Review -- Star Island by Carl Hiaasen

Star Island
by Carl Hiaasen
Knopf Doubleday, 2010
337 pages
*I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary (from Barnes and Noble): 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.

Review: This book was a breath of fun, fresh air when I was in a reading slump. Author Carl Hiaasen writes a kooky story filled with eccentric characters and a nutty story line. For me, the book totally worked. I loved the crazy characters (even the obnoxious Cherry Pye) and the demented plot (seriously - Ann gets kidnapped by a crazy man living in a swamp and that is in the first 25 pages or so). The book flew by and left me laughing. It is also a great satire about celebrity culture and the lengths people will go to sculpt their public image. I will definitely read more by this author. Rating: **** out of 5.