I was anticipating this read as I am a huge Hiaasen fan. I adore his quirky characters and the issues he covers in his books. I was not impressed with this title. I loved the premise, as invasive snakes are such a problem in Florida, and it was nice to see some old friends come back. I also loved feisty Angie but I did not feel that this book was up to the standards of other Hiaasen novels. Overall, I felt that it was not Hiaasen at his best and I would not probably pass it along to a friend as a "must read" or give it as a gift as I have with other books by him.

A fun, breezy read lampooning our current president and his wealthy cult of personality. Hits on the python infestation in Florida, unrestrained wealth, illegal immigration, and xenophobia, just to start.

This is exactly the book I needed to read at this time. Not only for the unforgettable characters and situations that only Carl Hiaasen can create, but also because it takes place in a post-COVID world. There’s hope!

When I can find myself mentally casting the movie of a book I’m reading, I know that I am all in. Not to spoil it, but a rich old lady, an ex-con, a crazy former governor and his consigliere make for a book that I read in literally two sittings, The only thing that stopped me from reading it in one sitting is that I had to go to work! I always love a Skink sighting, and love that way that all the characters fit together in the end. I now want to go back and re-read some old titles. I recommend this wholeheartedly.

This has been my worst week in recent memory...COVID, fires, deadly air quality, emergency eye surgery due to pet allergy, surrending pet, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg died...so I started reading my first ever Carl Hiaasen book, Squeeze Me. Just a few pages in and I was chuckling, a few more pages and I was laughing out loud, a few chapters later, I was texting my friends and imploring them to buy the book and start it immediately,..which they did. We started texting laugh-out-loud lines to each other.

If you are a fan of #45, you will not like this book. For the rest of the us, this is the book we need right now. It was timely and actually educational in parts. This book felt like it was written by the love child of John Grisham and Fannie Flagg. Mid-read, I learned this was #8 in the “Skink” series, but it stood alone just fine.

My only complaint was the author was too kind to Mockingbird, but he published this before the truth came out.

Cal Hiaasen, thank you for rescuing me this week. You saved my sanity. Literally.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. 5 enthusiastic stars!

What a fun read! I have always enjoyed Carl Hiaasen books and Squeeze Me is just what I needed right now. It is an irreverent look at posh Palm Beach society along with the politics of the Winter White House in what is a slightly disguised attack of the current president, known here only by his Secret Service Code name, Mastodon.

The story opens with a fund raiser for the ultra-wealthy where one small stature senior citizen goes missing. Shortly after that mystery a large python is discovered on the property who just happens to have a large lump in the middle. Our main character, a wildlife capturer, Angie Armstrong, is called in to remove the python. Craziness ensues, too much to even describe, just enjoy the ride.

Car chases, car bombing, amputation, an affair with a Secret Service agent, a tanning bed, a crazy ex-governor and lots of snakes take you to places you probably didn't image in Florida. I highly recommend this fun read especially at this crazy time we are living in!!

This book was just what I needed after some heavy thrillers. I quick, light read with lots of laughs.. Giant snakes in the Florida pan handle. Crazy old rich people at charity balls. And a critter control woman who puts it all together.

Only in Florida can Hiassan weave a tale of the current adminisration, rampant giant pythons and romance. Hilarious commentary and quick read to continue the Skink series.

