On the very first page of Carl Hiaasen’s new novel, “Fever Beach,” is a sentence that could only be written by Carl Hiaasen:
“The hitchhiker placed his backpack on the floorboard and pivoted warily toward the back seat, where he saw an assault rifle, a can of bear spray, a sex doll made to look like the lower torso of a woman, and a pile of clear Ziploc bags.”
For nearly 40 years, Hiaasen has spun wild tales of bumbling villains and flawed heroes clashing in the cities and swamps of his beloved South Florida.
“Fever Beach” features white supremacists, a sex-crazed congressman, election tampering, and a good guy who enjoys blowing stuff up.
In this episode we talk about where Hiaasen gets those characters from — and how satisfying it is to create a world where the bad guys get theirs.
We also talk about his longtime friendship with Jimmy Buffett, and his memories of his late brother, Rob.
We laugh a lot, and cry a little, in this one.
