I finished "Powder Burn" late last night. It's quite
different in style
and voice from Hiaasen's later, solo novels ("Tourist
Season," "Double
Whammy," "Lucky You," et al). For the most part, the
whackiness and
humor are also missing, making it closer to a standard,
"serious"
thriller. The novel does contain a few later Hiaasen conceits
(the
secondary character who lives outside society's boundaries
and assists
the protagonist; physical deformities for one or more of the
villains; a
Cuban cop who is just, but not always law-abiding; a defense
of Florida
against outsiders and developers) in embryo form.
The plot itself is engaging most of the time, using the
set-up of an
innocent man drawn into the criminal world who must defend
himself
against the cops and robbers. It opens well, experiences
about a 30 page
lull and then picks up through to the end, although the
protagonist's
grand finale of a plan was not as sophisticated in its
plotting as I
expect from Hiaasen.
Overall, I recommend it, to both fans and non-fans of
Hiaasen. "A Death
in China" and "Trap Line" will have wait a few weeks for a
reading, but
they await on the bookshelf.
Andy
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