as the Dragon Queen, whose suitors are blinded unto death by her peculiar charms; Yancy’s new true love, a kinky coroner; and the eponymous bad monkey, who with hilarious aplomb earns his place among Carl Hiaasen’s greatest characters.

©2013 Carl Hiaasen (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[A] comedic marvel ... [Hiaasen] hasn’t written a novel this funny since Skinny Dip.... Beautifully constructed.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“No one writes about Florida with a more wicked sense of humor than Hiaasen.” (Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today)

“[A] rollicking misadventure in the colorful annals of greed and corruption in South Florida.... Hiaasen has a peculiar genius for inventing grotesque creatures ... that spring from the darkest impulses of the id. But he also writes great heroes.” (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times)

Humorous but

The story is humorous..., but also racist and sexist in both terminology and attitude. The plot is interesting and follows through, the atmospheres of the Islands and Florida and the Keys is pretty real.

Not the best

The story is pretty classic Hiaasen, but it’s not as good as some of his other books (Tourist Season being one of my favorites). It’s just a little predictable and the characters, though outrageous as usual, where not as well described, I never got a clear picture of any of them, whereas, that is usually something he does well, the description of the characters so you really understand their insanity, where it comes from and how it manifests. It just wasn’t here.
I wanted to like the narrator because he sounds like he would be the nicest guy. But the accents were off and inconsistent. He yelled every chapter. CHAPTER 11!!! and then his normal volume, it was odd. The rest of the narration would be kind of monotonous. Overall not the best Hiaassen book. If you haven’t heard or read Tourist Season, get that instead of this one :o)

Another Hi•La•Ri•Ous Hiaasen piece—literally, will make you LOL

Another Hi•La•Ri•Ous Hiaasen piece—literally, will make you LOL

I hardly NEVER leave a review(maybe 4+/- in the past 10 yrs).
However☝🏾, being an avid reader in general, as well as a fairly prolific AUDIBLE listener (averaging around 8-9 CREDITS every 1 1/2–2 months)….at least 50-60% of those credits being from elegantly ironic & all time great satirist, such as HEMINGWAY, BACKMAN or KELLER, to the equally entertaining, desiccatingly dry wit & darkly comic humor of VONNEGUT, PALAHNIUK or TOOLE—aaaand of course…to all those everywhere else & in between—being of course, no way inferior from-but simply unique to everyone else—
i.e.
WONG, G.G.MÁRQUEZ & even "THE" S. KING:)
ALL of this to say—I feel I posses the required objectivity/unbiased view & repertoire using the more-than sufficient (in my opinion🙄at least😉) collection to compare/judge from.

——SO where in the "line-up" does HIAASEN & his novel "BadMonkey” fall???
IDK! Hiaasen is damn GOOD tho guys…I hardly ever, will actually Laugh-OUT-LOUD whilst reading or listening. UNLESS, I’m reading/listening to Hiaasen &/or only a select few others.
100% WORTH THE CREDIT…so then after you’re done listening to/peeing your pantaloons, go grab some *Depends* diaper underwear (I hear sizes run bigger) & spend another credit on "RAZOR GIRL", also by Carl Hiaasen. Wouldn’t bother wearing pants or underwear 🩲 (unless disposable) for this one either.

Not narrated by South Florida Native!

Great, classic Carl Hiassen plot, but the pernunciation of some South Florida specific words was off ( for example, filets, conch, Brickell, flan, etc). Still, that was one bad monkey!

Excellent story

Would you listen to Bad Monkey again? Why?

I am undecided as to whether I would listen to it again. The story was excellent. I'm sure I would enjoy reading it. However, I did not care for the narrator. After the first 5-10 minutes I ordinarily don't think so much about the actor reading the book because they do a good job and and simply become part of the experience. This time I found Artie Johnson distracting.

What other book might you compare Bad Monkey to and why?

This is my first Carl Hiasen book. The story seemed similar to some of Elmore Leonard's books. Maybe Get Shorty.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was not so great. Artie Johnson's voice was halting and it distracted me.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Lots of funny moments. I was not "moved" but it's not that kind of book. The chain of events during the hurricane were the best.

Everyone will like it

Funny, and leaves you wanting more. I keep looking for more. A good change from typical crime stories

Kept my attention with Hiaasen’s usual cast of weirdos

Love ya Arte, but the reading is stilted at times. Good thing the story is full of Hiaasen’s usual cast of unusual characters and a storyline that weaves together in unexpected ways. Would love to see this in movie form.

Some slurring but that may have been because so many characters were drunk. Or maybe that was just Arte. Skoal!

A bit rushed at times but competent. I’d prefer a Florida native who doesn’t mangle the name pronunciation quite so much. Arte struggles with Spanish names and his attempt at a Caribbean accent is awful.

Where's George Wilson?

Any additional comments?

Hard to judge this book, I was excited as I haven't listened to a new Hiaasen book in years. Unfortunately I have become accustomed to listening to George Wilson's narration, and IMHO Arte is not anywhere close to Wilson's performance. This book just doesn't seem as funny as previous audiobooks. I'm truly not sure whose to blame- Arte or Carl.

What were they thinking!!!!

What did you love best about Bad Monkey?

This has all the elements of a classic Carl Hiaasen book. All the wit, characters and twist. Unfortunately it got lost in a very bad reading.

Who was your favorite character and why?

You have to love the pipe smoking, poop throwing, mangy monkey

What didn’t you like about Arte Johnson’s performance?

Mr. Johnson's timing was horrible. He would either have an extended pause without reason or he would run everything together until you were confused which character was saying what. His inflections were not appropriate either. When he did attempt to do an accent he was not constant. One time a character would have an accent and later they would not. The accents were all very much the same as well. It was a very amateurish performance. I do not blame Mr. Johnson as much as I blame the director and producer that allowed this performance to be published. They ruined the book, ripped off the reader and if this was a first experience lost Mr. Haaisen some fans.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was angry that the people failed at thier job producing this audio book. I think I would have been laughing out loud if I had not had to pick and shift through this very poor reading.