Carl Hiaasen Books

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Carl Hiaasen is an American novelist who was born and raised in Florida. He started out as a journalist and columnist before embarking on writing novels during his spare time.

Carl Hiaasen’s first novel was Tourist Season which was published in 1986. Since then, he has authored and co-authored a collection of 30 novels and short stories. His adult fiction novels can be viewed as a series of unrelated stories considering the fact that although each one of them has a different plot and storyline, they have a recurring hero. Over his writing career, Hiaasen has managed to win multiple awards and achievements and at least one of his novels has been made into a movie.

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Carl Hiaasen Awards:

Carl Hiaasen’s novels have been nominated for multiple awards, some of which they went on to win. In 2003, his book Hoot won the Newbery Honor from the Association of Library Service to Children. Two years later (in 2005), the same book won another award – Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award. The same year saw his novel Skinny Dip get a nomination for the best novel in Dagger Awards. Since then, other novels that he has authored have managed to attract nominations, awards and honors. The latest one was the selection of his novel Skink: No Surrender to the National Book Award Longlist in the Young People’s Literature category in 2014. In total, Hiaasen’s books have earned him nine awards, nominations and selections.

Carl Hiaasen Books into Movies:

In 2006, a film adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s novel Hoot (published in 2002) was released to cinemas. Since the novel is a fiction for young readers, the film was also designed for the same audience. In fact, Hiaasen was one of the script writers and together with Wil Shriner (who was also a script writer and director), he fought long and hard to ensure that the film’s storyline does not deviate from the one in the novel. The film starred Logan Lerman, Brie Larson, and Cody Linley among many other cast members.

Best Carl Hiaasen Books:

Out of all Carl Hiaasen novels, three have managed to gain tremendous popularity over the years. They are:

Hoot: Published in 2002, Hoot revolves around Roy who is the main character. As a new arrival in Coconut Cove, Florida, Roy makes one bad enemy and two great friends. He soon finds himself in a war against the construction of a pancake house that if constructed would destroy a colony of burrowing owls that has inhabited the site. Currently, Hoot is Hiaasen’s only book to have won a Newberry Honor award. It is also the only one in his collection that has a film adaptation. There is no doubt that it is not only one of Hiaasen’s best works but also a great read. The film adaptation is equally great and exciting since it adapts the novel’s storyline exactly as it is.

Skinny Dip: Set in South Florida, Skinny Dip was published in 2004 and features Chaz Perrone, a marine biologist who can’t differentiate sawhorse from sea horse. His attempt to murder his pretty wife Joey Perrone fails thanks to her expert swimming skills. She manages to escapes to an island where she meets Mick Stranahan, an ex-cop who has multiple ex-wives and is crooked enough to offer Joey help in her quest for revenge against her husband. Their endeavor is filled with thrill, humor, suspense, twists and turns as they try to chase Chaz who is so poor at committing murder but great at commiting fraud. Hiaasen adds a tropical aspect to the novel as he intertwines the ongoing restoration of the Everglades into the main plot.

Bad Monkey: This highly entertaining novel combines humor, wickedness, virtue (and the lack of it) and corruption in one very exciting tale that is set in Florida and the Bahamas. The main character – Andrew Yancy is a late of the Miami Police and will soon be a late of the Key West Police. The problem is that he has a human arm in his freezer and there is absolutely no logical explanation as to whose it is and how it got to his freezer. He thinks that his commander will not buy his boating accident or shark luncheon theories and so he has to develop a more convincing and logical explanation.

When Does The Next Carl Hiaasen book come out?

The next book by Carl Hiaasen is Fever Beach and will be released on May, 13th 2025.

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