A ticket to trouble
Michael Carlson
LUCKY YOU by Carl Hiaasen Pan, £5.99, pp. 496 Is there writing life after Demi Moore? The Hollywood star passed Carl Hiaasen's novel Striptease past her siliconed Scylla and Charybdis, introducing the non-reading public to his satiric thrillers about life in Florida. As if reclaiming the swampy higher ground, Hiaasen, a columnist on the Miami Herald, turned to non-fiction. He produced a scathing indictment of the role of Disney in the avaricious despoiling of the Sunshine State, before returning to fiction with Lucky You, which begins in avarice as well.
It's greed on a smaller scale, specifically two winning tickets in Florida's state lottery. One belongs to JoLayne Lucks, a veterinarian's assistant who wants the money to turn a local forest into a wildlife preserve. She doesn't know it's targeted for a useless shopping centre by a union pen- sion fund being used to launder money for the Mob. The other ticket belongs to two would-be militiamen, skinhead survivalists who figure JoLayne is depriving them of half their rightful prize. They head for her home town of Grange, which attracts bus- loads of pilgrims to its two religious shrines: a highway stain in the shape of Jesus' visage, and a plastic Madonna which cries perfumed tears.
Journalist Tom Krone is sent to Grange by a vengeful and idiotic sub-editor. Krone is just the sort of wounded puppy who needs JoLayne's veterinary skills. When the ticket is stolen, they begin their own pil- grimage to south Florida, aiming to retrieve her ticket, save the wilderness and get some revenge on the rednecks who stole it in the first place.
In Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell described a populace kept under control, in part, by a lottery, which created the illusion of possible success, and kept the workers' minds from focusing on more dangerous thoughts. Does this sound familiar? Hiaasen's Florida lacks Big Brother, but it has been turned into a paradise where everything is for sale and nothing is free.
Hiaasen is amazed at the 'arrogance of millions of people who stuff themselves between West Palm Beach and the Keys, and then are surprised when hurricanes don't detour to avoid them'. He's a witty and perceptive writer, who recognises the paradox that his books may have a reverse effect. 'As the body counts grew on Miami Vice, so did the number of tourists coming to Miami.'
Hiaasen is often compared with Elmore Leonard, who also specialises in low-life characters in Florida settings. But where Leonard's crooks are usually content to despoil their own small universe, Hiaasen's villains are busy messing up the wider world. Their come-uppance arrives on a larger, more ironic scale.
Perhaps Demi Moore had her effect. The aptly named Ms Lucks is a character so Leonard-like, she almost begs to be played by Pam Grier, blaxploitation hero- ine of Jackie Brown. Knowing Hollywood, they will probably cast Halle Berry, or, if they want someone the right age, Rae Dawn Chong. There are worse fates for books. Nevertheless, do yourself a favour and read it before the movie gets made.
Previous page
