This book is a young adult novel by the same author who
writes witty, humorous mysteries set in Florida starring former police officer
Andrew Yancy. Hiassen’s novels are just fun, good time reads. This YA novel
holds up to the adult novels without sacrificing the humor or the edge that
make the adult novels good reads.
Richard and his cousin Malley like to get to get up to
mischief, and like most teenagers, Malley likes to sneak off and not tell her
parents what’s going on. She does however make sure that her cousin Richard has
at least some idea of what she is doing.
Richard is fortunate to meet an old beachcomber named
Skink. He is a former governor of Florida with a lot of idiosyncrasies and
great contacts in law enforcement and with people all over the state.
Malley runs off with a guy she met on the internet and
it isn’t long before Richard figures out that Malley is in real trouble. He and
Skink set off on a crazy pursuit with the blessing of Richard’s parents and the
help of Skink’s contacts to find Malley.
From there, it’s just a wild ride through Florida. Up
and down highways and beaches, in and out of rivers, Skink and Richard pursue
Malley and the man she left with. Along the way, Skink provides Richard with a
few life lessons and shows both Malley and Richard what a wild survivor looks
like.
The story is not long, being a YA novel and it’s very
entertaining. This is one that is ok for adult readers and one which younger
readers will really enjoy and can be an introduction to Hiassen’s more adult
work depending on the maturity level and reading abilities of a young reader.
A fun entertaining beach read for young and old alike.
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