Bad Monkey

by Carl Hiaasen

Ebook, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Collection

Publication

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (2013), 417 pages

Description

Andrew Yancy, late of the Miami Police, soon-to-be-late of the Key West Police, has a human arm in his freezer. There is a logical explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, his commander might relieve him of Health Inspector duties, aka Roach Patrol. But first Yancy will negotiate an ever-surprising course of events, from the Keys to Miami to a Bahamian out island, with a crew of equally ever-surprising characters, including: the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; an avariciously idiotic real estate developer; a voodoo witch whose lovers are blinded-unto-death by her particularly peculiar charms; Yancy's new love, a kinky medical examiner; and the eponymous Bad Monkey.… (more)

Media reviews

The reason for all this screwball chaos in “Bad Monkey” is clear: Mr. Hiassen does not write serious novels about the human condition. He does not make it matter whose arm was severed, who committed the story’s several murders, which love affairs are real, or what will become of Yancy’s
Show More
career. His books are built of balsa wood, but they are beautifully constructed all the same. And if they call for more comic distraction than honest emotion? Forget it, Jake; it’s South Florida. The truth is always stranger than fiction.
Show Less

User reviews

LibraryThing member Punchout
As much as I enjoy reading Hiaasen books I couldn't get into this one. It has it's moments, unfortunately it's moments are like 11 hours long. Not a high recommendation on this one and if you have never read Hiaasen and this is your first don not make the mistake of exiling him from your author
Show More
list.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kaylaraeintheway
I'll be honest, I was initially wary of starting this book because I am not very fond of crime/detective novels. Turns out this book is hilarious and nothing like the stuffy crime story I expected--obviously I never read a Hiassen novel before.

The story follows Andrew Yancy, disgraced former Miami
Show More
detective, who stumbles upon a severed arm. What follows is a fun romp through the Miami Keys and the Bahamas, where Yancy and his coroner girlfriend encounter an orange poncho-wearing killer, a bratty rich girl, a woman on the run, a drunk, sex-obsessed voo-doo queen, shady Russians, disgusting restaurants, and yes, one very bad monkey.

Yancy is not the most upstanding guy, and the pranks he pulls on the developer who's trying to build a large mansion next door (obstructing Yancy's view of the gorgeous Miami sunsets) are less than kind, but I found myself rooting for him the whole time, and laughing out loud at his one-liners.

I enjoyed how Hiassen brought his cast of characters into the story. The action jumps from one person to the next, and while it's not always clear how these snippets will come together, Hiassen manages to bring it all to a head with a twist that I didn't see coming.

I can't wait to discuss this book with the ladies of my book club in a few weeks (although I imagine some of them will be put off by the language and sexual exploits of some of the characters!). I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fun crime story that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DPLyle
BAD MONKEY is vintage Hiaasen. A quirky protagonist, surrounded by even quirkier characters, mired in odd-ball intrigue, in South Florida, of course. This story revolves around Florida Keys detective Andrew Yancy, newly busted to the role of restaurant inspector, aka “roach patrol,” for
Show More
attacking one Dr. Clifford Witt, husband of a former Yancy lover, with a hand-held Black & Decker vacuum cleaner. All videoed by cruise liner tourists with cell phones in hand. Yancy embarks on several hit and miss attempts to get his badge back. No easy proposition. Particularly since his boss, Sheriff Sonny Summers, opinion is that Yancy was lucky they didn’t “charge you with sodomy.”

But the warm waters off the Florida Keys offer up salvation in the form of a severed arm, middle finger extended as if to say, well you know. Seems the arm belonged to a wealthy crook, who scammed various medical insurance companies for millions, only to die in a boating accident, leaving the arm behind to be hooked by a tourist on a fishing charter. But in Hiaasen’s world things are never as they seem. Not even close.

The police want the missing arm case as well as a murder and a suicide (or not) to go quietly into the archives. But, Yancy doesn’t buy it. He sees nefarious activity in the shadows. And he has a plan. Solve the murder, disprove the suicide, and prove that the wife offed the arm’s previous owner. Or did she? Tie up all these loose ends and they’ll have to return his badge. Won’t they?

