Razor Girl
Carl Hiaasen
Mystery
Carl Hiaasen writes fiction in exactly one vein: the South-Florida bunch-of-whackos black humor almost-but-not-quite surrealistic crime novel. Razor Girl is no exception. It has a cast consisting mainly of Hiaasen stock characters, a Key West setting . . . and not much else.
One thing it doesn't have is a Plot--the capital P indicating that there's nobody that has any kind of plan or goal or sustained intention that drives the book. As a result, it doesn't have much in the way of lower-case-p plot. A bunch of characters run into each other in various combinations. Some hilarity ensues. There is a crime, but it's kind of an accident.
Another thing it doesn't have is anyone who's particularly likable. The nominal protagonist is hardly better than the villains: self-centered, short-sighted, ego-driven, obsessional, a poor friend, and all in all a loser. The most sympathetic character is a mobster. In earlier Hiaasen, you could usually count on there being at least one person who a non-insane reader could identify with. You also got your share of nutjob-but-on-the-side-of-the-angels characters; those you could at least admire from a distance. In Razor Girl, it's jerks all the way down.
There are some funny bits. There are some clever bits. There are some bitingly sarcastic bits. The prose flows smoothly. The setting is well-rendered. That's what you get.
If you don't like Hiaasen, don't read this. If you've never read Hiaasen, don't start here. If you do like Hiaasen, you might use this one for an airplane ride; it will help pass a couple of hours. Don't expect much more.
If you're new to Hiaasen, I'd suggest starting with one of his earlier books: Tourist Season, Double Whammy, Skin Tight, Native Tongue, or Strip Tease.
I read Double Whammy and enjoyed it, to an extent. The main Plot, up until about 2/3 into the novel was interesting. The characters were likable, interesting, and believable. But when the villain's henchman gets attacked by a pitbull and leaves the severed head hanging off his arm (teeth still embedded above his wrist) and starts ferrying the love interest about as a hostage, I just couldn't buy it.
ReplyDeleteI finished it because I enjoyed the funny, clever, sarcastic bits with interesting prose. But I'd have to say that it was pretty self-indulgent, which it sounds like Razor Girl is, too.
What you have discovered is Hiaasen Stock Character #3, "The Villainous Drug-Fueled Maimed Lunatic Thug." In Strip Tease, by comparison, it's a prosthetic weed whacker.
DeleteRazor Girl struck me as more lazy than self-indulgent.
I have to take your word on the lazy part. It could be that his readers expect it, so he delivers it. He's got a thousand reviews on Amazon, which says that it's popular. And it's only out since last year, so I'm sure it will go higher.
DeleteIt is better than average airport reading.
A mastery summation, in fact. It's lazy because--while it is indeed what his readers expect, and it is indeed better-than-average airport reading--Hiaasen is capable of much, much better work.
DeleteThe one and only Hiiasen book I read was Stormy Weather. It was really unbelievable except good once you got into it. Maybe because I've moved past sarcasm? Anyway, it was plausible enough and funny enough and gave me a great sense of place and people that I *didn't* want to be real. I would try another one of his someday. Thanks though. Razor Girl won't be first on that short list.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think Stormy Weather was one of his best. His best are really good, though. Try Native Tongue, which has all the funny and sarcastic bits and also a point.
DeleteMy favorite of his is Basket Case, whose hero fits the "likeable asshole" Hiaasen aims at the best.
ReplyDeleteHiaasen's collections of very, very, very angry newspaper columns about Florida's unbelievably corrupt government are also good reading.
The columns are CLASSIC. Also recommended is his Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World.
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