Tourist Season: A Suspense Thriller

by Carl Hiaasen

Take a trip to exotic South Florida with this "dark, funny book"* that established Carl Hiaasen as one of the top mystery writers in the game.

The first sign of trouble is a Shriner's fez washed up on a Miami beach. The next is a suitcase containing the almost-legless body of the local chamber of commerce president found floating in a canal. . . .

The locals are desperate to keep the murders under wraps and the tourist money flowing. But it will take a reporter-turned-private eye to make sense of a caper that mixes football players, politicians, and one very hungry crocodile in this classic mystery that GQ called "one of the top ten destination reads of all time."

"Hiaasen keeps the suspense pumping along."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Kept me riveted to the end."--Chicago Tribune

*New York Times Bestselling Author Robert B. Parker

carlhiaasen.com

penguin.com

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

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

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

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.
And my least favorite of Hiaasen's books so far. Tourist Season was somehow missing the charm that makes his other books so fun.



A big problem was that it went on far too long before the author finally pulled the life support on this thing. I kept thinking it was almost over -and it was not almost over. It seemed to be the neverending story. Wrap it up already.



Worse, the characters weren't quirky Floridians - they were just plain unlikeable assholes. Sure, they were as unhinged as the rest of us from the Sunshine State, but they weren't wacky in any way that I found the least bit relatable.
Oh, and a cringy romance (how old is this guy? too old to be f-ing a 19 year old beauty queen, that's for goddamn sure) gets shoehorned in there for no discernable reason. Well, other than to give some gray-haired old farts a chubby, I guess.
Yuck. Just no.
But it was the terrible, abrupt ending that really put the last nail in the coffin for me.
What even was that?



As someone who normally loves the spin Carl Hiaasen puts on preserving Florida and its wacky inhabitants, I'm shocked at what a serious miss this book was with me.
This was Hiaasen's first book and it really shows.
It's readable but barely.
Hard nope for me.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this for my book club and, while I have read a few Hiaasen books before, I have always wanted to go back and start at the beginning.

Hiaasen has a unique style that I think is easy to either love or hate. For me, it is very odd and unrealistic, but it adds a nice bit of crazy humor to the story. In this novel, it took me about 1/3 of the way to get used to the style.

In the end, I liked the story and the style quite a bit. Despite being odd, it was also very touching at points; heroes you want to cheer for and tragic villains you kinda feel sorry for.

I will leave you with images of 1980s Miami - this is what I pictured the whole time:

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

Just like Donovan used to sit at the feet of Bob Dylan, Carl Hiaasen will forever be an Elmore Leonard wannabe. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. If your child wants to grow up to be president, you’d want them to model themselves after Abe Lincoln and not Warren Harding or Franklin Pierce.

The novel, Hiaasen’s first, is pretty good, but you can see Hiaasen measuring himself up against the master. Fortunately, here he sticks with what he knows best: the newspaper business, civilization encroaching upon the everglades and Southern Florida. He keeps it relatively simple: decently drawn characters, fairly riveting plot, and generous dollops of humor. It wasn’t until later novels that Hiaasen heavily embraced (for good or ill) his quirky nature. Also: his future attempts at female leads in the other books I’ve read reveal a writer uncomfortable with or unable to write from the opposite gender’s point-of-view. In this one, he plays it safe; he doesn’t try to write from a woman’s perspective - it's a testosterone fest.

Are Floridians this loopy? Is it the inhalation of swamp gas drifting from the everglades? Is there something in the Gulf water? Is it some sort of Seminole curse? I have a few in-laws who live there and my wife has friends who are long-time Flordia residents, so there is some empirical and personal evidence to support this whole idiosyncratic query. * Plus, this is a state that reveres Jimmy Buffett and when he dies, Florida will probably have him stuffed and put on display. **

Eccentric Florida literature has become a mini-genre unto itself, Goodreads recommended scores of books of this type. Why Florida? Why not Delaware, South Dakota or Wyoming?

