Jimmy Stoma, lead singer of the now defunct Slut Puppies, drowns in a diving accident in The Bahamas. Jack Tagger, disgraced investigative journalist now exiled to the Obituary column of the Union-Register following a run-in with the paper’s owner, Race Maggad III, is called on to write the singer’s obituary. Following a visit to see Cleo Rio, Stoma’s widow, who has made a name for herself after appearing in a revealing video on MTV, and a tip-off from the dead man’s sister, Janet, who masquerades as a mean member of a SWAT team for the benefit of her virtual visitors through the web-cam she has set up in her living-room, Jack becomes suspicious. His immediate boss, Emma, does not share Jack’s suspicions. Then another former Slut Puppy is killed, not long after Jack has paid him a call. What is going on?
Confused? Don’t be – although this is different (written in the first person and in the present tense) from some of the other Hiaasen classics we all know and love (Skin Tightpbk £5.99 is a particular favourite of mine), it’s welcome back to South Florida, and to a cast of lunatics. The plot is cheerfully ludicrous, but strangely convincing. And, at the very least, you’ll find out why it’s a good thing to have a frozen lizard handy in the freezer. - review by Dan Fenton
Jimmy Stoma, lead singer of the now defunct Slut Puppies, drowns in a diving accident in The Bahamas. Jack Tagger, disgraced investigative journalist now exiled to the Obituary column of the Union-Register following a run-in with the paper’s owner, Race Maggad III, is called on to write the singer’s obituary. Following a visit to see Cleo Rio, Stoma’s widow, who has made a name for herself after appearing in a revealing video on MTV, and a tip-off from the dead man’s sister, Janet, who masquerades as a mean member of a SWAT team for the benefit of her virtual visitors through the web-cam she has set up in her living-room, Jack becomes suspicious. His immediate boss, Emma, does not share Jack’s suspicions. Then another former Slut Puppy is killed, not long after Jack has paid him a call. What is going on?
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