Scat

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: Edward Asner

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

Carl Hiaasen takes us deep in the Everglades with an eccentric eco-avenger, a ticked-off panther, and two kids on a mission to find their missing teacher. Florida - where the animals are wild and the people are wilder! Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved. But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency", Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. It’s all about to hit the fan, and when it does, the bad guys better scat.

©2009 Carl Hiaasen (P)2009 Listening Library

Critic Reviews

"Ingenious...Scat won’t disappoint Hiaasenphiles of any age.” (The New York Times)

“Woohoo! It’s time for another trip to Florida - screwy, gorgeous Florida, with its swamps and scammers and strange creatures (two- and four-legged). Our guide, of course, is Carl Hiaasen.” (DenverPost.com)

not just a kids book

When I bought this story and then heard the "Audible Kids" intro I thought I'd really screwed up but; NO It's great! Just cut out the swearing and sex and it's just like any other Hiaasen tale; riveting, funny and satisfying with no loose ends! It was great!

Hardy Boys Meet Nancy Drew As Environment Sleuths

This is an sort of sweet mystery for kids between the ages of 9 and maybe 12. It lacks Hiassen's expected good humor, but it's not dark. Unfortunately Ed Asner kept intruding as, well, Ed Asner. His way familiar voice was both a distraction from time to time, and worse seemed implausible as the voice of a young girl heroine of the piece. I'm thinking that if you've got a car ride ahead with a young family, well this won't insult the adults and will keep the kids amused as they dave endangered species against the threat of mean, bad, sinister, business men (of course... who else can be cast a villains in this PC world, eh?) . Otherwise... skip it.

Narrator was great!

I loved Ed Asner's narration; it was like listening to a beloved grandpa tell a story. The story, on the other hand was mediocre. It was well-written and somewhat engaging, but I found my mind wandering. Also, I was constantly adjusting the volume on this book (something I don't need to do on other Audible downloads). All in all, it wasn't a terrible listen, but I sure wish I'd downloaded it from the library for free instead of using a credit.

Loved it

I have been a reader and fan of Carl Hiassen's books for many years and had been somewhat disappointed in his books for teens. I was reluctant to purchase this one prior to a family road trip, but am glad I did. It was by far his best book for young adults. His characters were quirky and memorable and Hiassen's prose caused both my 13 year old and 15 year old to laugh out loud (no easy feat). As lifelong residents of rural Florida, we could easily identify with his environmental message. We loved it.

Scat

This was a very predictable story. Interesting but a bit too long. What really made it very hard to finish was the terrible narration, sometimes garbled, too loud, too fast and with horrible voice changes for each character. After many attempts to finish, I did reach the end. Another narrator would have made a better book and a much easier listen.

good book, bad reader

The book itself is very very good. The narrator....well, that's another story. He sounds like he's just had multiple shots of novocaine (or vodka). With so many great readers around, why this one?

Should Have Read the Reviews first

I didn't realize it was a kids book - I didn't see any indication of it in the "blurb". Ed Asner was a terrible narrator.

scat

The narration was totally unintelligible at times. There were periods when I thought I was listening to a fair book but the event was lost when the narrator (attempted) to change to a low growl type of character voice which I just could not understand. I was really disappointed with this "listen" which was written by one of my favorite authors. And where did the audible "kids" books come from??? Buy at your own risk!!! You will most likely be disappointed.

Scat could have been better

What would have made "Scat" better? A different narrator. Ed Asner varies from totally unintelligible to very nice. Unfortunately when he is narrating and in his own voice, he is barely understandable. Honest to God, I thought many times he was drunk, but he seemed to sober up as the book progressed. It's no "Double Whammy" but it's still worth a listen. Let's have a different narrator next time though!

Good story, however...

Unfortunately, Mr. Asner does not speak clearly enough to make this an enjoyable listening experience.

Great story but don't listen while driving

What made the experience of listening to Scat the most enjoyable?

Our whole family (aged from 8 to 48) enjoys Carl Haisson books, with their warm and resourceful child characters acting out funny eco-thrillers. Even though the story is well-paced and aventurous both my husband and I immediately felt sleepy whenever we started listening to this audio book- the narrator's voice is the most soporific I have ever heard- better than a fat whisky/ camomile tea/ relaxation tape at bedtime but a liability on a road trip.

What three words best describe Edward Asner’s performance?

Soporific, soporific, soporific

It was OK but it wasn't great.

It was OK, but it took a long time to get interesting. It just had a very slow start. I did enjoy it though.

Maybe not the author's greatest work

I'm a great fan of Carl Hiaasen, having stumbled across his books by accident in my local li library. "Scat", like "Chomp", is aimed at younger readers, but although I (an adult) really enjoyed "Chomp", this book left me slightly lukewarm. The story doesn't really have the pace of other books by the same author, and seems to lack some of the quirkiness and humour I've come to expect. Sadly, the pretty lacklustre performance by the narrator, Edward Asner, does nothing to help it along - I found that I had to rewind repeatedly because I lost interest and my mind started to wander while I was listening to the book.