215:. The legal costs of her divorce impelled a desperate Erin to take up exotic dancing as a career. Ironically, Erin's new occupation has given the judge a prejudiced view of her, while Darrell's criminal record has been expunged due to his work as an informant for the police. As a result, Darrell has been given custody of their daughter Angela, and Erin desperately needs even more money to reverse the court decision.
251:
plan to "destroy" him. On the night of the second show, Darrell follows Erin to the meeting place and comes upon
Moldowsky watch-dogging the show, beating him to death in a drug-induced rage. Inside, Dilbeck tries to seduce Erin, and is vexed when she is unimpressed. Darrell enters and demands to be taken to his daughter. Erin moves to the next phase of her plan, drawing a
243:. Instead, Mordecai and Paul's greedy fiancée are likewise murdered on Moldowsky's orders. However, Dilbeck's memory of Erin is indirectly sparked by the photo, and he obsessively refuses to continue with his campaign until he can "possess" her. Moldowsky, conscious that Dilbeck is necessary to his employers' continued prosperity, agrees to help.
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revealed, tipping the custody dispute in Erin's favor. Deciding not to wait, she snatches Angela from her aunt's house while
Darrell is away. Meanwhile, Moldowsky approaches Erin's boss and asks for her to give Dilbeck a private performance. Erin agrees, knowing that it is the best way of gathering evidence.
250:
During her first private show, Dilbeck is rendered nearly helpless with lust, and Erin finds it easy to manipulate him. He offers her more money for a repeat performance, and she agrees. Realizing
Dilbeck will probably escape implication in the murder under normal circumstances, Erin comes up with a
246:
Garcia returns to
Florida and compares notes with Erin and her close friend, the club's bouncer Shad. He discovers evidence linking Jerry's murder to Moldowsky, but nothing that will stand up in court. At the same time, Darrell is again busted for larceny and his previous criminal history is
398:, the owners of a large sugar cane conglomerate in Florida. Like the fictional Rojos, the Fanjul brothers became notorious in Florida for their ostentatious displays of wealth, and so served as a living indictment of the "struggling family farmer" myth used to promote
222:
him into influencing the judge in Erin's favor. But when the judge proves resistant to
Dilbeck's probing, Moldowsky arranges for Jerry's murder so as to avoid attracting any more negative attention to his client. The body is found floating in a river in
258:
With the help of
Dilbeck's driver, Erin drives the two men to a sugar cane field owned by Dilbeck's supporters. When the car stops, Darrell flees for his life but then passes out; he is subsequently ground up along with the cane the next morning by a
309:
In among his freaks and obsessives ... the author has dropped a real honest-to-God human being, an appealing young woman named Erin Grant. Her presence ... makes the cartoon nastiness around her less cartoony and more nasty than in previous
Hiaasen
238:
Another blackmailer surfaces in the person of
Mordecai, a sleazy lawyer related to Paul's fiancée. One of Paul's friends from the bachelor party inadvertently snapped a picture of Dilbeck during the attack; Mordecai uses it to demand
29:
152:
Like many
Hiaasen novels, the book's plot is set against a backdrop of a particular environmental crime or corruption issue that angers the author. In this case, it is the
200:
David Lane
Dilbeck, an incorrigible (yet secret) patron of adult establishments. Political fixer Malcolm Moldowsky, representing Dilbeck's legislative patrons in Florida's
149:
to earn enough money to gain legal custody of her young daughter, and ends up matching wits with a lecherous United States Congressman and his powerful corporate backers.
267:
Erin–at which point he is seized by a squad of FBI agents, led by Erin's old boss, who received an anonymous call saying she had been abducted. Erin gives Dilbeck an
263:. Erin offers to slow-dance with Dilbeck in the cane field. Dilbeck believes the dance is a prelude to "wild cowboy sex," but when he realizes it is not, he tries to
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192:, drunken groom-to-be Paul Guber climbs on stage and grabs Erin Grant, one of the dancers. Before the club's bouncer can act, Paul is attacked with a
363:
Malcolm Moldowsky is a political fixer, but his ostensible occupation remains unspecified. Palmer Stoat, the main antagonist of Hiaasen's novel
662:
433:
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With Darrell dead and the threat to her from Dilbeck and his patrons removed, Erin leaves the club and starts a new life with Angela. In the
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The book rails against the sugar cane industry for its exploitation of migrant labor (a theme briefly touched on in the previous novel
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In berating Dilbeck for his stupid behavior, Moldowsky reviews the names of several past politicians soiled by sex scandals:
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Several real-life members of the U.S. Congress and Senate are also mentioned by name as Dilbeck's contemporaries, including
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Erin, a single mother engaged in a custody fight with her ex-husband Darrell, was fired from her job as a secretary for the
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opines that the fictional Rojo brothers, Dilbeck's main patrons in the sugar cane industry, are thinly-veiled parodies of
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In trying to impress Erin, Dilbeck shows her photos of him with several real-life politicians and celebrities, including
655:
278:, it is revealed that she has got back her old job as well as a side-hustle dancing in the Main Street Parade at
383:, a Republican Congressman from Broward County who was arrested for disorderly conduct in a topless bar in 1978.
305:." In a positive review of the novel, Westlake claims that this is Hiaasen's strongest novel to date, writing:
218:
One of Erin's lovestruck fans, a bookish man named Jerry Killian, recognizes Dilbeck from the club and tries to
354:, both of which crimes are also carried out by "Red" Hammernut, the corporate villain of Hiaasen's later novel
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of sugar growers in Florida, and the exorbitant subsidies regularly granted to them by the U.S. Congress.
