Lucky You | Carl Hiaasen | a predictably funny Hiaasen novel ... lucky us!

Lucky You | Carl Hiaasen | One of Hiaasen's best.

books:

Lucky You

	Lucky You Carl Hiaasen Vision, 1998 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 123 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

a predictably funny Hiaasen novel ... lucky us!

Carl Hiaasen's books are very predictable. His "baddies" are crooked politicians, corrupt businessmen, rascists, polluters and the media. His good guys are invariably simple, easy-going folks just trying to live a happy life but are being thwarted by the baddies. In the end the good guys win. I should add that his stories are always set in Florida, most often in wild Miami. Most importantly, Hiaasen has a very wicked satiric sense of humour; it's this laugh-out-loud quality that makes his books bestsellers.

In Lucky You we have a couple of baddies (rascist rednecks), owners of a winning lottery ticket, out to double their earnings by stealing the other winning ticket. Their criminal intent is enhanced when they learn the owner of the other ticket is a black woman. Of course this woman, with help of her friends, becomes a formidable opponent. The story is enhanced with some very bizarre and hilarious vignettes of Florida weirdness: a corrupt judge, religious fanatics who see the image of Christ (and apostles) in the most curious places (eg, in an oil stain on a major highway), and a Hooter's waitress with brains to match her looks.

Bottom line: among Hiaasen's better efforts. A true giggle-rama.

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One of Hiaasen's best.

I've read many of Hiaasen's books. They're always a lot of fun, with very powerful political leanings. If nothing else, I am always firmly convinced after finishing one that I would rather gargle battery acid than live in Florida.

Feels like its trying too hard to be zany.

I think I may have been spoiled by the fact that the first Hiaasen I read was Sick Puppy. That book made me laugh out loud. Since then, I've read nearly a half dozen more books by Hiaasen and, while all were enjoyable, none have really reached the heights of enjoyment for me that Sick Puppy did. Lucky You has the wacky characters and the environmentalist slant as usual but it just seemed to be working overtime to be wild and wacky...kind of a piling-on effect that became a bit obnoxious. Not a BAD book, but a more mediocre one than I've come to expect from this author.

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Lady Lucks

JoLayne Lucks lives in Grange, Florida, a town famous for its so-called miracles (the weeping fiberglass Madonna that cries "real" tears scented with Charlie perfume and the famous Road-Stain Jesus). Now there's Lady Luck, for JoLayne has just won the Florida Lotto and plans to save a rare piece of Florida wildlife from being bulldozed into another useless strip mall. Problem: there's a second winner to split the $28 million jackpot. Bodean Gazzer and his sidekick, known only as Chub, are eager to start their own underground militia "before NATO troops invade America." $14 million certainly isn't enough for these guys. They beat up JoLayne and swipe her winning ticket. Reporter Tom Krome, who initially is sent to Grange for an interview with "Lady Lucks," offers his help to track down the ticket swipers. The never-ending chase of Lucky You is a typical Carl Hiaasen ride including kidnapping, blackmail, arson, murder, adultery, even a Hooter's waitress. This is my 4th Hiaasen book and one of the better ones. I'm not a huge fan. Let's just say I'm a Florida resident who "appreciates" his work.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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