*My Goodreads friends from Florida, of course, are the exceptions.

** I say, why wait, do it now.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl Hiaasen's first published novel of 1986 finds him in terrific form! 9 of 10 stars

[David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll write a full review when I have the time, but for now, here's...

DAVE'S FINAL JUDGMENT -

THE DEFENSE
- Book is very funny and creative
- Lead villain is both fascinating and frightening, and his bizarre motives only make him that much more compelling
- Biting social satire is executed perfectly
- Hiaasen's unconventional story and writing style makes reading this one a unique experience

THE PROSECUTION
- The protagonists are not nearly as interesting as the villains
- The love story explored in the second half of the book feels forced and doesn't really deliver
- The book occasionally lags and could have been trimmed down

THE VERDICT
A brilliantly dark comedy that deserves to be more than just a cult classic. Even with its occasional lags, with so many funny and bizarre moments, the good far outweighs the bad!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Carl Hiaasen's comic satiric novels center around some atrocity humans are inflicting on the state of Florida. In Hiaasen's first novel, 'Tourist Season' (1986), a fed-up journalist decides to drive tourists and snowbirds out of Florida, so developers will stop building the condos and hotels that destroy the state's beauty and ecology.



The premise of 'Tourist Season' is that Skip Wiley, the most popular columnist at the Miami Sun newspaper, fashions himself into El Fuego, Comandante of a terrorist group called Las Noches de Diciembre (The Nights of December).



Wiley remains incognito while the other members of Las Noches de Diciembre who have their own motives for fomenting chaos, are the 'front men' for the terrorist group. These zealots are:

◈ Viceroy Wilson - An African-American former football player for the Miami Dolphins. Viceroy is seeking redress for the exploitation/mistreatment of Black people in America.



◈ Jesús Bernal - an American-born Dartmouth graduate of Cuban ancestry. Jesús pretends he's an immigrant from Cuba and speaks like Desi Arnaz. Bernal is an inept bombmaker who seeks to foment a revolt against Fidel Castro.



◈ Tommy Tigertail - a Seminole Indian who's made millions from bingo on the reservation. Tommy wants revenge for the historic mistreatment of Indians by White people.



Las Noches de Diciembre, which a newspaper typo changes to the laughable Las Nachos de Diciembre (The Nachos of December) further their terrorist campaign by murdering tourists, like Shriner Theodore Bellamy and Canadian visitor Renee LeVoux; bombing golf courses and newspaper officers; using a helicopter to drop hundreds of rattlesnakes on a cruise ship; threatening Miami's Rose Bowl parade; and more.



Skip Wiley's friend and former colleague Brian Keyes, who's now a private investigator, is hired by the Shriner's wife to track down her husband's killer. This puts Brian on the horns of a dilemma because he doesn't want to point the finger at his chum.



The Miami police are after Las Noches as well, but the authorities play down the havoc created by the insurrectionists, to keep the tourist trade and influx of retirees going strong.



Additional characters that add interest to the story include:

◈ Jenna - Skip Wiley's girlfriend, a wily sex-goddess who loves to cook and bake.



◈ Pavlov - a tourist-eating crocodile.



◈ Dr. Remond Courtney - a shill psychiatrist who'll testify to anything for money.



◈ Cab Mulcahy - the worried managing editor of the Miami Sun, who suspects Skip Wiley is El Fuego.



◈ Ricky Bloodworth - a deluded Miami Sun columnist, who's ambitious but untalented.



◈ Police Sergeant Al García - the Cuban-American detective tasked with stopping Las Noches.



◈ Kara Lynn Shivers - a nineteen-year-old beauty queen threatened by the terrorists.



All this makes up a story that's simultaneously hilarious and heart-wrenching. Thus the reader laughs while being horrified by the death and destruction.

Hiaasen's subsequent books, which are even funnier than Tourist Season, also rail against the devastation in Florida...to little avail (sadly).

In any case, if you need a laugh, Hiaasen's books will fill the bill.



