Star Island

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

A hilarious spin on life in the celebrity fast lane from “Florida’s most entertainingly indignant social critic” (New York Times Book Review) and the bestselling author of Squeeze Me.

Meet twenty-two-year-old Cherry Pye (née Cheryl Bunterman), a pop star since she was fourteen—and about to attempt a comeback from her latest drug-and-alcohol disaster.

Now meet Cherry again: in the person of her “undercover stunt double,” Ann DeLusia. Ann portrays Cherry whenever the singer is too “indisposed”—meaning wasted—to go out in public. And it is Ann-mistaken-for-Cherry who is kidnapped from a South Beach hotel by obsessed paparazzo Bang Abbott.

Now the challenge for Cherry’s handlers (über–stage mother; horndog record producer; nipped, tucked, and Botoxed twin publicists; weed whacker–wielding bodyguard) is to rescue Ann while keeping her existence a secret from Cherry’s public—and from Cherry herself.

The situation is more complicated than they know. Ann has had a bewitching encounter with Skink—the unhinged former governor of Florida living wild in a mangrove swamp—and now he’s heading for Miami to find her….

Will Bang Abbott achieve his fantasy of a lucrative private photo session with Cherry Pye? Will Cherry sober up in time to lip-synch her way through her concert tour? Will Skink track down Ann DeLusia before Cherry’s motley posse does?

©2010 Carl Hiaasen (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

“Carl Hiaasen [is] Florida’s most entertainingly indignant social critic... He presents us with Cherry Pye, a 22-year-old pop star whose every display of narcissistic excess will send a frisson of horrified delight up your spine... The outlandish events soar on the exuberance of Hiaasen’s manic style, a canny blend of lunatic farce and savage satire.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Fans of Carl Hiaasen will feel right at home when they plunge into Star Island. There’s the familiar collection of deliciously tawdry characters, each angling for a piece of the action in Florida... And there’s the fast-moving plot, and the writing that makes you laugh out loud... Hiaasen has turned out another gem. Readers of his previous novels can settle in for more wacky fun in the Florida sun.” (Associated Press)

“Hiaasen is at his gleeful best skewering the morally bankrupt. He has plenty to poke fun at here, from a reprehensible real-estate developer with an excruciating groin injury to twin publicists Botoxed within an inch of their lives. This is classic Hiaasen - demented, hilarious, and utterly over the top.” (Booklist, starred review)

Bit over the top even for Carl Hiaasen.

Any additional comments?

Carl's book are never very deep but always good to relax and take your mind off every day life. I enjoyed the book but the weed wacker took this one a bit over the top. Lots of parts still made me laugh driving down the road.

Hilarious and yet somehow a pathetic character

A winning combo! Between the self-obsessed minimally talented creature at the center of this romp (not to mention the hangers-on) and the unfortunate fact that there are people who actually care about twits like her (can you say Kardashian?) is a very funny story, brilliantly narrated by Stephen Hoye, who does accents and the subtleties of characters like a chameleon. I adore this guy, and I'll listen to pretty much any book he is generous enough to narrate. And that I can get a Hiaasen book with this man reading it? JKMN!

Awesome as always

Great job narrating. Love the accents as they add so much to the story. Awesome

Like Cherry, This Book Needs Uppers

The usually (indeed, always) reliable Carl Hiaasen seems to have run out of gas halfway through this amusing tale of Life in the Passing Lane. The first third of the book is diverting. The middle third loses its way. The final third is just filler. And the epilogue gave me a headache. Good concept -- but not much follow-through. And I grow weary of the runaway Governor...

Always fun to listen to.

I like the narrator and the author's work is always interesting. This book is probably filled with more expletives then any other and that seems to distract from the good humor that is so characteristic of Mr. Hiaasen's work. I can't help thinking that there is a lot of what is true in the story, even though the names and identities are cleverly disguised.

Great Read

Great laugh out loud humor. Found myself looking for an excuse to "Take a Ride" so I could listen. A Fun and easy book... Hiaasen's descriptions are genius -- and I like Hoyle's reading.

But for the F-words, it would be a short story.

Far too much profanity. I imagine there are people incapable of expressing themselves without resorting to an F-bomb in every sentence, but this is supposed to be literature, not a middle school locker room. I have purchased every Hiaasen story offerred by Audible, but I wouldn't recommend this one to anybody who is easily offended, has religious or moral values, or has more than a 300 word vocabulary. I'm sure Tom Wolfe used a few more in "I am Charlotte Simmons", but that novel was three times as long.

Can't go wrong with a Hiaasen book

Any additional comments?

This is another great book by one of my favorite authors! I never am disappointed with a Hiaasen book!

First Carl Hiaasen audiobook - Narrator non-issue

It's Carl Hiaasen, if you have read him before then you will enjoy this book. I read all the complaints about the narrator and since this was my first Carl audiobook I had no attachment to the previous narrator and found Stephen Hoye perfectly acceptable. Don't let that prevent you from getting this book.

Skink saved the day

Not up to Carl Hiaasen’s usual quality. In fact this is the first book of his I didn’t liked. Skink’s antics saved the story! After all, who’s interested in reading about a super spoiled, obnoxious druggie.