Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

The novel's purpose is, of course, to point the finger at the pro-European faction in present day Britain.
It suffers from many of the faults of a satiric novel (and a first novel at that). It is very self-indulgent,
with a lot of very obvious jokes, and it makes its points with a somewhat heavy hand. But it has its
points of interest, and it is rather fun in parts.
Recently I discovered that Terry Pratchett is rather fond of a crime novelist called Carl Hiaasen, a writer
of whom I had never heard. On the grounds that if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me, I
picked up a copy of Strip Tease, and I soon found out why Pratchett likes him so much. The book is
screamingly funny, and the tension never lets up. I enjoyed it so much, I went out and bought all the
other Carl Hiaasen books I could find. Yes, it really was that good.
Erin is a stripper in a club called Eager Beaver. Her ex-husband has stolen her child. The ex-husband is a
nasty piece of work, a junky who pays for his habit by dealing in stolen wheelchairs. Erin needs money to
fight the custody case (though she draws the line at creamed-corn nude wrestling). Shad the bouncer
also needs money and plants a cockroach in a tub of yoghurt so he can sue the company and retire a
millionaire. All this comes together when a drunken congressman beats up a punter in the club.
Someone recognises him and blackmails the congressman to intervene in Erin's custody case (because
he is in love with Erin). That's when the fix goes in and things start to turn nasty.
The style of the novel reminded me very much of Joseph Wambaugh (if you haven't read The
Choirboys go and do so immediately), and from me that is high praise indeed. I advise you to seek out
the novels of Carl Hiaasen and put them on the top of your reading pile.
In order to get at the window I wanted to board up, I had to shift some old flowerpots. Sticking out of
one them I found a large screwdriver. Obviously the burglarious implement. I took it round to the police,
but they weren't too interested.
Eleanor Cooney & Daniel Altieri Deception Morrow
Tom Holt Paint Your Dragon Orbit
C. J. Cherryh Foreigner Legend
Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana Pretty Boy Floyd Pocket
Graham Joyce The Tooth Fairy Signet
Michael Marshall Smith Only Forward Harper Collins
Roderick Anscombe
The Secret Life of Laszlo,
Count Dracula
Bloomsbury
Paul J. McAuley Secret Harmonies Orbit
Andrew Roberts The Aachen Memorandum Orion
Carl Hiaasen Strip Tease Pan