This story is totally Hiassen. It bounces around the Keys, South Florida, and the Bahamas. Reminiscent of his earlier works such as SKINNY DIP, STORMY WEATHER, and STRIP TEASE, BAD MONKEY is filled with easy one-liners, believably unbelievable occurrences, and odd ball characters: love interest Dr. Rosa Campesino, a medical examiner with a penchant for sex on the dissecting table; The Egg, a homicidal brute who has Yancy in his sites; the Dragon Queen, a Bahamian scooter-riding VooDoo witch who delights in kinky sex and casting black spells; and of course Driggs, the “bad monkey.” Bad doesn’t quite cover it. Maybe petulant, combative, or recalcitrant. No, vile. That’s the word. What else could you say about a monkey who attacks without warning and tends toward flinging excrement on a whim? Yeah, vile works.

As if all this didn’t fill Yancy’s plate, his neighbor is constructing a massive mansion that will block Yancy’s view of the water. Yancy’s attempts to waylay those plans are numerous and insane (in a Hiassen sort of way).

Through solving murders, tracking down folks who have gone missing, messing with his neighbor’s head, and avoiding The Egg and Driggs as best he can, Yancy attempts to develop a real relationship with the good Dr. Campesino.

You’ll need a scorecard to keep up with all the characters, many having a couple of aliases, and all the scams within scams, but the pages will fly by. For Hiaasen fans (like me) this book will cause more than a few laugh-out -loud moments and for new fans, welcome to his world. It’s a fun, fast read and a wild ride.

DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Dub Walker and Samantha Cody thriller series
Show Less
LibraryThing member zmagic69
I have to disagree with a number of the reviews for Carl Hiaasen's latest book Bad Monkey. It appears as though Mr. Hiaasen is paid by the number of pages he writes rather than the quality of the book that he writes. If this is your first time reading one of his books I would skip this one and
Show More
start further down maybe with Tourist Season. Bad Monkey is the usual formula story from Mr Hiaasen where bad things happen to good people and worse things happen to bad people. A quick read of the book jacket will tell you all you need to know about the story. The problem I had with this story is the middle of the book. It comes in at 317 pages, but for the first time ever I was getting bored in the middle of the book. it was almost like the first draft came in at 200 pages and some editor said it needed to be longer. The result is a great beginning a boring middle and a extremely predictable ending.
The author has his usual biases thrown in throughout the book ( for those who are not familiar with this author he either dislikes or doesn't trust; Republicans, conservatives, real estate developers, bankers/finance people).
Is the book good? Yes is it one of his best? Not by a long shot. I really wish both he and Tim Dorsey another Florida author of outlandish books that take place in Florida, would leave out their personal political biases from their books, since it only serves to detract from the story. I know they are millionaire liberal hypocrites in their personal life they don't need to remind the reader of this in their books.
Show Less
LibraryThing member glichman
Best selling author Carl Hiaasen is back with Bad Monkey, another mystery set in south Florida, this one as brilliantly wacky as the others.
Andrew Yancy is a Detective for the Sheriff's office in Key West. He's on suspension for an unspeakable act involving a vacuum cleaner he committed against
Show More
the husband of his lover when Sheriff Sonny Summers has an easy assignment for him: deliver a severed arm that was fished out of the ocean to the Miami Medical Examiners office...and don't bring it back. When the Miami ME said it didn't match any of their victims, and given that the currents would make it unlikely that any crime committed originated in or near Miami would bring the arm to the Keys, Yancy was stuck with the it. Despite orders to dispose of it, he kept it in his freezer.
Shortly thereafter, as part of a plea bargain for the assault which Yancy viewed as an act of chivalry, he was fired from the position of Detective and began working as roach inspector for the health department. But when the owner of the arm turned up, or at least the widow of the arm's previous owner, Yancy couldn't let it go. In part because he took his (former) job as a Detective seriously, but more because he saw it as a way to get back to work on real crime, to prove his value to the Sheriff, he started his own investigation.

