Suck Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

 

This might not be the best of Hiaasen's novels, but it's still a pretty good read. It has most of the elements that go into most of his novels--scummy politicians and developers, sexy women, ordinary people who've had enough, scattered only-in-Florida crazies--but this feels a lot as though there's a lot of madcap stuff going on, but there's neither the joy necessary for comedy nor the rage necessary for satire; at times it just seems a little jaded and/or cynical, which isn't really an attitude Hiaasen carries well. The writing is strong, the characters come across as human and different from each other and remarkably plausible given their environment; the story feels a little overbusy, but it does hold together reasonably well.