Fever Beach by Carl Hiassen ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Welcome to Fever Beach, where the sun blazes, the politics are unhinged, and the characters are as volatile as a summer storm.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

May 2025; Knopf; 978-0593320945
audio, ebook, print (384 pages); thriller

A while back, my mystery book club read the first book in Carl Hiaasen's Skink series. I enjoyed it, and when I saw he had a new book out, I knew I needed to read it. 

I had a little trouble getting into the book. Given the political climate we are living in and the extremist featured in the book, it felt too much like reading the news. But Hiassen writes such great stupid characters, and you know that justice will prevail by the end of the novel.

What do I mean by "great stupid characters"? Take Dale Figgo, for instance. He is definitely one where you will be asking, "How stupid can one person be?" It is comical at points and with any other writer it would be unrealistic. Hiassen, though, walks the fine line and comes out with a character that is believable (in the sense that he could be a real person). 

And speaking of believable... The plot could be one of the stories we read in the news. Dale Figgo was kicked out of the Proud Boys and now leads a group of Proud Boys wanna-bes called Strokers for Liberty. They are backed by a corrupt politician who is up for re-election. This group provides a good deal of the comedy in the novel

Of course, there are the "good guys" in the novel and they are great too. There is no indication that Fever Beach is the start of a new series, but there were some hints at the end that Twilly and Viva may have future adventures. If we are privileged enough to be party to them in a future book, it would definitely be one I would read. They worked well together.

I don't read a lot of satire. I don't know if I'm just too literal or what but sometimes I just don't get it. I typically shy away from it. Perhaps it is because Hiassen's story resonates so closely with the times we are living in, but I find his writing enjoyable. I'm not sure I could read his books one after another, but he is definitely an author on my list to read when I have a break in my schedule (he has quite the backlist). 

Buy Fever Beach at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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