Star Island

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

A hilarious spin on life in the celebrity fast lane from “Florida’s most entertainingly indignant social critic” (New York Times Book Review) and the bestselling author of Squeeze Me.

Meet twenty-two-year-old Cherry Pye (née Cheryl Bunterman), a pop star since she was fourteen—and about to attempt a comeback from her latest drug-and-alcohol disaster.

Now meet Cherry again: in the person of her “undercover stunt double,” Ann DeLusia. Ann portrays Cherry whenever the singer is too “indisposed”—meaning wasted—to go out in public. And it is Ann-mistaken-for-Cherry who is kidnapped from a South Beach hotel by obsessed paparazzo Bang Abbott.

Now the challenge for Cherry’s handlers (über–stage mother; horndog record producer; nipped, tucked, and Botoxed twin publicists; weed whacker–wielding bodyguard) is to rescue Ann while keeping her existence a secret from Cherry’s public—and from Cherry herself.

The situation is more complicated than they know. Ann has had a bewitching encounter with Skink—the unhinged former governor of Florida living wild in a mangrove swamp—and now he’s heading for Miami to find her….

Will Bang Abbott achieve his fantasy of a lucrative private photo session with Cherry Pye? Will Cherry sober up in time to lip-synch her way through her concert tour? Will Skink track down Ann DeLusia before Cherry’s motley posse does?

©2010 Carl Hiaasen (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

“Carl Hiaasen [is] Florida’s most entertainingly indignant social critic... He presents us with Cherry Pye, a 22-year-old pop star whose every display of narcissistic excess will send a frisson of horrified delight up your spine... The outlandish events soar on the exuberance of Hiaasen’s manic style, a canny blend of lunatic farce and savage satire.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Fans of Carl Hiaasen will feel right at home when they plunge into Star Island. There’s the familiar collection of deliciously tawdry characters, each angling for a piece of the action in Florida... And there’s the fast-moving plot, and the writing that makes you laugh out loud... Hiaasen has turned out another gem. Readers of his previous novels can settle in for more wacky fun in the Florida sun.” (Associated Press)

“Hiaasen is at his gleeful best skewering the morally bankrupt. He has plenty to poke fun at here, from a reprehensible real-estate developer with an excruciating groin injury to twin publicists Botoxed within an inch of their lives. This is classic Hiaasen - demented, hilarious, and utterly over the top.” (Booklist, starred review)

No-Stars for this one

this is the worst effort ever from Carl Hiassen. He usual witty self is missing in action. This one isn't worth the money and time spent listening to it. Sorry, but Carl does better with his Junior Books than this supposedly prime time effort.

Give this one a miss and buy People magazine instead.

boring

Skinny Dip was such an excellent book that I thought I would download this one. I just found it boring, and not at all witty like his other books. I wouldn't suggest this book...especially not as a first read.

Wish I had read the reviews...

Not sure I can finish listening. The narrator is all wrong. Too bad, because I'm sure it's a great read.

Leave it on the shelf

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Much better writing on the part of Carl Hiaasen.

What was most disappointing about Carl Hiaasen’s story?

Very poor writing. I got the impression that the author got up one morning and decided to write a story. Since he had no real purpose in writing beyond satisfying his publisher, he just wrote and wrote bringing in earlier characters to fill the pages. At the end of the day he was able to mail the finished manuscript and have it published. If Carl Hiaasen was an unknown writer, this book would have been refused by every publisher that it was submitted to.

What does Stephen Hoye bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Stephen Hoye is a very professional reader. He always brings books alive with his reading.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No!!!

Any additional comments?

Publishers should not accept books from a known writer with a lower criteria than an unknown writer

Bring back George Wilson

I miss George Wilson as the reader. He takes Hiaasen's book to another level of fun. That aside, this was my least favorite of Hiaasen's book, Ive read or listened to most, and have enjoyed them all, except this one The ending is a non ending, just jumps to epilogue. Wasn't that entertaining.

What Happened to Skink!

Stephen Hoye did a terrible job on this Hiaasen lame duck. It made Skink sound like a sissy. I was very dissappointed in this one! I usually love Hiaasen's books but this one was not up to standards.

Terrible! Not worth the credits!

We are fans of Carl Hiaasen, so we didn't read reviews, just excitedly downloaded this book. We have "read" almost all of his books, and find them entertaining, as well as raising concern over the Florida Everglades. This book, STAR GIRL was awful. There was character development, but all of them were shallow, and mindless. Plot was very weak, and predictable. DON'T WASTE YOUR CREDITS! It is only on the Best seller's lists because of his name!

Did I outgrow Hiaasen or is it this book?

I have definitely enjoyed many a Hiaasen book in my life. I haven't ever listened to one, so maybe that's the problem. But, even though I didn't really find the characters intriguing, I kept listening because I was traveling. It wasn't funny, it wasn't even very quirky. Skink venturing into the mainstream could be amusing, but here, not really. I found myself just thinking the whole thing was dumb. Maybe I am just getting old and impatient, but I cared so little about the characters that I fell asleep during the last two chapters and do not plan on going back to listen to it.

useless waste of time and money

I've read nearly every one of Hiaasen's books since the first one, and he was great out of the gate. This one reminds me of Ellis Island: Tired, poorly written and yearning to be more interesting. This must be his contract obligation book, and only restates (now tired) themes and plot lines. A year or so ago I got tired of waiting around for a good new Hiaasen book and read one of his YA titles and it wasn't bad, although it lacked bite. This one just lacks.

tedious and trashy

This story went on way longer than it needed to. I really lost interest about halfway through and was easily distracted by anything else going on around me. Hiaasen's books have become formulaic, which you can overlook if the characters are compelling and the story moves along. This one was just a bore.