“Squeeze Me” is set during this current pandemic in Palm Beach, Florida and Mr. Trump is still the president.
Right off the bat we meet Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons, of the “aerosol Pews” and one of the Trump-loving “Potussies.” The Potussies are a senior group of hard-drinking, wealthy heiresses. At one point in the action they attend an exclusive ball where they serenade the POTUS with a song they made up, “Big Unimpeachable You.”
Now back to poor Kiki who has missed a splendid event. It seems she has tipsily fallen into a pond during the gala at Limpid House and been devoured whole by a 20-foot Burmese python. You can’t blame the hungry python. (Tens of thousands of these Asian creatures are actually on the loose in the Everglades, a result of the exotic-pet craze in the 1980s and ’90s. They normally eat only smaller mammals, but apparently Kiki was too tempting to pass up.)
There’s a coverup, of course because this kind of publicity is bad for Palm Beach’s image. So no snake can be involved, rather Kiki instead, has been done in by a “terrorist.” This fellow was totally unlucky and in the wrong-place/wrong-time. He is a Honduran asylum-seeker named Diego Beltran. Egged on by Mastodon, (code name for the POTUS), the mobs have gathered outside his jail cell and are screaming, “No more Diegos! No more Diegos!” Diego has become Mastodon’s “brown-skinned Fiend-of-the-Month.” Well that fact is a bit too true to reality to be funny. Oh and about the code name... The POTUS loves the Mastodon moniker so much that he asks an agent to be taken to the zoo so he can see a real one!
Now Meet Angie who is going to no doubt be your favorite character. She is a decent-hearted, young female protagonist fighting for justice, and Angie Armstrong is great fun to follow around. Angie, a former park ranger once did jail time for assaulting a poacher and now runs a business called Discreet Captures, ridding homes and businesses of overdeveloped Florida’s many animalS.
Angie is called in to deal with the original python as well as others that start turning up. Finally having figured out what’s really going on, Angie must obtain, and convince, with the assistance of others: an honest local cop, the Secret Service and the first lady of the United States. The FLOTUS is Code-Named Mockingbird. I liked her too. She finds pleasant distraction from her tedious duties and her ghastly husband in a raucous affair with a Secret Service agent named Keith Josephson. His real name is Ahmet Youssef. Can you guess why he changed his name?

The book is satirical like Hiassen’s other adult novels. There are so many funny events that you won’t be able to resist sharing with others in the room. For example, the two guys who are paid to nab the 20 foot snake from Angie’s deep freeze to destroy the evidence... They do and after stuffing it in the trunk they decide it’s a good idea to go to a titty bar and get plastered. Next day… why is the trunk leaking? Open trunk, snake has exploded.

So get ready for jump on this one and have a fun ride. And if you are afraid to laugh at the one currently in charge of our US, pass “Squeeze Me” right on along.

3.75 stars

Carl Hiaasen is a perfect remedy for the 2020 malaise. For anyone not familiar with his books, he was one of the early "Florida Man" authors who translated the daily zaniness of Florida culture and politics into entertainment for the rest of the country. Hiaasen is a respected reporter who has spent years covering local, regional and state government in South Florida. His wildest novel plots are not necessarily wackier than some of the true boondoggles he has reported on over the years.

This time out, he takes aim on a narcissistic and toddler-tempered president with wildly irrational and group-thinking followers. The President's wife is a former model who isn't thrilled to be in the White House but puts in the time. Their Florida estate, the other White House, is -- are you ready? Casa Bellicosa.

Main character Angie is a former veterinarian who now "rescues" trapped wildlife -- raccoons in a house, snakes in a ballroom, etc. etc. Angie is a paroled felon whose crime was exacting an extreme punishment for a poacher who killed a baby dear. And the poacher is now stalking Angie, one of the plot threads.

But the main event is that someone is releasing non native Burmese pythons (some over twenty feet long) in interesting places and at popular events. And considering there is a body in one of the snakes, which later disappears, things begin to get interesting. As always with Hiaasen, there are multiple and crazy plot twists and much lunacy. Thank you, Mr. Hiaasen, for providing some much-needed humor. And thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Hiaasen always has been one of my favorite mystery authors and I was saddened after I heard his only brother, Rob was killed in the mass shooting at the Annapolis Capital Gazette in June 2018. Because of this tragedy, Hiaasen took time off (his last novel was 2016's Razor Girl) so I was anxious to read this return. And, boy was I not disappointed. I think this is one of his best...if not the best of his adult novels. It's biting and topical (COVID and the pandemic play a part, as does the the current political landscape). It's harsh and brash and TONS of fun. Just what I expect and want from Hiaasen. Unlike some of his novels, this story doesn't deviate off topic...the story stays focus on the key plot elements and characters. Excellent work from a comic genius! Welcome back, Mr. Hiaasen!

