Jimmy and the Slut Puppies...Rock On!!

How can you not love a book that revolves around a rocker named Jimmy Stoma and his band, The Slut Puppies? The most recent book by Florida novelist and newspaper columnist Carl Hiaasen (Striptease, Sick Puppy, Lucky You) is a cracking good novel written with wry humor, features strikingly vivid characters and is one of those books that you put down and wish you could write just half as good as the author.

The Plot

Oh, how the mighty fall. Jack Tagger (Jr.) is a once great journalist who has been demoted to the death page for making inappropriate remarks to his boss (a playboy trust fund kid who is running the paper into the ground) at a press conference. He toils on obituaries of rabbis and old women, refusing to quit because he doesn't want to give anyone the satisfaction. Then he stumbles upon the death of James Stomarti (a.k.a. Jimmy Stoma) and smells a comeback. After interviewing Jimmy's widow (new MTV darling Cleo Rio) and his sister (Janet Thrush, who earns her money by impersonating a stripping SWAT member on a live webcam), Jack notes some inconsistencies and suspects that Jimmy's 'accidental drowning' may be more sinister. With the help of his best friend Juan (sports reporter for the paper and Cuban refugee), his editor Emma (who seduces him with her brightly colored toenails) and his ex-girlfriend's daughter, Jack enters the world of rock stars, drugs and music deals gone bad.

What I Loved About this Book

Basket Case is written in the same style of a satirical newspaper columnist (which, of course, Carl Hiaasen is--if you need a comparison, it's very similar to Dave Barry's writing). While I don't think I ever laughed out loud while I was reading it, there were plenty of times that I smiled, snorted (yes, I snort. I admit it.) and took the time to admire the many perfectly crafted, sarcastic sentences that make up this book. Written in the first person, Jack is a very likeable character who becomes very real to us. He's a smartass, obsessed with death (he continually pumps his mother for information about what age his father died at because he's paranoid he'll buy the farm at the same age) and hilarious.

The other characters are equally colorful and provide plenty of comic relief. Hiaason keeps his characters to a manageable number so the reader can get to know each one of them and form opinions. There was never a time when I was looking back through the pages to figure out which character was which. Hiaason provides plenty of description of each one and gives each his/her own personality that stands out from the rest. This is the way characterization should be done!

Why I Didn't Give it Five Stars

The only part of the book that I can say less than wonderful things about is the mystery part. The person that Jack (and the reader) suspects in the beginning turns out to be the killer (don't worry, this isn't really a spoiler because the mystery isn't really what this book is about), and for a not-so-great motive. He doesn't bother with throwing you off the track or introducing red herrings. If this book wasn't written as well as it was and relied heavily on the mystery aspect, it certainly wouldn't have gotten a recommendation from me. However, this book turns out to be about much more than 'Who Killed Jimmy Stoma?' It's a book about life, about standing up for what you believe in no matter what, about a May-December romance and about friendship--and it's put together in such a humorous, enjoyable package that I breezed right through it in less than a week and was left wanting more.

Final Recommendation

Whether you are a Carl Hiaasen fan or not, I think you'll find Basket Case an enjoyable and worthwhile read. If you enjoy sarcastic humor, colorful characters and a plain old wonderfully written book, check this one out!