141:. Like most of his other novels, it is a crime novel set in Florida and features Hiaasen's characteristic
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industry, is furious at Dilbeck's stupidity since he is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign.
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Garcia refers to the founding of the United States as a nation when he wonders aloud "what
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Moldowsky also lists women whose names have been associated with such scandals, including
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The Eager Beaver's owner, Orly, often boasts of ties to organized crime figures, such as
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as Moldowsky. The film was critically panned and did poorly at the box office.
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would think of a Congressman who has sex with old shoes and laundry lint."
417:. One of these boasts falls flat when Salerno's death (which occurred in
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493:'s famous aphorism, "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."
369:, plays a similar role to Moldowsky's, and is a lobbyist by profession.
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and is currently applying to become an FBI agent herself.
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bottle by another customer. The attacker turns out to be
627:"AT HOME WITH: Carl Hiaasen;Can Success And Satire Mix?"
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In 1996, it was adapted to the screen, under the title
436:, convicted of multiple crimes in connection with the
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In lecturing Dilbeck, Moldowsky crudely paraphrases
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608:"The New York Times: Book Review Search Article"
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374:Allusions to history, geography, or people
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881:Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World
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315:Connections with Hiaasen's other works
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986:American novels adapted into films
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625:Navarro, Mireya (July 4, 1996).
424:Moldowsky's hero and mentor is
390:, a history of the Everglades,
235:, on vacation with his family.
80:Print (hardback and paperback)
1:
255:and ordering them both out.
976:Environmental fiction books
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211:after he was arrested for
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558:written and directed by
919:Film and TV adaptations
506:Daniel Patrick Moynihan
396:Jose and Alfonso Fanjul
350:) and pollution of the
180:at the Eager Beaver, a
971:Novels by Carl Hiaasen
908:Naked Came the Manatee
400:agricultural subsidies
323:, who has appeared in
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991:Alfred A. Knopf books
981:Novels set in Florida
411:"Little Nicky" Scarfo
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16:Novel by Carl Hiaasen
966:1993 American novels
856:Skink - No Surrender
426:John Newton Mitchell
379:Dilbeck is based on
176:During a late-night
168:bestseller in 1993.
231:homicide detective
137:is a 1993 novel by
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816:Young adult novels
631:The New York Times
612:The New York Times
482:(former president
415:"Fat Tony" Salerno
295:Donald E. Westlake
286:Critical reception
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470:(associated with
462:(associated with
438:Watergate scandal
280:Walt Disney World
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478:(Gary Hart) and
434:Attorney General
392:Michael Grunwald
381:J. Herbert Burke
118:Followed by
105:Preceded by
60:Publication date
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586:as Angela and
580:Robert Patrick
578:as Al Garcia,
576:Armand Assante
560:Andrew Bergman
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430:Richard Nixon
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347:Native Tongue
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584:Rumer Willis
582:as Darrell,
570:as Dilbeck,
552:
550:
540:Chuck Norris
524:Colin Powell
513:Thomas Paine
498:Bill Bradley
484:Bill Clinton
464:Wilbur Mills
407:Angelo Bruno
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139:Carl Hiaasen
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43:Carl Hiaasen
22:Strip Tease
18:
873:Non-fiction
806:Fever Beach
775:Star Island
767:Nature Girl
751:Basket Case
719:Strip Tease
572:Ving Rhames
520:Tip O'Neill
198:Congressman
160:Strip Tease
143:black humor
134:Strip Tease
960:Categories
943:Bad Monkey
927:Striptease
799:Squeeze Me
791:Razor Girl
783:Bad Monkey
759:Skinny Dip
743:Sick Puppy
703:Skin Tight
594:References
564:Demi Moore
554:Striptease
532:Al D'Amato
528:Chris Dodd
502:John Kerry
476:Donna Rice
472:Wayne Hays
449:Chuck Robb
366:Sick Puppy
357:Skinny Dip
352:Everglades
338:Skin Tight
299:Dave Barry
241:hush money
202:sugar cane
182:strip club
154:plutocracy
735:Lucky You
574:as Shad,
566:as Erin,
460:Fanne Fox
445:Gary Hart
388:The Swamp
321:Al Garcia
293:reviewer
269:ultimatum
233:Al Garcia
220:blackmail
194:champagne
49:Publisher
889:Kick Ass
276:epilogue
64:Sep 1993
863:Wrecker
310:novels.
225:Montana
190:Florida
946:(2024)
938:(2006)
930:(1996)
911:(1996)
892:(1999)
884:(1998)
865:(2023)
859:(2014)
851:(2012)
843:(2009)
835:(2005)
827:(2002)
808:(2025)
802:(2020)
794:(2016)
786:(2013)
778:(2010)
770:(2006)
762:(2004)
754:(2002)
746:(2000)
738:(1997)
730:(1995)
722:(1993)
714:(1991)
706:(1989)
698:(1987)
690:(1985)
679:Novels
451:, and
335:, and
253:pistol
162:was a
125:
112:
39:Author
900:Other
848:Chomp
832:Flush
291:Times
229:Miami
85:Pages
935:Hoot
840:Scat
824:Hoot
538:and
504:and
419:1992
413:and
301:and
265:rape
172:Plot
94:ISBN
474:),
466:),
432:'s
227:by
209:FBI
184:in
88:353
962::
629:.
610:.
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329:,
188:,
664:e
657:t
650:v
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455:.
440:.
402:.
360:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
