Skin Tight

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: George Wilson

Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

This novel by Carl Hiaasen, author of Tourist Season and Native Tongue, begins as most thrillers do, with a killing. But this is no everyday, hum-drum, garden variety killing. Our hero, Nick Stranahan, a 42-year-old private investigator who has killed five men and been married five times, skewers his attacker's aorta with the razor-sharp bill of a stuffed marlin, setting off a roller coaster ride of events that will drop-kick Stranahan into the deep slime of Miami's prosperous plastic surgery industry.

As with Hiaasen's other books, Skin Tight is one long, extended farce, a comic take on everything from TV tabloid hosts to ambulance chasers, chronicling modern America's ever-growing penchant for tastelessness, self-absorption, and high sleaze.

You will find yourself laughing in spite of yourself at wildly improbable characters like Chemo, a 7-foot monster with a face like a bowl of breakfast cereal; Heather Chappell, who wants to completely renovate her Barbi-doll body; and Reynaldo Flemm, the host of prime time's In Your Face, who stages mock attacks to his person in order to increase the Nielsen ratings.

©1989 Carl Hiaasen (P)1993 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Hiaasen's latest thriller is his funniest and sharpest novel to date....This wickedly amusing story is the work of a keen satirist who off-handedly exposes the moral rot at every level of society." (Publishers Weekly)

A Carl Hiaasen Classic

I first read this book in 1993 on a trip out west. I think my sudden outbursts of laughter had the people around me thinking I was a lunatic. Anyway, if I were half as cool and smart as Mick, and half as tough as Chemo, I'd be one bad dude!

Plastic Surgery & Murder Hijinks

Voice actor/narrator George Wilson performs this book like the professional he is. I enjoyed the various voices used for the cast of characters, some of which impressed me. I was able to follow along and differentiate which character was speaking most of the time. To date, I haven't read a book by Carl Hiassen that I didn't like, although I cringed at some of the characterizations that might be considered politically incorrect or off-color. The story was thoroughly engaging (an unsolved disappearance of a young woman after having plastic surgery) and it went ALL over the place, taking me along for the ride. The hero, Mick Stranahan, was easy to root for, and I couldn't wait to see how he handled each situation. Example: years prior, Mick came home to find his wife (#4 of 5) fooling around with another man. Mick grabbed the naked man and superglued his (ahem) 'sack' to the hood of his car. His response was heavy-handed and over-the-top, but is only one of many crazy scenes. A 7-foot tall hit man with a weed Wacker prosthetic instead of a hand? Check. A pet barracuda living under a stilt house, providing security back-up? Check. A wood chipper used in a manner not consistent with its intended purpose? Check. The bad guys get theirs in the end and the epilogue wraps up any loose ends. 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Classic Hiaasen

Hiaasen doesn't disappoint. His wildly wacky characters are always a delight to get to know.

If it Quacks Like a Carl...

The world of plastic surgery is the background for another sampling of Florida anthropology by Carl Hiaasen, one of the foremost practitioners of comic Florida crime fiction. Someone is trying to kill former investigator Mick Stranahan after he starts to revisit a cold case involving a botched nose job by a crooked and incompetent plastic surgeon.

This being Hiaasen, there is a lot more going on here than Stranahan going after the quack. As usual, there is a broad range of characters from various walks of life (most of them low) in the great state of Florida. And the world of plastic surgery is hardly Hiassen's sole target -- tabloid TV journalism, Geraldo Rivera style, is sent up, along with frequent targets like shyster lawyers, corrupt police and politicians, arrogant party boys, vindictive divorcees, and vain celebrities.

There is also a singularly memorable foe for Stranahan to go up against and some truly gruesome deaths, including one that was copied some years later by the makers of the movie Fargo (which one could argue is like Hiaasen in Minnesota). On the sympathetic side, there are friendly conch fishermen, loveable waitresses, and a sharp-toothed barracuda.

So what we have here is off-the-shelf Carl Hiaassen, not necessarily a standout among his oeuvre, but perfectly entertaining entry for established fans of his style of Floridian farce to enjoy. George Wilson narrates it well, familiar enough with this genre from having performed a healthy percentage of books by Hiaasen and another writer in the same vein, Tim Dorsey.

Publisher fired all their editors

Any additional comments?

Skin Tight, as a novel, was in serious need of an editor. Instead of a tight, humorous, "Florida" story, the driving goal of Hiaasen seemed to be to dispatch each of the "bad guys" in an individual, distinctive manner. My favorites of his novels are those featuring the governor turned hermit and his young adult offerings.

Do publicists actually read the books they review?

Any additional comments?

It would be nice to know that the people who review the books actually read them. The main character's name is Mick, and yet, all the publicity has Nick. Does that say anything about the authenticity of the review? The book was okay, but nothing at good as Stormy Weather.

A really fun read

This author is always a fun read..sarcastic humor..enjoyed it alot. Hiassen has a wonderful sense of humor and the story line is really fun.

Fun read

What did you like best about Skin Tight? What did you like least?

A bit quirky but it was a pretty good book. It kept me interested through to the end.

Would you recommend Skin Tight to your friends? Why or why not?

If someone asked for an easy read that kept interest I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Excellent every time I read it

First read this book when it originally was published. Just read it again and it has improved with age. Great the first time I read it, and still great. If you are a Hiaasen fan, a must read.

Funny - Light reading

Carl Hiassen doesn't disappoint. HIs books are humorous adventures set in South Florida, how can that ever be bad?