Bad Monkey

Love this book! Very quick read. I'm kind of concerned about seeing the movie because I love the book so much. Highly recommend this.. it's funny, it's got mystery, it's great!

Carl Hiaasen is a genius. Along with Elmore Leonard, Christopher Moore, and Tim Dorsey, he's on my short list of writers whose new novels I must read the moment they are released. Along those lines, I wasted no time in placing my advance order for BAD MONKEY the moment I knew it was coming out. After all, I have read all of his other adult novels--and have re-read some that I found especially well done. And make no mistake; BAD MONKEY starts out with the usual Hiaasen flair for distinctly Floridian dark humor, as a deep-sea fishing tourist hooks a severed arm with its middle finger extended. Thus begins a tale which runs up and down the Florida Keys, involving homicide detective-demoted-to-restaurant health inspector Andrew Yancy, who launches an off-the-books investigation of the suspected murder with the aid of a sexy/kinky Dade County medical examiner; the victim's widow, who seems nonplussed about her husband's demise; her daughter, who hates her stepmother as much as she loves her late father's ill-begotten estate; and a bevy of other whacked-out characters, including Yancey's fugitive ex, and a real estate speculator from upstate New York who is spoiling Yancy's corner of paradise. Yancy's investigation eventually leads him to the Bahamas, where he meets and befriends a fellow with whom he shares a common plight (the loss of the natural splendor surrounding his home). Their paths further intertwine with a voodoo queen, a hired thug named Egg, and a mangy capuchin monkey named Driggs--leading to a plot twist amid an approaching hurricane, which was at once unexpected and satisfying. Overall, BAD MONKEY is vintage Hiaasen. However, there are aspects of this book I found disappointing. For example, while conducting his investigation in the Bahamas, Yancy witnesses Driggs riding the roof of a moving vehicle. By itself, this incongruous scene is funny. But in a subsequent chapter, Hiaasen explains in depth how Driggs wound up on the roof of said vehicle--from the monkey's POV. This chapter, and some other passages--including far too many scenes involving Yancy's restaurant inspections--lent little if anything to the story's flow or advanced the plot in any appreciable manner. While reading these parts of the novel I couldn't help but think, "Can we get on with it, please?" Still, this story padding wasn't sufficient cause for me to dismiss the novel entirely. In BAD MONKEY, Hiaasen takes sardonic delight in skewering Florida cronyism while he addresses the greed-fueled destruction of his home state's environmental resources. These are common themes in his novels, yet they still hold up in BAD MONKEY. And the characters are as alternately manic and laconic as any he's introduced us to previously...although, I hope he brings back Skink next time around. BAD MONKEY is a fun romp, although it could have been better. Still, Hiaasen remains a master of his craft, and die-hard fans will enjoy this novel...hopefully, with both arms intact.

It’s been a while since I read a Carl Hiaasen novel Ten years ago I read most of his early books. I was not disappointed the same wit, humor, and adventure was a welcome reminder to get back on track and read some more of his books. This story had me in stitches and I enjoyed it immensely. That monkey cracked me up. And a great cast of crazy characters. I will be reading more of his work

Having been to both Orlando and Miami more than once, I can state categorically that humor writer/novelist Carl Hiaasen has the uncanny ability of depicting southern Florida with excruciating accuracy. It is that nuts there, and no more so than in Bad Monkey, which opens with suspended county cop Andrew Yancy trying to figure out what to do with the business end of a human arm - it's middle finger still extended in one final jab at life - that's still tucked away in his freezer. Not feeling the boat accident tag the cops have put onto it, no one wants to pursue what Yancy feels certain is a murder for fear of stirring some rough political waters, leaving newly-appointed Health Inspector Yancy to deal with everything from thwarting the sale of a monstrosity of a house next door to dealing with his ex, a sexy coroner, a voodoo queen down in the Bahamas, an insurance fraud scheme ... and, of course, the naughty monkey of the title, who manages somehow to be smart, stupid, disgusting and funny all at the same time. Typical Hiaasen, only to me not one of his best; normally with him I can go along for the ride, breezing through laughing with the occasional "OMG" thrown in for flavor. Here, about two-thirds in the story slowed way down for me, and though it picked up again in the end I had almost lost interest by then; still feel like things could have resolved themselves a bit more quickly. Not horrible, but not his best work either. **1/2

Saw the series with Vince vaugh usually either thr book is better or the movie or show is better In this case both are excellent, Carl has a way of story telling and dialog that is superior in every way funny and well written laugh out loud and outrageous. Read this for a book group I am in at the boca raton history museum reading all florida books So happy they choose this one well done Carl and Yancy

