Wrecker

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: Ron Butler

Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Wrecker needs to deal with smugglers, grave robbers, and pooping iguanas—just as soon as he finishes Zoom school. Welcome to another wild adventure in Carl Hiaasen's Florida!

Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker because his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather salvaged shipwrecks for a living.

So is it destiny, irony, or just bad luck when Wrecker comes across a speedboat that has run hard aground on a sand flat? The men in the boat don't want Wrecker to call for help—in fact, they'll pay him to forget he ever saw them.

Wrecker would be happy to forget, but he keeps seeing these men all over Key West—at the marina, in the cemetery, even right outside his own door. And now they want more than his silence—they want a lookout.

He'll have to dive deep into their shady dealings to figure out a way to escape this tangled net. . . .

©2023 Carl Hiaasen (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Hiaasen packs his tale with rich character details, local history, and present-day concerns, all while carefully spinning a layered mystery that gets more serious with every turn. One heck of a ride."—Booklist, starred review

"A batten-down-the-hatches thriller anchored by critical real-life themes."—Kirkus Reviews

"Action-packed and endlessly funny."—Shelf Awareness

Love love, love it

I don’t do well keeping my attention on something but this book had my attention. Enjoyed it so much! Can’t wait to listen to more by this author

Duped! But hey, what the bleep- I read it anyway

So, like most other reviewers on here, I was unaware this novel was YA, but I read it anyway. it was certainly good and imaginative enough, but it's amazing how much I miss Hiassen's gritty dialogue.. hopefully Amazon makes us aware next time he writes a YA novel. Bleep.

Terrible Narration, Cringey Dialogue

The narrator of this book sounds like an infomercial sales person. Some of the dialogue sounds like an attempt from an old person struggling to capture what young people sound like,

The attention to detail

ALL Carl Hiassen books are truly spectacular reads! I can't wait until the next book!

Fun Hiaasen Read

Classic Hiaasen. Great South Florida settings and the usual quirky characters getting themselves in quandries and pickles. Have fun with it.

Carl Hiassen provides a great escape.

Carl Hiassen blends current events and interesting historical tidbits into another great story involving unique characters. A little less outrageous than some of his stories, but still blending important community issues with unique humor as only he can. Valdez VIII is a very likable compelling character.

Not one of best

LOVE Carl's book...but this one was definitely for young adults! I was so excited to see a new book of his come out...and even though was very topical with a lot of pandemic references....it dell flat to me! it bleeping poor. Good for YA...not so much for adults that expect more from Carl and his crazy list of Floridian characters! Still looking forward to his next novel...but probably wouldn't have used a credit if Amazon had stated it was for YA....just sayin!

As always, great characters!

Fun story, less outrageous than some, wonderful characters and more believable content. Really enjoyed it!

Accidental Lookout

I enjoyed reading Carl Hiaasen books but this one felt a little somber like it was toned down for junior novel reading. The story flowed well with a nice ending but needed more grit.

Great book, uninspired narrator

Being a huge Carl Hiaasen fan, I loved this book. Unfortunately, the narrator was not able to bring forth the subtle, in your face humor that is typical of the Hiaasen imagination.