The characters in Bad Monkey are colorful, crazy, and comical. A displaced Bahamian and his pet monkey; a not so grief stricken widow; a beautiful Miami medical examiner who likes to try new things; a washed up drug smuggling pilot looking to relive his glory days; an oversexed voodoo Queen; two stoic FBI Agents. And of course Mr. Yancy: obsessed with the cleanliness of his food (thanks to his new occupation), finding a killer that may not exist, and in his spare time sabotaging the efforts of the monstrous vacation home being built next door, ruining his view of a perfect Florida Keys sunset.
True to his style, Hiaasen keeps the plot moving quickly, each twist in the story more outrageous than the last. But readers won't mind, and most will appreciate the way Bad Monkey differs from the more traditional mystery fiction novel.
While I enjoyed Bad Monkey, it is similar to Hiaasen's previous books. Several other books feature an amputee; many others have a sub-plot about the destruction of the natural beauty of southern Florida; and the larger than life characters are standard fare.
But even with that mild criticism, I always look forward to a new Hiaasen book, enjoy and empathize with his protagonists, and laugh out loud as I read. Bad Monkey was no different.
Show Less
LibraryThing member RGazala
Carl Hiaasen's "Bad Monkey" is one of the best books of the year. This very well-written and thoroughly entertaining book suggests what might be distilled into a heady cocktail conjured from the collective wit of Mark Twain, Woody Allen, and Tom Waits. The plot is nearly as outrageous as the
Show More
assembly of truly memorable and irretrievably nutty characters that propel it (including a Capuchin monkey far too untrustworthy to hold down a plush job as Johnny Depp's foil in "The Pirates of the Caribbean" movies). Over his lustrous career Hiaasen has written some terrific books, but none are better than "Bad Monkey." Treated properly by Hollywood, this book would and should be a great movie, too.
Show Less
LibraryThing member carlitabay
Not funny enough, not interesting enough (audiobook), quit 1/3 way through
LibraryThing member librarian1204
Bad Monkey continues the string of hysterical Florida books by Carl Hiaasen. This time out the setting is Key West and Andros Island. The craziness of Key West, those who live there and those who visit, is tied to all the other usual Florida stories, Medicare fraud, land developers, hurricanes and
Show More
crazy characters.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mikedraper
Two parts of the story. In one part, a recently released cop tries to find who was responsible for cutting a man's arm off and leaving it in the sea.

In another part, a man from the Islands hires a voodoo practitioner to put a spell on a builder who demolished his moderate home by the water and
Show More
built a mini mansion.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SigmundFraud
This novel begins well with a lot of out loud laughing at the humor. But humor is difficult to sustain in a novel and Hiaasen didn't sustain it. The book went into many directions and midway through i was bored. I finally gave up 80% into the book.
LibraryThing member DrApple
A hilarious mystery that will keep you guessing.
LibraryThing member bookczuk
I suppose some would say I'm a Hiaasen Hag, a true fan. And I am. I'm guilty of introducing our son to Hiaasen at a tender age because he wanted to see what was making me laugh out loud while reading. His books always raise the bar on insanity, but that might be because he lives in South Florida,
Show More
where insanity seems to be endemic as well as epidemic. There's been a bit of a break between titles from Mr Hiaasen, so when I got my hands on Bad Monkey, I was giddy in anticipation. Plus, it has a great title.

There were the requisite hi-jinx, and low-jinx, corrupt officials, skeezy crooks, quirky romances, schemes, plots, plans, and a monkey. While I did laugh out loud at some things, I have to say this is not my favorite of his books. But for a quick summer read, it was just grand.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Gatorhater
Andrew Yancy is at it again, from being a detective he is demoted to the Dept. of Health doing restaurant inspections, as he's busting businesses for health infractions he seeks out other criminal violations that include embezzlement, fraud, murder, etc. But the adult language of humor that Hiaasen
Show More
uses is unbelievably funny, as it's being used in a murder thriller not a comedy and it fits in quite well. With a great story line, with a lot of twist and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat, well worth the read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member seasidereader
Some of the laugh-out0loud wit I enjoyed in Skin Deep is there, just not enough. The situations are too contrived, but I finished it hoping for more character development of Neville and Rosa.
LibraryThing member bjkelley
I wasn't all that thrilled with Hiaasen's last book, Star Island. Bad Monkey has once again made me a fan of the author. This book is extremely well written with a great plot. I wouldn't mind seeing the main character Andrew Yancy carried over into Hiaasen's next book.
LibraryThing member mazeway
Do you like Carl Hiaasen? If so, you'll like this. This is one of his better books, on par with Sick Puppy, I think. Fun characters, great dialog, good twists. I read this one aloud on a long car trip and we both really enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member TadAD
I really do enjoy Hiaasen's brand of humor...the whacky, over-the-top sendup of all that is Floridian. And I enjoyed this book.

But that's as far as I'll go. There was just a little too much formula in it and the bad guys were just a little too two-dimensional to make it one of his best.