This wonderful read humorously addresses the ridiculous antics and expectations of the rich and powerful as compared to what is expected of all citizens in our country. It points out how money can cover-up wrongs and avoid prosecution, where as those without money or power are subjected (at times) to unfair treatment at the hands of others. The book looks at these serious issues with a light-hearted voice, which makes the book very enjoyable while still making a statement.

Extremely timely--so much so that I suspect this was written in 2020. As always, Hiaasen is fun to read, but the plot is not as engaging as in past books. Think of this as a quick staycation read.

Well, if you ever wondered if the Florida newspaper reporter and prolific author of books about the characters of Florida, Carl Hiaasen, will ever be invited to Mar-a-largo, the answer is NO. He had definitely joined the group of people the President considered “losers” because of this book. Palm Beach and its constituency of rich conservatives is perfect fodder for Hiaasen. Add in the winter White House and pythons, you have got another funny Hiaasen social commentary. Now the President and First Lady are never named. They go by their Secret Service names of “Mastodon” and “Mockingbird” and Mar-a-largo has ben renamed Casa Bellicosa, but if #45 ever read the book, even he’d be able to figure out who was “Mastodon”. Yes, there is a plot, but who reads a Hiaasen book for the plot. This is character driven writing at its best.

This is the most entertaining book I’ve read in months, but tRump supporters, be warned; you won’t like it. This is another hilarious cynical look at the foibles of South Florida society from the lowest felon to the president of the United States. And of course with the current president making Florida his official residence, Hiaasen has plenty of ammunition for a great satire.
Most of the action centers on a wildlife removal expert, Angie Armstrong, recently released from 14 months in prison for feeding a poacher’s hand to an alligator. She has her own company and is called in to remove an 18 foot Burmese python from the grounds of a swanky club before the rich attendees get wind of it. Unfortunately it is already too late for Kiki Pew, rich widow and enthusiastic groupie of POTUS urgently residing at the winter White House. Kiki has wandered off from the party and ended up in the belly of the snake. It is her disappearance, not her death that starts the plot wheels moving. The manager of the club wants to make sure no one knows how she met her demise, so he begins a scheme which leads to the death of several and the unjust incarceration of a young man trying to sneak back to the U.S. from Central America. Blaming Diego fits perfectly with the president’s anti-alien campaign and before long it takes on a life of its own.
Angie is a voice of sanity in a totally insane world. She speaks truth to power whenever possible and develops schemes of her own to thwart the crazies among the wealthy, the government and the unmoored. It was very satisfying to have her at the top of the food chain.
There is no denying, however, that the most entertaining parts of the book were those that centered on Mockingbird and Mastedon, the Secret Service code names for the First Lady and POTUS. I will never look at Melania again as just a pretty face and as for POTUS, well it only confirmed everything I ever thought about him..

I am a HUGE fan of Carl Hiaasen, his humor, the “Florida Man” events, his sometimes not so subtle references to wildlife and environmental issues. This book left me laughing!

This story hits on the topics that are relevant and timely to today’s current events - the COVID-19 pandemic, a not-so -thinly veiled of our current president and first lady as well as the real issue of pythons overtaking the Everglades and the issues they cause. Fans of Hiaasen will be delighted to know that our old friend Skink has retuned and now he has WiFi!

I used to live in Jupiter, it was so fun to listen to the story and know EXACTLY where that intersection, canal and restaurant are. I will absolutely be telling all of my friends to read this book!

Friends have recommended Hiaasen's books to me for years, so I thought it was time I tried one. Had I known this was the eighth book in his Skink series I probably would have avoided it, which would have been a shame. It was a delightful read, and I never felt like I was missing anything by starting with this book.

The heroine is Angie Armstrong, a wildlife wrangler who makes her living removing wildlife from clients' residents and property. Since the setting is Palm Beach, Florida, the wildlife is quite diverse. In the midst of normal critters like raccoons, opossums, badgers and alligators she suddenly finds her life complicated by the appearance of giant pythons. One of them may have eaten rich conservative socialite Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons--which triggers a whole chain of events.

The colorful cast includes an extremely nervous resort manager, two inept burglars, the local sheriff, an unlucky immigrant, a crazed poacher looking for revenge, and a Secret Service man who is about to retire. And of course Skink, an eccentric hermit who was once Governor of Florida. The Secret Service is involved because some of the action takes place at the Winter home of the President of the United States. He looks quite familiar, but in the story he has survived two impeachment trials and the covid pandemic has passed. Hiaasen has a lot of fun at the President's expense, and the First Lady doesn't come off much better.

