Florida Roadkill - Book Group September 2024 discussion thread

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Diogenes
Diogenes
11 Sep
7:46am, 11 Sep 2024
88,044 posts
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Diogenes
Sounds less savoury than CMODE
GregP
GregP
11 Sep
7:53am, 11 Sep 2024
153,312 posts
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GregP
The tone is more Tom and Jerry than Silence of the Lambs.
McGoohan
McGoohan
11 Sep
7:54am, 11 Sep 2024
54,505 posts
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McGoohan
It's more that the characters are either dislikeable or one dimensional or both. It keeps introducing some comedy lowlife and they either die straight away or turn out to be someone we're expected to care for.

I see why Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen have been mentioned. The writing is a sort of gonzo sub Hiaasen. But the best characters, Sean and
David are lifted straight from Joe R Lansdale's Hap and Leonard stories. Elmore Leonard often writes about lowlife characters but he does it with charm somehow.

I really did give it a try but it just annoyed me at every turn.
GregP
GregP
11 Sep
8:23am, 11 Sep 2024
153,316 posts
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GregP
I’m amazed it’s taken this long for someone to use the word gonzo.

McG’s set up at the top of the thread is in a lot of ways perfect.
westmoors
westmoors
13 Sep
8:51am, 13 Sep 2024
9,125 posts
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westmoors
Finished this last night. The cover says 'twisted hilarity' but I didn't find any humour in it. Maybe that was because I just never really got into it and found it a grind.
GregP
GregP
20 Sep
7:08am, 20 Sep 2024
153,478 posts
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GregP
The Carl Hiaasen cameo was sweet
LindsD
LindsD
21 Sep
6:09pm, 21 Sep 2024
69,865 posts
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LindsD
I think I would have liked this if I'd read it 20 years ago or more. I think I would have been able to remember who everyone was and how they were connected. There was too much going on, too many time jumps (or perhaps just one, I'm not sure) and too much violence. I used to love Carl Hiaasen but I stopped reading him when it all got a bit samey. I wonder if I would like him now. We used to live in Miami, so the local references were great, but there was Just Too Much Going On for me. And it was too violent. Did I already say that? I did get more into it as it hurtled towards the end, but yeah, not for me. I gave it a 4.

And I didn't spot the cameo. :(
LindsD
LindsD
21 Sep
6:10pm, 21 Sep 2024
69,866 posts
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LindsD
Yes. Gonzo.
LindsD
LindsD
21 Sep
6:12pm, 21 Sep 2024
69,867 posts
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LindsD
And I read it on Kindle. Which made it harder to go back and try and work out who was who. But I did try.
GregP
GregP
21 Sep
6:12pm, 21 Sep 2024
153,496 posts
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GregP
I have mentioned Burn Notice at some point?

About This Thread

Maintained by McGoohan
As Scott Mariani is to Dan Brown, as Obi-Wan Kenobi was to Qui-Gon Jinn and as Abbott and Costello were to Laurel and Hardy so Tim Dorsey was to Carl Hiaasen, the young padawan, studying at his master’s side and if need be, riffling through his bins for material. In some cases it works brilliantly – just look at Obi-Wan’s skill with a lightsabre for example. Sometimes, not so well, e.g. Scott Mariani’s ongoing struggle with basic grammar. Which will this be? In only 285 pages’ time you will have the answer.

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