I listened to the audiobook, narrated by George Wilson, who does a great job with the plethora of voices.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com

[TheBookWarren · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★½☆ — Am enjoyable romp through Florida, written by an author that Cleary oozes talent! This felt like it could’ve been a genuine top-notch read, but was held back by the narrative particularly the mid-point perspectives & developments.

Carl Hiaasen’s Tourist Season—his debut solo outing—arrived with the kind of swagger that suggested a new comic voice had landed in American crime writing. And in many ways, that’s precisely what this novel delivers: a blend of satirical mischief, absurdist villainy, and a Florida backdrop so hot and sticky you can almost feel the sunscreen running into your eyes.

What I enjoyed most was Hiaasen’s prose. There’s a looseness to it that still manages to crack like a whip, particularly when he leans on vocabulary and humour. Words are chosen not only for precision but for their comic musicality, and his ear for the ridiculous (whether it’s a bumbling assassin or a corrupt developer) is often spot on. This natural humour is what elevates Tourist Season beyond being just another crime thriller— It’s tone is closer to a carnival sideshow, half funfair, half freak show.

That said, the novel isn’t without flaws. For all the energy of Hiaasen’s language, the plot itself drags in parts. Chapters occasionally meander where they should snap, and some of the side excursions—however amusing—don’t add much momentum to the central detective-style pursuit. A few too many digressions, and you find yourself willing the narrative back on track.

I also found the ideological underpinnings a little too heavy-handed. Hiaasen is clearly parodying both Florida tourism and the wider American appetite for sunburnt excess, but the satire veers so far into parody that it weakens the thriller element. The villains, while memorable, tilt toward cartoonish; the result is less of a taut crime story and more of a satirical romp. Fun, yes—but not quite the kind of story that lingers once the laughter fades.


I came away impressed by Hiaasen’s style & wit, as well as being appreciative of the debut’s confidence. But as a detective-style thriller, it sits uneasily between biting satire and genuine suspense. A promising, occasionally sparkling, yet uneven first act from a writer who would go on to refine his gifts across the decades, work which I look forward to sampling.

[Ammar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny
First book by Carl Hiaasen
Florida
The tourist season
A guerrilla faction killing people
Dark humour
Made me laugh at some parts

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I believe this is Hiaasen's first novel (1986) and it reads like a first stab. He tried to cram waaay too much into this novel full of craziness and over-the-top scenarios. I did like the main character, Brian Keyes, who had quit his job as a reporter to become a private investigator. There is a crazy group of "terrorists", (and I use that term loosely) who are determined to drive people away from South Florida. The people who make up this terrorist cell each have their own motivation for wanting to strike fear into the populous: avenge the destruction of the Seminole nation, stop development & save the habitat of the area (I'm a tree-hugger & can identify with this one), make a name for oneself for an even greater cause & lastly, drive a stake in the White man's heart. They murder and stage events to bring their names and cause to the fore, unfortunately they are not necessarily on the same page and one of them is a fairly inept bomber. Keyes and Al Garcia (police officer) try to find out the what, why & how to stop them. There's a tie-in with the Miami Sun, tourism and the Orange Bowl parade & game. Too many characters and minor storylines. I was so ready for it all to be over with almost 100 pages to go.

[Kim Kaso · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, loss of 1/2 star for outrageously callous attitude about the death of the tourists, which I know was at the heart of the novel, but author enjoyed it just a little too much.

One of the first Hiaasen books I encountered, and still stands up. A wild ride with looney tunes terrorists, a plethora of bodies, sympathetic heroes being met with obstacles from every direction, and gonzo writing. If Carl Hiaasen shares some measure of the angst of Skip Wiley, writing these books is excellent therapy. He is able to fantasize the destruction of those forces destroying his corner of the world while making a living and making us darkly laugh. His mordant outlook would be familiar to Baltimore's H.L. Menken. Here's a toast to the curmudgeons, they keep us honest. A laugh-out-loud roller coaster of a ride with some of the most outrageous and colorful characters to ever fill the pages of a book. Highly recommended, except by the tourist board, real estate developers, chamber of commerce, and other entities which make their livings from tourism in the greater Miami area.

[Algernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

[7/10]


His name is Pavlov. He is a North American crocodile, one of only about thirty left in the entire world. He's a shade over seventeen feet and weighs about the same as a Porsche 915. All that tonnage with a brain no bigger than a tangerine. Isn't nature wonderful, Brian? Who said God doesn't have a sense of humor?

Carl Hiaasen showcases his own brand of humor in this novel, his first solo effort as a writer. Many of his signature moves are present: his overriding concern for the environment and his eco-warriors, his zany side characters, his bumbling criminals and his ingenious criminal plots, his barbed and often bitter rants against a consumerist society. Underlying everything, his love for Southern Florida and his enduring interest in its natural world, in its history and in its colourful, exuberant inhabitants.

When the body of a prominent local businessman is discovered crammed into a red leather luggage, covered with sunscreen, missing his legs and with a plastic toy alligator stuffed down his throat, the police are clueless as to motive and manner of death. Local private gumshoe and former investigative journalist Brian Keyes takes on the case in defense of an unlikely Latino suspect. His investigation goes pearshaped as his client commits suicide, the police are stonewalling over evidence of a serial killer on the loose and his old frenemy and mentor at the newspaper goes missing. Skip Wiley is an early prototype for the later books Hiaasen hero Clinton 'Skink' Tyree - a modern Robin Hood fighting a lone guearilla war against the fat cats of industry and against rampant pollution. Skip is the 'gonzo' columnist at the local Miami newspaper who made a name for himself by his bitter attacks against tourists and property developers. It looks like Skip has finally gone overboard in his quest to save Florida from destruction and is the mastermind behind the self-titled terrorist group "Las Noches di Diciembre", bringing together a scion of the Seminole rebel Indians, a washed-out football star and a hot-tempered anti-Castro Latino anarchist in a plan to empty Florida of tourists.

Brian, what is Florida anyway? An immense sunny toilet where millions of tourists flush their money and save the moment on Kodak film. The recipe for redemption is simple: scare away the tourists and pretty soon you scare off the developers. No more developers, no more bankers. No more bankers, no more lawyers. No more lawyers, no more dope smugglers. The whole motherfucking economy implodes. Now, tell me I'm crazy.

My personal verdict is that Skip Wiley is indeed crazy, and that makes it very hard for the reader to sympathize with his cause, given the extreme measures he deploys in order to achieve his goals Pavlov . This is probably the reason the author decided to start again from scratch in his next novel ("Double Whammy") and create the former Governor gone rogue Skint Tyree. Brian Keyes is a much more likable lead, assisted by local police officer Al Garcia and by beauty queen Kara Lynn. I also had some problems with pacing and with some of the convenient plot coincidences and stretches of credibility like keeping the identity of El Fuego hidden from the police and allowing him to continue killing innocents .

In the end I enjoyed the trip to Florida. The book served its purpose a little too well as holiday entertainment by raising a score of valid concerns about the way we destroy the most beautiful places on the planet in our yearly exodus to famed tourist destinations. It may not be Carl Hiaasen's best offer, but it is a good introduction to his style and to his recurrent themes.

[Heather Smeltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've seen Carl Hiaasen's books all over and have been curious to read one; however, I didn't really click with his style of storytelling. The subject was fun and the writing pretty good; could've done with a little less cursing and use of non-PC language.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anytime you have a newspaper columnist who writes a funny an amusing crime novel with a cast of characters that features both a newspaper columnist and an ex-newspaper columnist in prominent roles, you can be certain that a large amount of autobiographical material and snide references will be incorporated within, and that certainly seems to be the case here. Subtlety is tossed aside in favor of big, easy targets like those soulless developers who drain swamps in order to build housing, greedy businessmen who want to bring tourist dollars to their community, and uncaring reporters who try to provide news for their constituents. You know, evil people like that. Add a star to the rating if you live in Florida and add another if you care deeply about the plight of the Florida Keys' Ospreys.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enjoyable and somewhat bizarre book is un-put-downable and probably could easily be read in under two hours, but I read it a few pages at a time in order to prolong the suspense and the enjoyable story it offers.