At first it's a bit shocking to read a novel that is so topical: "ripped from the headlines," so to speak. It's such a hoot that the feeling quickly passes. My first Hiaasen novel, but it will certainly not be my last.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Angela is a former Florida wildlife officer who now owns her own animal removal company. Angela’s goal is humane capture and release to a more appropriate environment for the raccoons, bats, snakes, etc., who somehow get Into people’s houses. She is called to the grounds of a fancy club to remove a python. The python clearly has invested something rather large and it is stolen from Angela before she can get it to the proper authorities to perform an autopsy. This sets in motion a tale of a narcissistic president, a group of older rich women who are mourning the death of their friend Kiki, secret service agents, local police, an illegal alien and a former governor who has gone so far off the grid as to become legendary. Carl Hiassen never fails to deliver a witty tale and this one has laugh out loud moments. I thoroughly enjoyed Squeeze Me...now I have to re-read or read anew more books by Mr. Hiassen.

I have long been a fan of Carl Hiaasen. I enjoy his sense of humor and that he puts a strong environmental message in his adult and YA books. Squeeze Me is his latest book for adults. It has all the things I love about Hiasson's books - wry, not-so-subtle comments about the political climate of the time, narrative about the state of Florida wildlife, -in this novel it is hanks to the introduction and release of non-native pet Burmese pythons, bungling criminals and a strong female protagonist. In Squeeze Me, that female is Angie Armstrong, a former Wildlife and Fisheries agent forced to work in nuisance animal removal after her temper landed her in jail for a few months. Angie is called to one of the many country clubs that cater to the 1 % on Palm Beach. Her subject is an 18 foot Burmese python with a huge bulge in its middle, indicating that the reptile has just eaten. It was ridiculously easy to put the snake down - accepted protocol for an invasive species.
Angie carts the carcass to her freezer, waiting for a discrete time to dispose of it in the swamp. Coincidentally, one of the club's richest clients, diminutive dowager Kiki Pew has disappeared the night before. Kiki is not only known for her jewels and wealth, but for her support of the "Winter White House" resident and the first lady who lives just down the beach. Its pretty obvious from the description and the actions who the White House resident is supposed to be. The President jumps into the fray, blaming Kiki's death and the disappearance of her body on the plethora of illegal immigrants inhabiting the state. Angie becomes involved when the snake is stolen from her storage locker freezer. The snake's defrosted corpse ends up in the middle of the highway with Kiki's body no where to be found. Utter chaos ensues, the situation is a mess complicated by the POTUS's affairs, the arrest of Diego Beltran an innocent immigrant who was found in possession of Kiki's jewelry, the insane behavior of the snake thief and much, much more.

Squeeze Me is laugh out loud hilarious. Its a quick read and presents much food for thought couched in a humorous plot. This would be a great book for discussion. I recommend to Hiasson fans as well as anyone else who enjoys a good, thoughful and very funny read.. I appreciate the chance to read the ARC!.

Heir and daughter of the “Aerosol Pews,” Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons disappears in the middle of a fundraising gala. An enormous Burmese Python is found sleeping off a giant meal, with a bulge, in a tree. Professional snake wrangler, Angie Armstrong, beheads the snake. Soon, the snake is stolen and later found on the interstate, without the bulge. Before too long, Angie finds herself encountering the first lady, bumbling villains, several other mysteries, sardonic lawmen, corrupt politicians, and eco-avengers. What was in the bulge? Could it have been Kiki? What really happened? Full of plot twists and turns, the story is well-developed, engaging, and draws the readers into the story. The characters are engaging, unique, and entertaining. Fans of Carl Hiaasen, mystery, and adventure will want to pick this one up.
Please note: This was a complementary review copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No financial compensation was received.

Once again, Carl Hiaasen delivers a tongue in cheek political satire that makes you laugh out loud. Crazy Characters that keep you turning the pages and cheering on the female game removal agent’