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)

Fast paced and laugh out loud funny at times

What did you love best about Bad Monkey?

The humor that was mixed in with the story.

What about Arte Johnson’s performance did you like?

At the beginning I found it hard to understand him, but then I grew accustomed to his voice and intonation and it was great.

Good Story

Good story but performance was boring. Often found my mind wandering and had to replay too often to see what I missed.

Fun

This is a fun book that at times I found myself laughing out loud. Can’t wait to see it on the screen in year or so.

Deviously Hilarious

This book is fast-paced, well-plotted and hilarious. I guarantee that you’ve never read anything like it. The author has a wicked sense of humor. And Arte Johnson’s delivery is a delight. Laugh out loud hilarious.

Brilliant

Hiassen at his best. If you read enough of his stuff there are definitely some recurring themes but it’s always a fun ride with some twists and turns.

Sorry, Arte

It was a bit like listening to my Dad read a book to the grandkids. Dad is an engineer, not a professional narrator. Nuff said.

Hiassen At His Best

Carl Hiaasen's dark but perceptive take on the seamy side of Florida is acute and loaded with his sardonic humor. His characters are drawn large and cartoonish but we learn to love them. There is a bit of a mystery in this novel. To me, often Hiaasen likes to throw some extreme characters into hurricanes and see what happens. In this book, we do have a tropical storm, but underlying it is a diabolical plot. This was a very fun book to listen to and very entertaining.

Good read. Artie Johnson does a good job.

Funny despite some brutal subject matter in typical CH style. I did not see the ending coming either.

Carl Is As Good As Ever (Johnson, not so much)

For starters, I'm a Carl Hiaasen fan. I have every book written by Carl as solo author, and love most of them. I loved this story. It follows the classic Hiaasen formula: disgruntled, alienated anti-hero who loves the landscape of Florida; smart, no-nonsense female lead; stupid criminals, one of whom becomes more and more disfigured through the story while they do everything in their limited intellectual powers to harm the environment, and a plot full of fun twists and turns. Everything you want from Carl is here, plus a wonderful cast of secondary characters, all suffering from various states of delusion, incompetence and (at times) outright stupidity. Everything we love about Carl Hiaasen is in this book.

Arte Johnson is not the best narrator (my favorites for Hiaasen are George Newborn, Hiaasen himself (he did a bang-up job on Basket Case), and believe it or not, James Van Der Beek), but he is also not the worst. A number of people savaged his narration - it's ok, not terrible. Carl deserves better, but I still loved the book, so that means the narrator did not get in the way.

I say, pick it up. It's Carl. How can you go wrong?

Mildly entertaining

Had its moments and kept me amused while commuting. One character is suppose to be a terrible writer (which he is) but his terrible writing is not too far removed from Hiaasen's at times.