Basket Case - Hardcover

Hiaasen, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 033390804X ISBN 13: 9780333908044

Publisher: Macmillan, 2002

Synopsis

Jack Tagger is a frustrated journalist. His outspoken views have relegated him to the obituary page, with his byline never again to disgrace the front page. But Jack has stumbled across a whale of a story that might just resurrect his career . . . James Stomarti, infamous frontman of rock band Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, has died in a diving accident and Jack harbours suspicions that the glamorous pop starlet widow may have had a vested interest in her husband's untimely death. It all smells a little too fishy. Aided and abetted by his rather sexy (if unnervingly ambitious) young editor, Emma, Jack sets out to in pursuit of the truth - and a nice juicy story. But of course nothing is ever straightforward and with murderous goons on his tail, brutal internal politics at the paper and a paranoia about death, Jack is struggling to keep his head above water. Was Jimmy Stomarti murdered? Is someone trying to kill off the Slut Puppies one by one? And what significance can a dead lizard named Colonel Tom possibly have?Basket Case is an absolute delight from first page to last and spells out a hilariously hard-won triumph for muckraking journalism. This is one book you'll kill to get your hands on.

About this title

Review:

Carl Hiaasen has long been at the forefront of satire and outrageous comedy in crime writing but his last few books had lacked the righteous anger of his earlier efforts. Basket Case proves a welcome and thoroughly enjoyable return to corrosive form for the crusading Miami Herald journalist it's better not to cross. Instead of his customary and by now predictable targets of venal developers and corporate greed, Hiaasen here skewers the rock & roll business and its attendant denizens and hangers-on with wilful glee and a mischievous use of insider information (the title of the book is also that of a song from the forthcoming album by Warren Zevon, an iconoclastic singer with whom Hiaasen has collaborated before). A flamboyant rock singer dies in a suspicious diving accident off the Bahamas coast and disgraced and bolshie reporter Jack Tagger assigned to his obituary uncovers a nest of puzzles. Did his Courtney Love look-alike younger wife kill him to appropriate the tapes of his comeback album? Will Jack best his venal proprietors and redeem his journalistic integrity? Why does his young and nubile editor wear sexy nail polish on her toes? The jokes and witty observations come fast and furious, and it's a pleasing ride through more Florida craziness and a scintillating gallery of characters gleaned from headlines including a parade of musical crazies straight from Spinal Tap, ex-girlfriends with obligatory jailbait daughters and journalists you would never think of trusting your life to. --Maxim Jakubowski

Review:

When a whole slew of authors admit to being influenced by Carl Hiaasen, it's clear that his cult status is fully established. But the strange, surrealistic quality of his writing is a hard act to sustain, and although such books as Tourist Season brilliantly create a world that is very much his own, there is a certain suspense with the appearance of each new Hiaasen title. Can he pull it off again? In the case of Basket Case, the answer is a resounding yes. This novel (with its mix of journalists, lizards and rock 'n' roll) is as outrageously entertaining as its predecessors and features Jack Tagger, a frustrated journalist whose inability to curb his tongue has consigned him to the obits page.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 033390804X
• ISBN 13: 9780333908044
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336