Star Island (Skink)

by Carl Hiaasen

Twenty-two-year-old pop star Cherry Pye is attempting a comeback from her latest drug-fuelled disaster. Her 'stunt double' Ann travels everywhere with her, throwing paparazzi off the scent when they get too close.

But one night, Ann's resemblance to Cherry Pye proves too convincing - she is kidnapped by an obsessed paparazzo who only realises his mistake once it is too late to go back...

From there it's a fast, funny and furious race against time to rescue Ann from a terrible fate. An international bestseller, acclaimed as Hiaasen's most hilarious, gripping novel to date, Star Island is an addictive read.

• ISBN10: 0748115226
• ISBN13: 9780748115228
• Publish Date: 10 March 2011 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Sphere
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

If you love Carl Hiaasen, there’s no surprises here. It’s your usual mix of wacky characters put into a wacky situation that more often than not, is the result of their own despicable actions. In the midst of all the less-than-savory characters is your beacon of shining hope: Ann DeLusia. All Ann wants is to be an actress, but the novelty of pretending to be Cherry Pye is getting old. She’s already trying to figure out how to extract herself from her job when she’s mistakenly nabbed by Bang Abbot, a paparazzo who becomes obsessed with Cherry after a brief, but intimate, encounter with the inebriated starlet. He has dreams of cementing Cherry’s legacy with a Marilyn Monroe-esque photo collection, and it turns out that Ann is his ticket in.

While the story is mostly solid, there were some weak points. I really couldn’t muster up a care for the Jackie Sebago/real-estate scam storyline, which really just seemed like a reason to bring Detective Reilly into it. I also thought the ending was weak. After Ann is rescued (sort of) and the scheming to keep her quiet begins, I really expected her to go out with a bit more of a bang. The final confrontation in the nightclub is pretty bleh.

But, Hiaasen is still one of my go-to authors for humor and adventure. His characters are over-the-top without being fantastical, and you usually can find some sort of message amidst the chaos. This was well worth the listen.

[g2pro]

More of Carl's great characters.