A pleasant
Show More
passing of an afternoon but not one I'll remember to recommend.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Cats57
Bad Monkey By: Carl Hiaasen

I have been a fan of Mr. Hiaasen’s every since I read “Strip Tease” way back when. I loved all of his early work, but fell out of touch with his writing a few years ago. When I saw this book and read the synopsis, I thought that the old Hiaasen, who could write a
Show More
funny book while giving you a moral lesson, was back. I was a bit mistaken. This is still a book that is filled with greedy people, stupid people, clever people, grabs for power, inept people and sheer stupidity, flashes of brilliance and humor – but it just does not seem to really work well this time.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a funny book although not as funny as his earlier books and there is still a message to be found. However, it no longer feels as if the author was really taking the time to give his full attention to the plot, the characters or even the outcome.
In this book, we find Andrew Yancy about to be kicked off the police force for doing something unmentionable with a hand held vacuum to his lovers’ husband and having a film of it play on YouTube. To make a long story short, Yancy has been demoted to being a health inspector. I can honestly say that this part of the book was the most fascinating and horrifying out of the entire thing. This part of the book was well researched and frankly, because of this I may never eat out again.

Now if you read the recap you know that Yancy is in ‘custody’ of a severed arm. There really is a sort of logical reason for this, but you will have to stretch your imagination to believe it. This arm is what the gist of what the book is about. Yancy comes to believe a murder has been committed, and he is correct. I think if Mr. Hiaason had concentrated more on the murder and a tad less on the sub-plots, he may have really had something that would grab you by the throat, just like in the old days.

I will say that there is an event in the last quarter or so of this book really did take me by surprise and I am glad that I kept reading instead of giving up at about the 60% mark.

Of course, Karma is eventually served and they all live happily ever after.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rufusraider
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen is a good summer read. The book is interesting with just enough suspense and quirky characters. The main character is Yancy Andrew, a suspended detective, in the Florida Keys. The story starts with a severed arm on the end of a fishing line on a fishing charter out of Key
Show More
West. Initially the death is ruled a boating accident. The death interests the suspended detective who has been assigned to the public health department doing restaurant inspections.
Show Less
LibraryThing member starkravingmad
Fast paced murder mystery through Florida and the Bahamas
LibraryThing member Jarratt
Since I typically read CIA/terrorist thrillers, Carl Hiaasen's "Bad Monkey" was a different read for me. One I'm glad I tried.

Key West Detective Andrew Yancy gets knocked down to restaurant health inspector after assaulting his former lover's husband. Meanwhile, tourists who are out fishing pull up
Show More
a shark-gnawed left arm. Since it seems pretty clear the victim died in a boating accident, there appears to be no crime. But things aren't adding up for Yancy, so he sees this as an opportunity to get his job back. Many quirky characters and situations later... Well, I'll stop there.

I thought the writing was good and quite frequently humorous. The sub-plots were well fleshed out and didn't seem to be used as filler. And I loved how effectively he wrote the Bahamian dialect. It sometimes took a second read to get the phonetics, but it was very well done.
Show Less
LibraryThing member julie.billing
Hiassent does it again. I felt like this book had a bit moreof raw edge than the other ones, but still funny despite the edge. Unlike most I felt it dragged just a little about 3/4 of the way though, but with Hiassen I don't mind. Good writing, good characters and always a fascinating plt. The fact
Show More
that it really did have a Bad Monkey was great.
Show Less
LibraryThing member untraveller
I needed some laughs and this gave them to me. I've read all of Hiaasen's novels and a few of his non-fiction books....A very good writer who will make you scratch your head wondering how Florida could be so messed up.
LibraryThing member PeskyLibrary
Carl Hiassen’s new adult book Bad Monkey is a very entertaining novel. Set in Key West and the Bahamas , it features a group of dysfunctional bad guys who will do anything to develop and destroy beautiful coastlines. One of my favorite character’s is the monkey Driggs – a former star from
Show More
Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Hiassen always pushes the envelope of good taste but you can’t help but laugh at some of the happenings. -Chris, Bookstore-
Show Less
LibraryThing member brangwinn
Carl Hiassen continues his crazy stories about Florida in his latest book. Complete with How does he come up with such convoluted funny farces? His characters are always original and who really cares if there is deep meaning in his books. Former Miami cop is now in the Florida. He's had to turn in
Show More
his police badge because he took after his girlfriend's husband with a vacuum cleaner---and believe me, reading about that incident, creates quite a picture. Now reduced to roach patrol as a health inspector for restaurants doesn't keep him from solving murders involving Medicare fraud. Nothing deep but the goofy plot and characters will keep you reading.
Show Less

Awards

Goldsboro Last Laugh Award (Shortlist — 2014)

Language

Original publication date

2013-06-11

ISBN

9780385350075
Page: 0.2469 seconds