Set, as most of Hiassen's books are, in Florida this fast-paced thriller begins with the discovery of a number of murder victims. Each of these apparently unconnected victims have been 'done in' in one of a number of bizarre ways. It emerges that they are all victims of a terrorist gang that calls itself 'Noches de Diciembre'. Its aim, which I will not reveal, is unusual. It is not connected with anti - Castroist Cuba activities but with ecology.

According to the brief biography on Hiaasen's own website ( http://www.carlhiaasen.com/index.shtml ), he has been a journalist and still writes a column for a Miami newspaper. I wonder whether one of the main characters in Tourist Season, Skip Wiley, is not at least a little bit autobiographical. Well not too much ... I hope!

In any case, Hiaasens' rich experience of things and events, which he has reported in Florida, must be an important source of inspiration for his stories.

If Hiaasen's stories are based on true life, then his books have done little to attract me to visit Florida. Maybe, this is what he wants. In everything that I have read by him there is more than a little bit of evidence of his love of wildlife and its preservation. And, from what I can gather he is definitely concerned about the erosion of native Florida by the encroachment of settlers from the rest of the USA.

I recommend reading Tourist Season; it is fast paced, fascinating, and takes many unexpected twists and turns before reaching its surprising conclusion.

[Tom Croom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in South Florida, you realize that there are certain unwritten rules for living here. Some are obvious ("Thou shalt own at least one Jimmy Buffett album.") Others are learned from experience ("Thou shalt add thirty minutes of drive time to any location during Snow Bird season.") One of my favorites, though, I only learned about five years ago:

"Carl Hiaasen understands our screwed up state, and thou shalt read his novels for insight."

I was introduced to Carl's works via word of mouth when his named popped up due to a local book signing in my town. The word(s) out of someone's mouth was "you're kidding!" when I noted I had never read one of his novels. Thus I bought a copy of "Skinny Dip" and, thoroughly satisfied, decided to read the entire Carl Hiaasen collection.

"Tourist Season" is easily my favorite.

Part of the charm in this work is the snapshot it creates of Florida during the recent past. Talk to anyone from Chicago, Illinois after watching The Blues Brothers and they'll tell you how different the whole place was then... and how magically unique. "Tourist Season" is South Florida in the eighties, and mentions of things that were the norm of the time (cassette players in Cadillacs, etc.) help to paint a vivid neon lit image of the Sunshine State from the "before time."

The story sets the tone for all future Carl Hiaasen novels: twisted (to the point of humorous) deaths peppered with mystery and wit with a conscious reminder of the less than flattering things Florida residents have done in local history. The book reads like a great film... but based on Striptease's translation to celluloid, I kind of hope they leave this one alone.

This is a great introduction to Carl Hiaasen's view of Florida, and a solid book for reading at the beach.

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review says it all, exactly:

Feb 04, 2013 Addison Coniglio rated it amazing

"Absolutely amazing. Once again, perfect illustration within the text. It feels as if you are sitting along Brian Keyes as the story pans out. I can now safely say I have cruised Key Biscayne, ran red lights down Collins Blvd, and felt the crushed coral under my feet on Osprey Island. Carls background in journalism had been the perfect prerequisite for this masterpiece. Brian Keyes must have been some sort of a reflection of a romantic side of Carls self, and Skip Wiley the hotshot villain of the newsroom. Sure to be overlooked by most, the few that find this, and Carls other books are sure to be more than satisfied by his wonderful work. Five stars, without a doubt."

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

After 3 books co-written with William D. Montalbano Hiaasen wrote 'Tourist Season' in 1986, effectively kickstarting what I regard as the golden decade of his. The humor was even more expressed (and if possible even darker) when he was on his own. The satire a bit more biting. The characters a bit more twisted. There are certainly things to ask for in his writing, but the fifth star is there for pure entertainment value. If you know what you're in for you this can't go wrong.

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

100 pages too long.
Attempted aping of Elmore Leonard's style but enjoyable - the humor is a bit forced but it's a nice enough page-turner.

I'm in the process of re-reading my Carl Hiaasen novels.
This is the 2nd time I've read this book. Originally read it back in the 80s.
Can't recommend this to anyone who's not an Elmore Leonard fan but I would be the last person to discourage anyone from reading Hiaasen.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wondeful.

World: The world is great, it’s what I expect from a Hiaasen book, the Florida that he presents to readers is a hyper real and surreal blend of the truth and a satire of the place and that comes off in every little tiny piece of the world, from the people to the locales to the situations that this book uses for the world it’s all there and it is one of Hiaasen’s greatest strengths as a writer.

Story: This was his first book and I can see all the pieces that I know and love and all the plot devices and pacing that he’s known for in this book. The pollution, the corruption, the over the top characters and the zany exploits and the nature taking things back it’s all here and with this first book the focus is on tourism and I love that. Makes me think about whether I want to go there as a tourist actually but it does make me laugh and think at the same time.

Characters: Insane characters is what you will get in a Hiaasen book. Some are stereotypes, well most are and they are designed that way to be over exagerated to represent something and to allow the story to be nutters and this is what we have here. This is the best thing about a Hiaasen book, and this is the best reason to enjoy his books so I won’t ruin anything here. The banter and chemistry between characters is nuts and fun.

A great first book!

Onward to the next book!

[Sofia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never cared less about the characters in a book before. DNF at 50%.

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

I always am a little disconcerted by Carl Hiaasen books because he confounds me. I never know where he is going with his story. The tone of his books in particular leave me wondering for the first 50 or so pages: is this supposed to be funny? A satire? A detective genre? Serious and sad? A thriller? A quick beach read? Tourist Season struck me the same as other books by CH. Bad things happen to innocent people as well as to characters who are obviously to be booed whenever they appear.

Since most of the folks who appear in the author's novels are true-to-life oddballs and genuine psychopathic monsters I actually feel the books have some basis in reality. So many street people and criminals are REALLY as bizarre as the characters shown in this book and in most of the other books this author has written. Truly. Although so many idiosyncratic people in one story is unusual accept for satires and comedies. But the events, in this case caused by a group of "terrorists" who for a variety of reasons-repulsed by environment degradation, wanting to free Cuba, hating white people-team up to murder tourists and create fear so Florida can be restored to a natural, barely inhabited state when everyone moves away because of the murders, are so horrifically described that I can't feel the funny or satire. It includes the usual boilerplate motives behind typical business promotions and community holiday events, as in a beach read. People, good and bad, are fleshed out pretty much realistically, if exaggerated, mostly for comic effects and quick boilerplate identifications, but yet some of them are truly literary novel tragic.

My problem is, as is the same as some of the other CH novels I've read, with the tone. It's satiric, then it's a fun, then it's plain horrific and sad, then it's a character study. Sometimes it's a serious book for awhile. It's definitely entertaining for the most part. But I can't tell if it's all for fun, or if the author actually cares about something. There is a lack of focus sometimes to the plot, unusual for a genre or a beach read, and so many of the characters also appear to lack intellectual and emotional focus, which is on purpose, I think, because that's how people are in real life. At the same time the action is revealing character moral attitudes more like a literary novel.

There is no question CH finds even the bad guys reasonable in their obscene activities or madness on some level, even while showing they are obviously crazy or damaging. By the end, things conclude, but not with a point or a meaningful ending implicitly or explicitly spelled out. Things happen, helter skelter, and then it's the last page, more like a True Crime non-fiction. Watching the fictional oddballs behave so weird in the book ( yet at the same time I know recognizable real counterparts can be found in the news on CNN) seems to be the point. If Anne Rule was mashed up with Southern Gothic mixed with Tosh.O you get a CH novel. Is it good? I THINK so. I always feel like this when I finish a Carl Hiaasen book.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book looking for a humorous read. I did not find that and finally gave up about 3/4 of the way through the book. I just found myself avoiding picking up the book and that told me everything. Books I like I have trouble putting down. I just found the plot here ridiculous and annoying and the main characters unlikable. I found no humor and didn't even muster a chuckle. I realize I'm in a minority based on the majority of ratings but that's what makes the world go round. I wanted to enjoy his work because I bought several of his books at the same time. Now I can't imagine the others being to my liking either unless this one book was an anomaly.

[Kathryn]

Not going to rate this book because I didn’t finish. I guess it’s just not my thing. It’s supposed to be funny, and I even enjoy 80s humor, but when I read the city editor went home and kicked the shit out of his cocker spaniel, I decided I’m done with it. Nothing funny about that.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Floridalainen terroristiryhmä pyrkii häätämään turistit tiehensä epätavallisiin temppuihin turvautuen. Tapaukseen sotkeutuu myös yksityisetsivä Brian Keyes, joka saa kauhukseen huomata, että panoksena pelissä on myös hänen rakastettunsa henki.

Carl Hiaasenin esikoisromaani "Vihreä kuolema" (Gummerus, 1995) on humoristinen jännitysromaani, joka oli eräs nuoruuteni suosikkikirjoista. En ole ilmeisesti muuttunut kamalasti niistä vuosista, sillä ihan mainiona lajityyppinsä edustajana pidin sitä myös näin toisella lukukerralla. Värikkäät henkilöhahmot ja absurdeja mittasuhteita saavat juonenkäänteet jaksoivat pitää hyvin otteessaan, eikä tarinan vahva ekologinen sanoma ole menettänyt tippaakaan väkevyyttään (pelkäänpä, että se on vielä ajankohtaisempi kuin neljäkymmentä vuotta sitten).

Ei tämä silti virheetön opus ole, naiskuva on aika suppea. Myös pieni tiivistäminen ja parempi käännös olisivat tehneet kirjalle hyvää.

Jos pidit tästä, niin tsekkaapa myös Joe R. Lansdalen Mucho Mojo. Suosittelen myös tutustumaan Hiaasenin lastenkirjaan Löyhkä.

[Matthew Stechel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Carl Hiaasen. Nobody turns a phrase quite like him, and nobody comes up with as wonderfully cracked villians (and heroes) quite like him (altho lord knows a lot of authors try and some of em even come nice and close)

This being his very first novel has a very nifty idea at its heart--one almost too good to spoil in a synopsis but the title kinda gives it away (Tourist Season--think about it) However as clever as the idea is, and as warped as the villian in this novel is---i kinda thought the whole thing gets away from Hiaasen in a way that the other books i've read by him over the years never do. Don't get me wrong i enjoyed it--the sarcasm and the anger that i love in his work is there in force--and the nice turns of phrase are also there---but again there's just something here that didn't quite click for me on the whole. Maybe it was the cracked columnist's motivation, maybe it was his one dimensionality, but i never really warmed up to his righteous anger and indignation the way i generally do at "the bad guys" in Hiaasen's other work. Also the hero of the book is kind of a general character as well now that i think about it.

That said---it is worth a look, i actually think this would be a perfect starting place for people who've never read his work before to start on if only because as a starter book you get a good feel for his point of view, his nice sense of anything goes wackiness, and his usual use of extreme environment protection as a plot device as well--however all of these things have been put to much better use in later book so maybe it wouldn't be such a good starter book after all??? Whatever--He's still my single favorite contemporary writer out there and as such i'll say that anything he puts his name to is worth reading but maybe try to understand that this was his first book.

