Squeeze Me - Carl Hiaasen

Fiction

Rating: 9/10

I’ve been lamenting the length of time since this author’s last book for grown-ups, and thankfully it did not disappoint! 

Hiaasen is a master of satire and leaves no contemporary predilection towards bad behavior unscathed. 

His latest begins at a high society soiree during which a wealthy dowager vanishes during a swanky gala and thus comical calamity is unleashed upon the reader. In the early pages of the book we learn that she has been partially masticated by a rather large snake, and in case you are wondering, that isn’t the wackiest thing that happens in this book.  Not even close.

All of the shenanigans in this story take place in and around the U.S. presidents’ private estate.  An estate where he is residing at the moment, which means he is a character in this book. And the deftness with which this author captures him in dialogue and act is nothing short of inspired.

None of Hiaasen’s works are without a deeper message regarding the challenges of our times, but his brilliance lies in his ability to have the reader succumb to hilarity even as they despair.

Footnote: An absurdist premonition of tomorrows headlines and a reprise of the outrageous times we are currently mired in.