2008: #14 – Sick Puppy (Carl Hiaasen)

Book #14 was Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. The back of the book reads:

An eco-terrorist with a trust fund, Twilly Spree is tailing a litterbug in a purple Range Rover with plates that read “cojones.” Before he knows it, Spree is up to his cojones in corrupt Florida politicos and some very sick puppies, including a Toyota salesman turned governor, a Republicans-only hooker, and a millionaire developer with a fetish for Barbies. But when Spree learns that the fate of an unspoiled island is at stake, he’s determined not to be outdone. While defending the toads of Toad Island, not to mention one cheerfully oblivious Labrador, he’ll steal a man’s wife, gouge out the eyes of big game trophies, and even risk his life two or three times in this, Hiaasen’s most gleeful muckraking story yet….

This was definitely not my favorite Carl Hiaasen. Twilly comes off as a spoiled rich brat who feels justified destroying things when he doesn’t like something, and he really doesn’t grow at all by the end of the book. The “big game hunting” made me sick to my stomach. There was too much death. The only remotely likable character in the book was Desie, and she was just window dressing. I barely talked myself into finishing this one. If this had been the first Hiaasen I read, I would never read another.

Page count: 513 | Word count: 119,621

2007: Judge & Jury (James Patterson)
2006: The Killing Dance (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: Rosemary’s Baby (Ira Levin)