[Ian Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the 80s. Takes place in Miami. Main character is a Private Investigator.

It's tempting to say, "Nuff said," but that's not totally it. Carl Hiassen has a unique writing style that is heavy on witty dialogue (and now that I think of it... much like Raymond Chandler). On the dialogue alone, I feel like this work would lend itself well to a theater production. But in addition, Carl Hiaasen's descriptions of both characters and setting are colorful and stimulating. I love the vocabulary he uses, and learned some new words (especially since I read this on my Kindle).

In a few parts of the story, suspension of disbelief was... not suspended. Because of that flaw my actual rating is 4.5 stars. But that qualm is just something I noted along the way, and didn't really think about while reading most pages of the book.

I decided upon Tourist Season because I had read Back to Blood recently, and after that I wanted to capitalize on my newly acquired knowledge of Miami and surrounding metropolitan area. I vaguely remembered a 60 Minutes interview of a Florida author who, at the time sounded cool. I looked the interview up, figured out it was Carl Hiassen, and picked this book out. I was not disappointed, to say the least. In a few parts of the book wondered if Tom Wolfe had not used Tourist Season as inspiration.

[Ensiform · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Miami, this satiric novel of eco-terrorism concerns a newspaper reporter turned private eye who is pitted against a former colleague turned leader of a terrorist cell. Skip Wiley, the crazed ringleader, wants to return Florida to the Seminoles and everglades by driving tourists out through terror.

It's lightweight, of course, but it’s certainly amusing, has colorful characters and, with its sharp satire of everything from tourism to race relations to the newsroom, makes high entertainment out of mayhem. Hiaasen is very good at keeping the reader guessing, giving background on minor characters doomed to become crocodile food and others who merely fade away, so that it's hard to tell which of the main characters will make it alive to the end. The book is marred slightly by a few gaps of credibility, even for a farce (for example, the police center on one date only for a possible attack, not considering an equally possible date even after the first passes uneventfully). In all, though, it's a fine, funny thriller, with a satisfyingly ambiguous ending.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Carl Hiaasen hit home with the glimpses of the newsroom and the megalomaniac personalities that tend to brew there when left to fester for too long. Frightening because it's all too believable, and the madman sounds remarkably sane at times. It becomes difficult not to feel sympathetic toward him at moments, and wonder if in some cases his extremes are warranted. Hiaasen makes you feel for each of his characters in this one, the random victims and the confused ecoterrorists, on an everyman basis that Hiaasen has strayed from in some of his more recent novels as he pursues ever more absurd plot twists. Of course, the fact that I read this one while as a tourist, lounging on a beach chair by the ocean while on vaca in Florida, makes for an interesting perspective too!

[Harold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl Hiaasen's writing mixes in enough humor to make the implausible parts of the plot work. It's an off kilter world where that's ok. This book turned out to be his first. Like the other book I read by him recently it takes place in southern Florida and is centered around the idea that a tropical paradise has been been invaded by land developers and tourists and some people are extremely angered by this. They will go to extremes to make their point and in Hiaasen's world this leads to a very entertaining and humorous novel. Hiassen can be very deadpan. I particularly liked this passage: "On the bar was a framed color photograph of Reed Shivers with his arm around Bob Hope. Shivers looked drunk and Bob Hope looked taxidermied." Typical of Hiaasen's humor. I can read more of him.

[Addison Coniglio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. Once again, perfect illustration within the text. It feels as if you are sitting along Brian Keyes as the story pans out. I can now safely say I have cruised Key Biscayne, ran red lights down Collins Blvd, and felt the crushed coral under my feet on Osprey Island. Carls background in journalism had been the perfect prerequisite for this masterpiece. Brian Keyes must have been some sort of a reflection of a romantic side of Carls self, and Skip Wiley the hotshot villain of the newsroom. Sure to be overlooked by most, the few that find this, and Carls other books are sure to be more than satisfied by his wonderful work. Five stars, without a doubt.