Product Description
A bachelor party at a strip joint results in chaos for a powerful U.S. Congressman who is up for reelection, especially when a virtuous topless dancer, a clueless Florida cop, and a well-intentioned bald bouncer join the act. Reprint.

Amazon.com Review
A smart topless dancer and a cool but clueless cop join forces to trap a dirty congressman, aided by one of the funniest cast of characters ever collected in a suspense novel.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 55 reviews)

Great, Off-Beat Cast of Characters. Well Written & Enjoyable

Mr. Hiaasen has created a cast of characters here which are all pretty much pretty quirky & believable. His description of them takes them to a position where they almost come to life for the reader. The cast is rather large, but you won't have trouble remembering whose who.
The sleazy joints where the novel evolves are also described clearly. You almost become a part of these people & their surroundings. You have your strippers, club owners. bouncer, cops, extortion, crooked lawyer, crooked congressman & his henchmen. A strung out ex-husband, a little girl, & more. They all gel together very well in a story that keeps moving without wasting words.
Don't stop at the end. Read the epilogue as well. The epilogue ties all the characters in their present day lives.
Unlike many, I really didn't find the book funny. Quirky, but not funny. I still loved it. I recommend you not pass it up
October 03, 2008

MOTHERHOOD AND STRIPPING IN ONE TIDY NOVEL!

The movie wasn't good, we all know that. The book rises far above the over-inflated breasts seen in the film. Not to say it's uppity high art--it's funny. It's quirky. It's odd in all the best ways. I bought it in italy and read it in between strolling through museums and stuffing my craw with fresh pasta. A perfect travel book!
September 14, 2008

Not quite at his best

Following four superb high-paced capers, this is the book which marked the start of Hiaasen's slide from excellence. All the usual ingredients are there - mayhem, bizarre criminals, comedy, snappy dialogue and good south Florida scene setting, but it lacks the joyous energy of his previous works.

At times, Hiaasen seems to be connecting the dots, filling up the work with techniques he's used in the past rather than striving to be genuinely different, as if he's getting tired of his own genre. The unlikely coincidences begin to build, the characters are starkly split into Good Guys and Bad Guys, without the richness and nuances of his earlier work, and there is less moral ambiguity in the characters to absorb the reader. This is also the first of his novels where the diatribe about the destruction of Florida's environment is placed front and centre, and this violates a standard rule of good writing, that "the artist and the polemicist need to be separated if both are to thrive."

Strip Tease is still funny and a good read, but only because Hiaasen being a bit off-form is better than most novelists at their best.
June 27, 2008

Top Hiaasen tale of the underdogs outsmarting their masters!

Strip Tease, Skin Tight and Stormy Weather make up my A-list of Hiaasen reads. Though every single Hiaasen novel I've read has been a delight, these three stand out. Skin Tight for the best villains (pock-faced thug Chemo and journalist 'Flemm") and the best hero (Mike Stranahan is at his ironic unflappable best here, topping even his Skinny Dip appearance). Stormy Weather's got the best "bad girl" (Edie). Strip Tease stands out in some novel ways however.
The main one is Hiaasen's choice of a woman as main character, in what I (in contrast to some) thought was a very convincing 3-D way (better even than Skinny Dip's Joey, and Honey in Nature Girl) This book's heroine is Erin, an ex-FBI worker turned stripper, and also the unofficial "leader" of the 'harem' of dancers employed at the 'Eager Beaver'. Some reviewers express dismay at what they saw as the novel's 'stereotyped' portrayal of 'exploited' women in the sex business. But in fact, Hiaasen's heroines emerge as anything but female doormats. Erin and her friends may start out somewhat downtrodden (in spite of their gutsiness), but emerge victorious in the end over a veritable army of male sleazeballs: perverts, politicians, unscrupulous lawyers, and murderers (with many overlaps among these!) So this is a "David vs. Goliath" story with a modern Florida twist, and with classic Hiaasen satirical flair. Other gems were the villainous wheelchair thief (Erin's ex hubby Darryl), and his adventures while strung out on painkillers, and his trailer-dwelling sister and her wolf-dogs (Hiaasen sets these beasts most satisfyingly on one villain). Finally, this story's climax (pun-intended) is another example of plot-wizard Hiaasen at his best!

June 07, 2008

MEN REALLY ARE EASILY DAZZLED!

This amusing book about political slime, sex, lies and big industry scum starts with a bachelor party at a strip club. A perverted congressional representative (incognito of course) is also enjoying the dancers that same evening. The bachelor and the politician end up sharing the spotlight for a spell that evening and that clash drives the wild events that adequately move this story along. One of the dancers at the strip club, along with her ex-husband and their daughter, a bouncer, the bachelor and his fiancé, a lawyer, a cop, the congressman and his entourage, and a patron of the club, among others get caught up in this distorted, yet comical tale.

Although I enjoyed this book enough, and can appreciate its humor for sure, I can also guess that men support it most of all. As Carl Hiaasen says through his stripper character, Erin, "men are easily dazzled!" It's like a manly romantic comedy. Really, all it takes are a few choice words (use your imagination) used repeatedly throughout the book and this author - I'm sure - has the undivided and loyal attention of at least ½ the population of adult readers. That irony in itself is funny!

February 02, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Skin Tight
by Carl Hiaasen

Double Whammy
by Carl Hiaasen

Lucky You
by Carl Hiaasen

Stormy Weather
by Carl Hiaasen

Tourist Season
by Carl Hiaasen