Stormy Weather

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: George Wilson

Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

Carl Hiaasen, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author, has earned a reputation for perceptive, sharp-edged suspense that also cuts to the bone of environmental issues. His novels have been translated into many languages and are touted worldwide for their quirky characters and surreal adventures set in the ravaged cultural wasteland of southern Florida.

Stormy Weather centers on the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. The devastation of the storm has attracted crowds of voyeurs and impostors to Florida. Drawn by the chance to prey on Andrew's victims, misfits like the murderous ex-con Snapper and the dangerously seductive Edie find easy targets for their insurance scams. They're not prepared, though, when they meet their opposition, led by a hoary ex-governor who smokes toads.

Both hilariously funny and deadly accurate, Carl Hiaasen's novel will take you into a Florida that is far from the frilly palms and pink flamingos of its post cards. Strap on your seatbelt. Stormy Weather is an unforgettable, turbulent ride.

©1995 Carl Hiaasen (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

"Biting wit, wacky characters, and a profound fury." (USA Today)
"These strange characters maneuver through a broken landscape as if born to it, and the author's control of both style and narrative keeps the novel from slipping into silliness....A fiction that explores the intersection of the grotesque and the human." Library Journal)
"Combining slapstick nightmare, black comedy, and moral outrage in just the right proportions." (Booklist)

But a sunny review...

I absolutely love Hiaasen novels! If you've never listened to one before, just give it time and you will laugh out loud at some of the wacky characters. This is the second I have listed to, and will definitely listen to others. The only way this book could have been better is if Stephen Hoy had narrated - he read the other Hiaasen book (Skinny Dip). He was a little better at capturing some of the sarcasm and irony the author intended. A great read if you have an offbeat sense of humor!!

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

You love it or hate it....

Hiaasen is Hiaasen. Most of the books are remarkably similar to one another, but if you like them, you can digest them all without any trouble, especially those of you with some knowledge of Florida. Narration is good, characters are 'Hiaasen' and stories are great fun.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

Read it for the writing

Car Hiaason is a new author for me and I am pleased to have discovered him. This is not his best book, but it is well worth a read.

What is funny about a bunch of outlandish characters stranded in Flordia after a storm? Well, they aren't exactly stranded. Most of them are there by choice. The jerk, of course, is not. What is funny is the characters themselves, and in this particular story, the characters are the plot.

Mostly Carl Hiaason writes interesting mysteries, but here there is no mystery to solve. The readers knows all from the beginning, but the characters have to find out what's going on.

And unusually for the author, he ties up all the loose ends in an epilogue so that you know exactly what happened to everyone. But that is in the character of this particular book too.

If you want a pacy, riveting mystery, then this is not the book for you. But if you have a sense of the ridiculous and want a nice companionable book, I think you will enjoy this one enormously.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Karma's a b**ch

The back end of a hurricane is called the dirty side of the storm, often bringing some of the worst weather and tornados. In Carl Hiaason's Florida, the dirty side of the storm is filled with crooked opportunists looking to make a killing, do a killing, or just cynically take videos of personal misery to show to the folks back home. Fortunately this crazy landscape has some good guys too - although they may not be easy to recognize at first, disguised as they are by their quirkey lives.

This is not a story for everyone. The humor is startling, even raunchy - if you get it, you'll find yourself letting out sudden bursts of laughter at absurd moments, thinking one second later OMG that's not funny - and yet it is. Hiaason finds some of the most outrageous ways for the bad guys to get their come-uppance. Karma really is a b**ch.

This doesn't sparkle quite as brightly as Skinny Dip, largely because there were too many characters to keep track of (and to be disposed of), so its pace was a bit slower. The main story threads are terrific and very Hiaason. If he had left out at least a couple of the lesser threads it would have been better. Fairly small complaint. I still enjoyed my journey through this crazy storm-ruined Wonderland. Just what I was looking for as a light guilty pleasure.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Quirky, But Good

If it wasn't for Audible I would never have discovered this author. It has a bunch of wacko characters, but was enjoyable.

The reader held my interest also. Would definitely listen to something with this combination again.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Wonderful Characters

This book has wonderful offbeat characters. The book keeps your interest and it makes you laugh. Carl Hiaasin books while they are fiction are based on real events and people which makes them even more interesting. I will get another Carl Hiaasin book.

15 of 18 people found this review helpful

Typical

This book has the typical Hiaasen characters which makes me love it! He is always good for looking at things with a different but honest perspective.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Hurricane Hiaasen Strikes Again

In the wake of a massive hurricane (reminiscent of Andrew), south Florida is wrecked. Amid the detritus of the ruinous storm comes the detritus of humanity -- insurance fraud, construction rip-offs, corrupt politicians, vengeful gangsters, and the like. In typical fashion, real estate scams and ecological disaster intersect in Carl Hiaasen's Florida, fueled by human greed and ignorance.

Hiaasen's righteous avenger, Skink, former governor turned eccentric hermit, is on hand, along with his buddy, state trooper Jim Tile. But Skink is curiously passive when abducted by the baddest of the bad guys in a book full of bad people. And that after Skink goes over the top with an innocuous baddy. Not sure why Hiaasen constructed the story this way when we know Skink can easily deal with his abductor.

Amid all the usual fun and hi-jinks, as darkly humorous as we expect from Hiaasen, there is another problem -- there are just too many characters, not all the sub-plots of much interest. There is always a plethora of side characters and stories, but this would have benefited had he focused on the two main sets of characters, fleshed out their backstories, concocted more scenes among them, rather than adding in superfluous sub-plots.

But that is just a minor quibble. This is a solid entry in Hiaasen's body of work, specifically in the Skink canon, not dated in the two-plus decades since its publication. For readers new to Hiaasen, I'd recommend Double Whammy (Skink #1) ahead of this, but either way, you should enjoy this entry.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Too Gruesome and Sadistic

After listening to and really enjoying Skinny Dip, I was excited to find Stormy Weather in a recent Audible sale. Although the story itself was interesting and ironic, the sadistic nature of the actions of the characters ruined this book for me. And this was from the "good guys." What a disappointment. The unnecessary, gratuitous violent treatment of the characters and animals finally caused me to give up 9 hours into the book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Not his best effort

Normally, I find Hiaasen's books enjoyable. This book has all of the standard elements that usually make for an entertaining story, but this one just didn't click for me. The pace of the story was too slow, the characters lacked spark. There weren't any of the usual laugh-out-loud moments. Skip this one and try another Hiaasen book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good fun

Good fun and in the usual Carl Hiaasen style. Well narrated. Good flow and easy to listen to.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful