Stormy Weather

Skink #3

by Carl Hiaasen

When a ferocious hurricane rips through southern Florida, the con artists and carpetbaggers waste no time in swarming over the disaster area.

Among the predators are Edie Marsh, an entrepreneurial young woman whose scheme to sleep with a Palm Beach Kennedy has fizzled, freezing her to concoct a colossal insurance rip-off; Lester Maddox Parsons, a murderous ex-con whose violent encounter with a game warden has left him with the fitting name of “Snapper”; and Avila, a crooked building inspector-turned-roofer who dabbles somewhat unsuccessfully in the occult. 

Caught in the middle are Max and Bonnie Lamb, newlyweds torn in wildly different directions by the storm. It is Max’s fateful decision to abort their Disney World honeymoon and race to Dade County to see the terrible devastation. Armed with a video camera, the ambitious young advertising executive can’t wait to show his hurricane tapes to his buddies back in New York. 

Over Bonnie’s objections, Max eagerly sets out through the rubble, debris and mayhem—and promptly vanishes. The only clue to his whereabouts: a runaway monkey. The only person who can help Bonnie’s search: a mysterious young man with a tranquilizer gun and a roomful of human skulls. 

But there’s also a man called Skink who has devoted his very strange existence to saving Florida from the kinds of people blown in by the hurricane. It is he, crazed and determined, who prowls the swath of the storm and forever changes the lives of Max, Bonnie, Edie and the others.

Their paths—tangled before they even know it—come together in a novel that continues the hilarious and scathing muckraking tradition that Carl Hiaasen has so mercilessly made his own. In Stormy Weather, there is no calm eye.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Audiobook, Comedy

336 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 1995

About the author

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. After graduating from the University of Florida, he joined the Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the newspaper’s weekly magazine and prize-winning investigations team. As a journalist and author, Carl has spent most of his life advocating for the protection of the Florida Everglades. He and his family live in southern Florida.

Reviews

[Bronwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stormy Weather follows Carl Hiaasen's usual fomula, with his normal cast of characters. The confused female victim of the greedy jerk rescued by the "crazy" recluse and the caring, law-enforcement hero. The story takes place in the Florida Everglades, as usual, and contains the author's requrired amount of environmental "preachiness."

If Hiaasen's books are all so predictable, why do I like reading them so much? Because he is an incredibly clever writer with a dark, twisted sense of humor that I truly enjoy. Because his stories move along at the perfect pace, with the right amount of satire and sarcasm and incredibly unique characters that you either want to get to know, or love to hate.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. I must be feeling generous. 2 of 10 stars

[Jonathan Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was like reading a tabloid, only I cared less about the people between the covers.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, there is a theme to the Hiaasen books and if you've read one, you will be able to draw parallels to them all. Luckily, some of the things they have in common are that they are deliciously bitingly satiric, often crazily funny and surely greatly entertaining! The third appearance of Skink is no exception and the 'hero' in this one, the complex Augustine (who juggles real skulls as relaxation/meditation) is a great complement to the ex-governor.

[John Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I joined GR, I mistakenly thought I had read this book and gave it four stars. I was wrong - which I realised when I stumbled upon the book at the Lifeline Bookfair in Canberra. I've now actually read the novel and upgraded it to five stars.
Carl Hiassen has not dissapointed me yet.
This is my kind of book. It has zany characters that you really do love or hate and understand, a funny plot as intricately woven as a fine basket and an underlying message - that is not in your face and you can choose to see it or not.
You just really know when you read a Carl Hiassen novel that the really bad guys will get their comeuppance.
It leaves us with a great sense of satisfaction on top of all the laughs we've had on the way.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

In STORMY WEATHER, Hiaasen satirizes what happens after a Florida hurricane. The story focuses on the shoddy construction that occurred before the storm, the payoffs that resulted in the poor construction, greedy would-be construction workers and roofers trying to take advantage of the devastation, and schemes to defraud the insurance companies after the storm. The story, as usual, includes some very demented characters who try to make a killing on the destruction caused by the storm. This includes a beautiful young woman who was in Florida to try to seduce one of the Kennedys and winds up partnering with an ex-con named Snapper to try and fleece a homeowner hit by the hurricane. Snapper is called that because of his shocking appearance including a dislocated jaw. Other characters include Avila, a building inspector who didn't really inspect the houses and trailers that were destroyed during the storm and who performs blood sacrifices to help his cause; a young newlywed couple who were honeymooning at Disneyworld but after the storm the husband decides to rush south to capture the devastation on video; a man who owns a wild animal preserve that also has a collection of skulls that he likes to juggle; and of course Skink, the ex-governor of Florida who lives in the wilderness and was hoping the hurricane would be more devastating and was not thrilled with the young husband taking video of its aftermath. Skink is a recurring character in several of Hiaasen's works and is one of my favorites.

Carl Hiaasen has been one of my favorite authors for the past couple of decades. I always enjoy his humorous romps through South Florida and his cast of the wacky denizens living there. STORMY WEATHER was another enjoyable romp but unfortunately, after reading this one I only have a couple of his adult novels left to read. Maybe I'll put them off for a while to have something to look forward to.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars. Very strange crime fiction, borderline ridiculous but some very funny moments. An author I definitely want to read more from if I find his books somewhere

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so funny and the characters were so different. I did not know this was a series but I love the crazy, uber intelligent, gross, scrupulous character that Carl Hiaasen created in Skink (ex-governor). Florida has just had a devastating hurricane and between the people that are homeless and the vultures that come there to scam them, CH weaves a tale that is hysterical and has a balanced redemption. If your up for a riotous romp through the Everglades with a wonderfully clever, kooky cast then this just may be for you.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can I rate this any less than five stars after reading this book in three days (record time for me) while suffering through some kind of flu. Carl Hiaasen is genius! I shudder to think where he gets ideas for the many zany characters he creates and brings to life. Very thankful for this printed copy I received randomly in the mail with a BookCrossing wishlist book as I couldn’t look at a screen, including my white paper Kindle, but quickly became addicted to the humorous adventure on these pages. Laughter truly is the best medicine and there were many laughs despite Hurricane Andrew devastation. My third. Carl Hiaasen read is now my favorite. Of course it helps to be in the perfect place to read this book: Key West. I will now be on the lookout for Skink but if I see a deformed jaw, I will shudder. I agree with Kirkus Review, “If you’re not laughing by page six, you need a complete checkup.”

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious as usual, and very much entertained by their dialogues which came out so natural. At one point I wasn't sure where the story was heading, regardless it was a good ride. I love all his colorful characters whether they are the good guys or crooks.

[Mary Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dark frenetic humor with a superabundance of ridiculous characters on the margins of society. I guess one could consider the police officers normal....sort of. Very funny. Would make a wild movie with lots of slapstick and insane situations. I wouldn't want to read a lot of books like this, but Stormy Weather was a good experience for me.

Set in Florida. Is everyone in Florida like this?

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best (some of the humor was too crass for me) and not the worst. I think he was smoking toad when he wrote this book.

[Dennis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fool me twice, shame on me. What on earth was I thinking taking on a second installment by the same author responsible for writing Star Island? As if that calamitous wonder wasn't bad enough, this glutton for punishment nevertheless vowed to forge his way through Stormy Weather simply because it was sitting there on his desk for the taking. Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky.

This time the author scrambles a muddle of cartoonish characters whose lives intersect implausibly in the immediate aftermath of destruction and mayhem wreaked by an unnamed hurricane upon South Florida. Bonnie and Max, two New York newlyweds honeymooning in Orlando, opt to head south straight into the heart of the devastation to survey and document the damage and displacement. Max is soon kidnapped by Skink, a misanthropic missing ex-governor and erstwhile environmental vigilante who lives off the marshy backwoods of Florida's Everglades and Keys, simply because Skink despises Max for videotaping the ruination.

While Max is in the wild enduring torture at the hands of his morally ambiguous captor who has forced him to wear an electroshock collar, his brand-new wife takes up with the dreamy Augustine--a freewheeling, ruggedly adventuresome and independently wealthy hunk--who represents some of the traits Bonnie spontaneously decides are absent in her days-old marriage. Within moments, and without any other apparent justification, this just-married bride has fallen for somebody entirely new, for whom she leaves her downtrodden husband thus freeing herself to seek unknown thrills. Come again?

The seductive Edie and deformed-jaw Snapper are yet two more unsavory characters in this unruly circus whose aim is to defraud the Midwest Casualty company for more than two hundred grand by posing as beneficiaries who have gone missing due to the storm. These two will execute their plans by resorting to deception, threats, violence, and other criminal activities--any means necessary to get what they want. Their stratagems go awry, however, as they soon become entangled with the others as well as with cops, insurance adjustors, crooked roofers, hookers, and other oddballs who get caught up in all the hijinks.

Enduring this was like being sentenced to solitary confinement to watch the entire Wagner's Ring Cycle on repeating loop, except it's populated by talentless dunderheads from a season of Sally Jessy Rafael. I counted down the pages, one by one, unto the inglorious end. It's filled with an array of crimes committed with an utter lack of regard for human life or decency. The author inexplicably idealizes his Skink character although he is neither heroic nor sympathetic, and seems to relish Skink's untethered individualism that disrespects any civil code or law of man in favor of his own set of ideals. The merry-go-round of lust and greed along with an unending string of profanity and gratuitous depredation characterizes, well, just about everyone in this book's world. If the author's intention is to prevent tourism and growth from descending upon his beloved South Florida, putting out this kind of propaganda should go a long way towards making that happen. It makes for a tedious read and absolute waste of time. This book is awful!

What's beyond comprehension is the advertising soundbites featured on the cover by reputable outlets the likes of The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine, which blazon "Hilarious!" "Raucous Good Fun!" and "Positioning the Author to Become This Country's Premier Satirist!"

What? Let me repeat that . . . What?!

There is absolutely NOTHING funny about this book. The closest it comes to producing so much as a chuckle is the occasional description here or there that hints at wry observation, such as when Max's Madison Avenue firm takes on advertising for an eccentric-Mormon-family-owned business seeking to revive its root beer brand that had peaked in market share back in 1962. The irony is the disdain this author willingly seethes about the supposedly shallow and cynical advertising industry in light of the misleading marketing ads featured so prominently on his own book's cover with the unmistakable intention of shilling endless copies to unwitting masses of buyers. I will not repeat my mistakes by reading anything more by this author.

Note to self: Checking something out from the library imposes absolutely no obligation for you to spend any more time completing it. Amazingly, if returned promptly, the library WILL take it back. And here's the catch . . . the library won't even charge you to take rubbish like this off your hands!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl Hiassen has a satiric edge second to none, as he provides characters and plots that bring to light, make that "spotlight," the human vices and societal ills that plague all places, but especially the state of Florida. As Hiassen said in a recent speech, "they (reprobates and crazies)all come here (Florida). For those of us who speak fluent sarcasm and appreciate nothing better than witty sarcasm, Hiassen's novels, and Stormy Weather certainly, make our joy meters tingle in a most pleasurable way. The characters in Stormy Weather come together in Miami in the usual Hiassen convoluted manner following a major hurricane that has devastated the area. There are bound to be scores of kind-hearted volunteers and honest repair businesses extant in Miami at that time. This story is not about them. Hiassen shows us the sleazy, greedy vultures of opportunity when disasters strike. That's not saying that there aren't some good, honest characters in the book, albeit some slightly off-centered ones. Again, we lovers of quirky people/characters rejoice. Populating this novel are an ex-governor, with a mission for protecting his beloved Florida, who left society and now makes his home in the swamp eating roadkill; two low-level con artists, one of whom shows a penchant for violence and the other habors a Kennedy fantasy; several greedy and reprehensible men involved in home construction, inspection, and repair; a honeymoon couple whose different world views quickly become apparent; an easily seduced insurance adjustor, just wanting some piece/peace?; two state troopers romantically involved and all-around good people; a skull-juggling, nice law school dropout; and a crooked-as-they-come mobile home salesman. Yes, the dots are all deftly connected between these wandering souls, and a great tale is told. Wild, whacky, and laugh-out-loud good!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see this becoming a movie, if it isn’t always. Our was enjoyable enough, but as a feminist, I object to one character in particular. Will leave her name out so as to avoid spoilers.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stormy Weather is another enjoyable Skink episode from Carl Hiaasen. It has all his hallmarks of amusing plotting, enjoyable characters, scumbags getting their come-uppance and some biting commentary on the shady dealing in Florida and celebration of the wonders of the place.

This time, the scumbaggery is to do with the exploitation of hurricane victims by corrupt politicians and inspectors who allow unsafe building practices which result in the wholesale destruction of homes, and by various scammers and cowboys who profit from those desperate for shelter after a storm. The plot...well, it’s complicated. Suffice it to say that various dodgy characters behave badly, a couple of people behave well and both Jim Tile and Skink are on hand to dispense some measure of appropriate and restorative justice. It is, in short, classic Hiaasen and therefore thoroughly readable and enjoyable.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good Carl Hiaasen book, alas this was not a good Carl Hiaasen. It starts off strong, sweeping the reader into the story following the wake of a hurricane. The cast ballons quickly and just as quickly gets thinned down in a series of gruesome endings, which, for the most part, are not ironic, fitting, or funny. As the cast dwindles down so does the plot, which revolves around: Bonnie and Max Lamb, the mismatched newly wed couple; Augustine, the good guy skull juggler; Edie, the con-woman looking for the next job; and Snapper, the all around bad guy.

This story is filled with Skink & Jim, which is usually a good thing, for a good example read Double Whammy. This time Skink is more sad and pathetic, not the usual renegade-recluse-with-the-heart-of-gold. Skink's character is very heavy handed with the 'why things use to be' and 'it would be better if we drive out all the tourists'. A little of this goes a long way, and most of Hiaasen's readers know his feelings about the big mouse. If I had to rank all the Hiaasen books, this would be second from bottom, right above Strip Tease, which was a bad book and a worst movie.

I give this 3 stars because, as far as summer time, beach books go, you could do a lot worst.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual (well, maybe not exactly 'usual' except for the kind of folks who end up in the police blotter sections of newspapers) odd Florida characters from murderers to con artists to the distinctly cracked in the head are involved in various linked ways in Carl Hiaasen’s ‘Stormy Weather’, book 3 in the Skink series.

This time it's a Florida hurricane which starts the ball rolling, as various couples find that a hurricane has completely wrecked the lives they had been living before the winds hit and overturned everything that made them the people they felt themselves to be - prostitutes, real estate/insurance/construction scammers, crooked government appraisers, trust fund recipients, elderly retirees, and vacationing honeymooners. But, have no fear, gentle reader, Skink, the insane ex-governor of Florida, will bring justice for the third time (this is number three in the Skink series) to those lucky enough to cross his path.

A Carl Hiaasen book is always entertaining, and like most, this one ends happily as long as you aren't a really bad person. Skink does not save really bad persons. Ever.

[Emily Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Hiaasen novels. It has 10 or 12 crazy characters (including a one-eyed ex-governor who lives off the wild in the Everglades) and it's hilarious! If you haven't read any Hiaasen, he is based in the Miami area and his books are all humor/crime novels that usually have basically the same theme: a somewhat crazy environmentalist fighting evil, corrupt forces (Florida govt., land developers) in the Everglades. It's really a love-it-or-hate-it genre, but if you love one Hiaasen book, you'll compulsively read the rest of his novels. I've read all 11 books and I also recommend Lucky You, Sick Puppy, and Tourist Season.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virtually everyone and everything is corrupt, except perhaps the deranged ex-governor of the state, in Carl Hiaasen's marvelously funny Stormy Weather.

Bonnie and Max Lamb are on their honeymoon at Disney World when the one-hundred year hurricane hits. Max, being a good red-blooded American, immediately grabs his video camera and heads for the path of destruction to tape all the gore and devastation. Bonnie is not happy, feeling this is somehow disrespectful, but when Max is kidnapped by Skink, the ex-governor, who had tied himself to a bridge to enjoy the storm, and Max uses the phone calls allowed him by his abductor to phone his firm and check up on his advertising accounts, Bonnie begins to reexamine her new marriage. Especially, after she meets Augustine, the wealthy survivor of a plane crash, who had inherited his uncle's wild animal zoo. The wild animals, released during the fury of the storm, proceed to wreak havoc on some of the low-lives who populate the novel. And there are plenty of them, from the building inspectors who hadn't examined the buildings they had certified as windproof, to the salesman who sold the homes knowing they were unsafe, to the county prosecutor literally caught with his pants down in a compromising position.

Hiaasen makes scornful fun of Florida society. Ultimately, it's the ex-governor who may be the sanest of the bunch. Here's an example of Hiaasen's wit. He's describing seven missionaries from the Church of the High Pentecostal Rumination who immediately proceed to Miami after the hurricane as they make a practice of witnessing to all natural disasters.

"Every morning, the missionaries preached, consoled and distributed pamphlets. Then they stood in line for free army lunches at the tent city, and returned to the motel for two hours of quiet contemplation and gin rummy. The Ramada offered free cable TV, which allowed the Ruminators to view a half dozen different religious broadcasts at any time of the day. One afternoon,in the absence of a pure Pentecostal preacher, they settled on Pat Robertson and the 700 Club. The Ruminators didn't share Robertson's paranoid world view, but they admired his life-or-death style of fund-raising and hoped to pick up some pointers."

Another episode concerns a father's despair for his son, a notoriously inept hunter. The father resolves to give up trying to teach h is son the more subtle hunting techniques, particularly after th e son mistakes a bald eagle for some less illegal bird and blows his father's left ear off. The son is captivated by the hurricane, for it has turned loose hundreds of cattle and other farm animals into a land formerly devoid of animals worth hunting. Unfortunately, he mistakes a Cape Buffalo from the wild animal farm for a cow ....

A wild, hysterical romp through society's peccadilloes.

[Cyrus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first Carl Hiaasen book I'd read, and probably the first example of "popular" not-quite-literary fiction I'd read in quite a while. I've been reading too much heavy stuff (Under the Volcano, The Savage Detectives etc.) and was looking forward to a light, fast paced read with some good laughs thrown in, and I'd always heard that Hiaasen was a perfect example of what they call a "beach read." Also I was intrigued by the idea that his books are always set in Florida, as I spent my childhood years living there and was curious to see if the prose would do a good job of communicating a sense of place (though my memories of the sunshine state are pretty vague at this point)
As you can see by the two stars, I was a little disappointed. The use of setting really seemed only passable for a writer who's reputation is so much defined by writing about a particular place. Hiaasen seems to have a journalist's sense of the small-time politics and social relationships of Florida (trailer parks vs. mansions on the shore/ Miami vs. the interior) but any really tactile kind of description would have gotten in the way of the crime/ thriller plot and so the book didn't really transport me as much as I wanted it to.
The plot revolved around insurance fraud in the wake of a hurricane, and the book in the opening chapters moved at a fast pace, catching you off guard with some funny moments. However, once the elements were all in place for things to begin resolving themselves, I realized that the outcome was fairly predictable, the plot sort of slowed down and there wasn't enough humor to make it seem really worthwhile continuing.
It wasn't all that bad. I may read another Hiaasen sometime this summer and see if he's done any better. But as for Stormy Weather, it was just so-so.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOL'ed too many times! A great story.

[Mark Lattman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I was told I’d love Hiaasen, so I read Skinny Dip a few years ago, disliked it, tried again with Basket Case a year later and really liked that, so Stormy Weather (which I coincidentally read just as the Stormy Daniels story was breaking) was to be the tie-breaker. Like all Hiaasen, it takes place in Florida - here, specifically in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew - and features a (large) cast of characters who are either small time criminals or big time corrupt businessmen/politicians, the people who get caught up with them (the sympathetically innocent and the unsympathetically weak), or the deeply cynical but decent at heart people who ultimately rescue those innocents. Though much closer in tone and plot to Skinny Dip than Basket Case, once it got going, I actually liked this one the most of the three. It was very funny and the repeatedly evolving multi-layered plot was fast paced, exciting, and very well structured, no small feat considering the amount of people it features, most all of whom, no matter how little page time they may have had, were important and very well drawn. The violence was much less prevalent and sadistic than in Skinny Dip, the people much more likeable, and equally important, the villains were much less one dimensional. While reading it, I envisioned it as the perfect basis for a Quentin Tarantino film. And though a few key characters were from previous novels of his that I’d not read, that posed little problem. Highly recommended for Hiaasen fans and for those looking to start reading him. 92/100

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Stormy Weather” by Carl Hiaasen, published by Alfred A. Knopf.

Category – Mystery/Comedy Publication Date – August, 1995.

This series is so good that I keep trying to sneak one in every once in awhile as I read current titles.

Hurricane Andrew is now a memory but when it hit South Florida its devastation had everyone’s attention. This novel, although funny, does hit on the problems brought on by Hurricane Andrew.

A pair of newly weds find themselves torn apart as he wants to video, for profit, the devastation. She would prefer the relative safety of the hotel. The pair find themselves smack in the middle of a insurance scam and faced with the crazy characters of Carl Hiaasen, to say nothing of the wild animals let loose by the Hurricane.

The novel includes Skink, an ex-governor of Florida who is as eccentric as you can get and his buddy on the Florida Highway Patrol.

A very satisfying read that is light and easy and will have you looking for another installment by Carl Hiaasen.

[H. P. Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the Writer Fairy, dressed in sparkly chinos, tube top, ruby tiara and plaid sneakers, bebopped her way into my bedroom and asked me, "Who d'ya wanna write like?" I think I'd vacillate between Reginald Hill and Carl Hiaasen. But before she bonked me with the ruby magic wand, I'd likely settle on Hiaasen. Why, when he's so often formulaic? Because his formulae make me laugh, that's why. His prose is crisp and funny. His characters are odd, spooky and funny. His plot twists are improbable and funny. I'm grateful for the funny, which is entirely subjective. So you may not like his books. Me, I love this book. I love Skink, though I have no desire to be in his vicinity. I cheer for Skink's sense of justice, his middle finger salute to the destroyers of Nature, his contempt for modern uglifiers of landscapes and his violent reactions to con artists. And I will keep on loving him - at a distance. So any time you're ready WF, swing that ruby wand this way.

[Nancy Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky characters inhabit this thriller set during and after a hurricane that hits the Miami area. Newlyweds Bonnie and Max Lamb visit the aftermath, and his desire to videotape the destruction leads to upheaval in their lives together. Add in insurance scammers, a former governor, and few other memorable characters and the plot thickens. Keeping straight all the characters is the biggest drawback to this novel, but there are plenty of humorous moments throughout.

[Randy Rhody · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a break from somber literature, I can always count on Hiaasen to deliver a humorous page-turner, a guilty pleasure of wacky characters and their flawed motives. Great entertainment, good-natured satire of human foibles.

A timely read, just weeks after Hurricane Irma. He captures perfectly the hucksters, swindlers, looters, and opportunists swooping in to profit from misfortune.

[LATOYA JOVENA · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writer's skill has vastly improved. This is the best book in the Skink series so far. It's a complicated story about how everyone involved is impacted by a hurricane and how they entered, and exited, each other's world.

[Jeff P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny stuff set in the aftermath of a hurricane, yeah, I know, trust me.


Page 203 - Augustine had no chance, not when Bonnie's hair smelled like bougainvilleas.

[Emma Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the lowest ranked of the haaisen books I’ve read. Wouldn’t recommend it to everyone but I still enjoyed it. Just a lot of moving pieces and kind of crude but always a satisfying conclusion