Title : Skinny Dip
Author : Carl Hiaasen
Series : Skink Series
Narrators : Stephen Hoye
Genre : Crime, Humor
Publisher : Books On Tape
Listening Length : 13 hours 30 minutes
Rating : 5/5
Narrator Rating : 5/5

Reading Carl Hiaasen has been on my radar a while, and I’ve finally gotten around to reading my first book (of many more to come!). This was a fantastic book – there is no better way to say it – a satirical comedy of errors populated by the zaniest cast of characters I’ve come across in a work of fiction in a while. I was actually laughing out loud listening to some of the quirky characteristics of Skinny Dip’s denizens – there’s a slimy marine biologist who’s trying to kill his wife, a detective with pet boas who might eat other domestic pets, and a hairy goon who needs painkillers to help him overcome pain from an old wound (a bullet lodged up his bum).

The book’s storyline goes like this: Charles Regis “Chaz” Perrone is a marine biologist who tries to kill his wife Joey by pushing her off a cruise ship. The fall strips her of all clothing, hence the title. Unbeknownst to him, feisty champion-swimmer Joey survives with determination and a handy bale of floating Jamaican marijuana, but instead of reporting Chaz to the authorities, she decides to try and drive him insane instead. In the mix also, are corrupt tycoon Red Hammernut, loner cop Mick Stranahan, tenacious detective Karl Rolvaag, Chaz’s hairy bodyguard Earl Edward O’Toole, each of whom are quirky in their own right.

What really takes this audiobook to the 5 star level is the fabulous narration by Stephen Hoye. Hope does all the varied cast of characters – and they really are very, very different from each other – and manages to have them all sound just perfect. There’s ex-cop “hero” Mick Stranahan who sounds strong but nice, and on the other end of the spectrum, there’s bodyguard Earl O’Toole who just sounds heavy-set and hairy and illiterate, just the way Hiaasen describes him in the book. In all the audiobooks I’ve listened to so far, this narration has got to be one of my favorite.

Post-listen I realize that this book is part of a series (I picked it up because it was available on my local library’s catalog), but this can very well be read/listened to stand-alone.