The Eager Beaver -- A rose by any other name ...

Strip Tease
Carl Hiaasen
Warner Books

I'm having a tough time coming up with content for this entry. It's not that I didn't enjoy Strip Tease -- I did -- it's just that I don't read this kind of book very often and for whatever reason, I don't know how to talk about it.

I guess we should start with the basics. Strip Tease, on one level, is a "suspense/thriller" novel, set in the seedier parts of south Florida. The main protagonist, Erin, is a reluctant stripper (and a former FBI data entry clerk) who needs to make decent money in order to fight her meth-head ex for custody of their child. One night, a sex-addicted congressman commits an indiscretion at the club where Erin works and she is inexorably sucked into a vortex of politics, big-agriculture, extortion and murder. Sounds fun, huh?

Hiaasen's novel is more than a John Grisham wannabe -- it also provides biting social commentary about government, corruption, and the kookiness of the south Florida social scene. While I did find myself laughing out loud in parts (the Eager Beaver is actually the name of the strip joint where, ahem, a great deal of the action takes place,) I also found myself wincing and shifting in my seat. Hiaasen can definitely be funny and make his reader uncomfortable at the same time. Two and a half lap dances out of five.