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Sick Puppy
Sick Puppy
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Read by Ed Asner — Three cassettes / approx. 5 hours — When Palmer Stoat notices a pickup truck tailgaiting him down the highway, he fears his Range Rover is about to be carjacked.  But Twilly Spree, the man driving the truck, has vengeance, not carjacking, on his mind.  Idealistic, independently wealthy, and pathologically sho...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780375409516
ISBN-10: 0375409513
Publication Date: 1/4/2000
Edition: Abridged, 3 cassette
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 13

3.9 stars, based on 13 ratings
Publisher: Random House Audio
Book Type: Audio Cassette
Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

ajsmommy avatar reviewed Sick Puppy on
Helpful Score: 4
I had never read any of Carl Hiaasen's books, but picked this one up on a flight and enjoyed the read. I live in Florida, and am familiar with many scene settings in this book. It was quite humorous, with just enough peculiarity to keep you interested! Definitely NOT for younger readers, as there is some language and situations that are completely adult. I will definitely pick up another book by Mr. Hiaasen whenever I need a good laugh.
constant-reader avatar reviewed Sick Puppy on + 130 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Classic Carl Hiaasen! Characters, situations and plot are offbeat to bizarre, but really entertaining.
runcysmom avatar reviewed Sick Puppy on + 163 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is the funniest Carl Hiaasen book I have ever read. I laughed all the way through it. I kind of hate to give it up in case I want to read it again.
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Carl Hiaasen at his best. Includes republican hookers, millionaires with a Barbie fetish. Illustrates the money hungry power brokers that have come to dominate southwest Florida these days. And the labrador is the hero of the story.
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 111 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Another great one! Carl Hiaasen writes some of the funniest mysteries I've ever read. I have to concur with the reviewer who noted that he should really be thought of as a satirist. It would not be unusual to find yourelf laughing out loud as you read any of his books. They all take place in Florida, and he must have a monopoly on the greatest number of weirdos to ever populate one work. How he manages to do this continually is amazing. Try one and, promise, you'll be hooked!
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SandraB avatar reviewed Sick Puppy on + 185 more book reviews
Interesting, not as good as some of his other books...
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 5 more book reviews
A fun, wild ride, as are all Hiaasen's books.definitely light-weight but entertaining.
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 6 more book reviews
inconsistant. Plot hard to follow and not consistently funny at all.
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 3 more book reviews
As usual, Hiassen is funny funny...of course he makes all of us in FL look like idiots!
perryfran avatar reviewed Sick Puppy on + 1168 more book reviews
Carl Hiaasen continues to be one of my go-to authors especially when I want some humor with my story. As usual this was another hilarious satirical romp through Hiaasen's Florida. In this one, he takes aim at the politics involved in the development of what once was unspoiled Florida and of course the novel was filled with the usual wacky characters that tend to fill his novels.

This one was focused on Twilly Spree, a young man who is disgusted by people who ignore the environment and want to pave over untouched land in Florida. Twilly is angered when he sees a litterbug on a Florida highway toss trash out his car window. The litterer is a lobbyist with a lot of pull in the State named Palmer Stoat. Twilly takes aim at Palmer by dumping a load of garbage on his wife, Desie's BMW convertible. He then fills Palmer's Range Rover with dung beetles and kidnaps his black lab named Boodle. He also pries out the glass eyes from Palmer's taxidermied collection of hunting trophies which came from a local illegal safari ranch. Unfortunately Boodle swallowed some of the glass eyes resulting it the titular "Sick Puppy." Palmer's wife, Desie, goes with Twilly to safeguard Boodle and ends up agreeing with Twilly's points regarding Florida. Twilly decides to rename the dog to McGuinn after the Byrds guitarist. Then Desie tells Twilly about Toad Island that is headed for development and this becomes the bane of Twilly. What can he do to stop it?

All of this leads to the involvement of the developer, Robert Clapley, who never got over his adolescent attachment to Barbie dolls; the governor, Dick Artemus; and one of the vilest characters to come out of a Hiaasen novel, Mr. Gash, Clapley's hired killer who collects recordings of 911 emergency calls involving people who get killed. And then Skink, the former governor who lives in the wild and is trying to protect the Florida environment, gets called in to try and stop Twilly. Skink has appeared in several of Hiaasen's works and is one of my favorite characters.

I enjoyed this one a lot. It had a great assortment of characters and the whole premise of the novel was a pleasure to read. I especially liked Twilly who is like a younger Skink. Hopefully, he will appear in more of Hiaasen's novels. McGuinn the dog also played a big role in the story and in the end he was really the one who was able to achieve justice against the shady politicians and developers. Unfortunately, I only have a few of Hiaasen's novels left to read but I will be looking forward to them.
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 38 more book reviews
SO fun to read!
reviewed Sick Puppy on
This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Carl Hiaasen paints a out-loud, hilarious picture. His Florida perspective is very encouraging. You won't be disappointed.
reviewed Sick Puppy on + 32 more book reviews
Good read. Lots of twists and turns in the demented eco-obsessive character Twilly. Kept me reading until the very end.
WildOrchid avatar reviewed Sick Puppy on + 222 more book reviews
I like this author but this book has a bit too much animal abuse in it for my taste. I finished the book but there were parts that were a little hard for me to read. I have read, and will read, more by this authour but hopefully won't encounter much more of that.


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