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen ". . . a fun, fast read and a wild ride." BAD MONKEY is vintage Hiaasen. A quirky protagonist, surrounded by even quirkier characters, mired in odd-ball intrigue, in South Florida, of course. This story revolves around Florida Keys detective Andrew Yancy, newly busted to the role of restaurant inspector, aka "roach patrol," for attacking one Dr. Clifford Witt, husband of a former Yancy lover, with a hand-held Black & Decker vacuum cleaner. All videoed by cruise liner tourists with cell phones in hand. Yancy embarks on several hit and miss attempts to get his badge back. No easy proposition. Particularly since his boss, Sheriff Sonny Summers, opinion is that Yancy was lucky they didn't "charge you with sodomy." But the warm waters off the Florida Keys offer up salvation in the form of a severed arm, middle finger extended as if to say, well you know. Seems the arm belonged to a wealthy crook, who scammed various medical insurance companies for millions, only to die in a boating accident, leaving the arm behind to be hooked by a tourist on a fishing charter. But in Hiaasen's world things are never as they seem. Not even close. The police want the missing arm case as well as a murder and a suicide (or not) to go quietly into the archives. But, Yancy doesn't buy it. He sees nefarious activity in the shadows. And he has a plan. Solve the murder, disprove the suicide, and prove that the wife offed the arm's previous owner. Or did she? Tie up all these loose ends and they'll have to return his badge. Won't they? This story is totally Hiassen. It bounces around the Keys, South Florida, and the Bahamas. Reminiscent of his earlier works such as SKINNY DIP, STORMY WEATHER, and STRIP TEASE, BAD MONKEY is filled with easy one-liners, believably unbelievable occurrences, and odd ball characters: love interest Dr. Rosa Campesino, a medical examiner with a penchant for sex on the dissecting table; The Egg, a homicidal brute who has Yancy in his sites; the Dragon Queen, a Bahamian scooter-riding VooDoo witch who delights in kinky sex and casting black spells; and of course Driggs, the "bad monkey." Bad doesn't quite cover it. Maybe petulant, combative, or recalcitrant. No, vile. That's the word. What else could you say about a monkey who attacks without warning and tends toward flinging excrement on a whim? Yeah, vile works. As if all this didn't fill Yancy's plate, his neighbor is constructing a massive mansion that will block Yancy's view of the water. Yancy's attempts to waylay those plans are numerous and insane (in a Hiassen sort of way). Through solving murders, tracking down folks who have gone missing, messing with his neighbor's head, and avoiding The Egg and Driggs as best he can, Yancy attempts to develop a real relationship with the good Dr. Campesino. You'll need a scorecard to keep up with all the characters, many having a couple of aliases, and all the scams within scams, but the pages will fly by. For Hiaasen fans (like me) this book will cause more than a few laugh-out -loud moments and for new fans, welcome to his world. It's a fun, fast read and a wild ride. DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Dub Walker and Samantha Cody thriller series

I picked up Bad Monkey expecting a quirky crime story—and it definitely delivers. My first time reading a book by Carl Hiaasen - won't be the last. What I loved most was the humor. It’s sharp, sarcastic, and sometimes downright absurd in the best way. The main character, Andrew Yancy, is flawed but likable, and his misadventures kept me hooked. The pacing is quick, and there’s always something strange or funny happening. If you enjoy crime novels that don’t take themselves too seriously and have a strong sense of place, Bad Monkey is a fun, entertaining read. Perfect for a beach vacation or anytime you want something light with a bite.

There seems to be something about Florida… it comes across in mysteries set there that have been written by a number of different authors, but Carl Hiaasen offers a really concentrated version (I’m told that Elmore Leonard does too, but I haven’t read his books). In Florida, apparently, the improbable, if not downright outlandish, is an everyday occurrence. In that line, this book offers not only the eponymous monkey, but a severed human arm that keeps appearing and disappearing, a hurricane, a voodoo queen on an electric scooter, and… well, it goes on from there. The heroes of the story are Andrew Yancy, a cop busted down to restaurant inspector (aka “roach patrol”) after a public assault on his girlfriend’s husband that could (I hope) happen only in a Hiaasen book, and Rosa Campesino, a smart and sexy assistant medical examiner who comes to replace said girlfriend in Yancy’s affections. They discover that the aforementioned arm’s back story is a good deal more complicated than it first appears and, after several murders occur, become determined to trace it to its end. Villains, as always in Hiaasen stories, include two men who are trying to mess up beautiful natural landscapes, one in Florida and another in the Bahamas (where about half the story takes place), with oversized and overpriced building projects. This book doesn’t include Skink, my favorite Hiaasen character (and most creative avenger against all nature-destroyers), so I can’t call it one of his best, but Yancy and Rosa are both likeable, and their adventures and the crimes they uncover are suitably complex and wacky. There were so many characters that I sometimes found it hard to keep track of them all; the two building-project perpetrators were, at least on the surface, especially similar. Overall, though, it was a fun romp, especially for those who like That Florida Something. Hiaasen’s work also has a raunchy edge that should appeal to fans of Christopher Moore’s fantasies.