BOOK REVIEWS: Double Whammy: Carl Hiaasen

Published 6:58 am Monday, March 3, 2025

Double Whammy: Carl Hiaasen

“Double Whammy” reaches back early into Carl Hiaasen’s career.

The book was published in 1987 and introduces Skink, a recurring Hiaasen character; some websites refer to “Double Whammy” as Skink Book 1.

Skink is a wild man who lives in the Florida swamps.

Skink is fearless, well read, partial to eating fresh roadkill, has a way with wildlife, doesn’t watch TV, has a righteous sense of being righteous, is large, brutal and strong, has an agile mind ready to plot and launch an outlandish plan, with a bearded face that frames a TV newsman’s perfect smile.

Oh, and he’s a former governor of Florida – the fictional Clinton Tyree, who tried to save Florida’s beaches from development but walked away from his office and civilization when developers and legislators outmaneuvered him.

Hiaasen has made Skink a recurring supporting character in several of his novels. Reading Hiaasen’s books in no particular order, I was first introduced to an older Skink in “Squeeze Me” (2020), which is the seventh Skink book, then again in “Skinny Dip” (2004), the fifth Skink book.

So, it’s good to run across Skink again and get more of his backstory.

While he is the chief supporting character in a cast of outrageous supporting characters, he is not the main character. The protagonist is R.J. Decker, a former newspaper photographer/ex-con/private eye.

A wealthy jealous fisherman hires Decker to uncover a cheating scam he believes is being perpetrated by a TV fishing guru to rig bass-fishing competitions.

Hiaasen dives deep into the backwoods/big money world of Florida bass fishing in the 1980s. He tackles Florida over-development, TV evangelism, state politics, etc., all with Hiaasen’s bizarre sense of characters, relationships and storylines.

While the now popular Florida Man concept is on display here – Hiaasen may be the chief scribe of Florida Man, “Double Whammy” strikes a few more dramatic narrative chords than his later works. The majority of the book reads like a traditional detective yarn but Skink and the culmination of the story ensure it’s anything but the usual crime novel.

“Double Whammy” is two-fisted fun. Take the bait.

Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne

Ram V’s ambitious “Gotham Nocturne” in the pages of “Detective Comics” concluded a few months ago.

The massive storyline sets Batman on an epic journey around the world and deep into his soul. “Gotham Nocturne” featured several other characters in short subplots – typically a short story told over three issues each – which fed into the overriding plot of the main story.

The storyline started with issue 1062 (July 2022) and ran through issue 1089 (September 2024). For readers picking up Detective Comics monthly, the story took more than two years to complete. With “Gotham Nocturne” finished and available in its entirety, readers can pick up all of the issues, each with a distinctive, repeated cover design; or buy the handful of trade paperback collections; or check it out digitally with the DC Universe Infinite app (though the final issue has still not been released on the monthly plan but is available via the Ultra year subscription).

“Gotham Nocturne” is far better and easier to understand in its complexity with readers not having to wait a month for each chapter. The story can now be read at the pace a reader wants to set.

Batman is plagued not only by a new threat to Gotham City but by the exhaustion of his body, mind and soul. Batman must find himself to stop a family that has made Gotham theirs. Sounds familiar but the creative team does so much with the premise.