Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen is simply a fascinating person. While perhaps best known as the author of eight best-selling novels including Sick Puppy and Skinny Dip, he also has an outstanding reputation as an investigative journalist. A three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, Carl is a columnist at The Miami Herald and has written over 1300 pieces exposing land corruption scams, drug smuggling rings, dangerous doctors, and corrupt politicians. And since real life in South Florida is sometimes stranger than fiction, none of these subjects are spared in his novels. Hiaasen's books skewer the greedy and corrupt with intelligence and humor, combining mystery plotlines, wicked satire, sharp observations, and a bizarre cast of characters. With his insight, humor and a killer instinct for stories, Hiaasen has certainly earned the respect of his contemporaries. Dave Barry, his colleague at The Miami Herald, calls him "one of South Florida's most vital natural resources, a relentlessly sane voice in a howling hurricane of hypocrisy, hokum and hype''.