 First edition | |
| Author | Carl Hiaasen |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 1991 |
| Media type | Print (hard and paperback) |
| Pages | 325 pp |
| ISBN | 0-394-58796-0 |
| OCLC | 24281597 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3558.I217 N38 1991 |
Native Tongue is a novel by Carl Hiaasen, published in 1991. Like all his novels, it is set in Florida. The themes of the novel include corruption, environmentalism, exploitation of endangered species, and animal rights.
Joe Winder, a former investigative reporter, now works for the public relations department of the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills, a theme park located on North Key Largo, Florida. Joe's dulled investigative instincts are roused by the theft of two endangered "Blue Tongued Mango Voles" from the park's rare animal pavilion. Winder's boss, Charles Chelsea, discourages him from looking into the theft, but Joe secretly questions Dr. Will Koocher, the young biologist hired to supervise the captive breeding of the voles.
The Amazing Kingdom's founder and owner is Francis X. Kingsbury, or "Frankie King", a convicted racketeer who relocated to Florida under the Witness Protection Program after testifying against several mid-level members of John Gotti's crime family. Having discovered a previously unknown talent for selling real estate, Frankie has become very wealthy after building the Kingdom. His next project is to build Falcon Trace, an enormous golf course and vacation resort near the park, blatantly ignoring the proximity of a federal wildlife preserve.
The theft of the voles was commissioned by Molly McNamara, the elderly founder of a small environmentalist group called the Mothers of Wilderness. Unfortunately, the two burglars she hired, Bud Schwartz and Danny Pogue, carelessly kill both voles during the getaway. Furious, Molly gives both of the burglars non-fatal gunshot wounds and forcibly recruits them into the group. Meanwhile, Joe, who opposes Falcon Trace, keeps investigating the theft of the voles. The day after Will disappears, the Kingdom's trained orca suddenly dies. During the autopsy, Will's dead body is found lodged in the whale's throat. Joe refuses to let go of his suspicions of foul play, and the Kingdom's security chief, Pedro Luz, catches him searching Will's office for clues.
Charlie decides to fire Joe, but not before Joe reveals he's uncovered the motive for Will's murder: a bottle of blue food coloring hidden in the vole lab, meaning Will had discovered that the "endangered" voles were fake and was silenced before he could expose the hoax. Meanwhile, Molly sends Bud and Danny to burglarize Frankie's office at the Kingdom, looking for proof of illegal activities connected with Falcon Trace. Among Frankie's private files, Bud finds news clippings and correspondence showing his true identity as a former mafioso.
Unknown to Molly, he and Danny approach Frankie and blackmail him for the return of the files. Frightened of the mob's retaliation, Frankie promises them a large sum. Bud and Danny are elated, but return to Molly's condominium to find her savagely beaten - Frankie sent Pedro to give her "a warning" after her group picketed the opening ceremony of Falcon Trace. Joe's girlfriend Nina leaves him after he loses his job, but he finds allies in Carrie Lanier, an actress who plays one of the Kingdom's animal characters, and "Skink", who lives wild in the Key Largo woods. Both men agree that the law can do little to punish Frankie for Will's murder.
Joe sabotages equipment at the Falcon Trace construction site and, with Carrie's encouragement, issues phony press releases about disease outbreaks and poisonous snakes at the park. Charlie counters each of these releases, while Pedro unsuccessfully tries to kill Joe. Under Skink's guidance, Joe and Carrie also meet and compare notes with Molly, Bud, and Danny, leading Joe to learn of Frankie's true identity. When Bud and Danny appear to exchange Francis's files for their blackmail money, Pedro and one of his security guards try to kill them instead. The burglars escape, and an enraged Bud tracks down a mid-ranking Gotti associate to inform him of Frankie's whereabouts. A mob hit man is sent down, but his shot accidentally wounds the golf pro standing next to Frankie.
Disguised in Carrie's animal costume, Joe enters the park and, with Bud and Danny's help, confronts Frankie in his office. Joe offers him a graceful way out of his troubles, giving him a press release announcing that he will cancel Falcon Trace for environmentally conscious reasons. Joe reminds Frankie that he obtained the permits for Falcon Trace using a false name, and that his exposure will doom both the park and the development while putting Frankie in violation of his probation for defrauding the government and hiring convicted felons as security guards. As Frankie considers taking Joe's offer, Pedro bursts in, disarms Joe, and marches him out of the office. Frankie orders him killed. Skink rescues Joe from a brutal beating and pitches Pedro into the whale tank, where he drowns while being raped by a bottlenose dolphin.
Skink rejects Joe's subtle approach in favor of burning the Kingdom down. After the two men watch Carrie's first and last performance as the star of the Kingdom's Jubilee parade, Skink trips the park's fire alarm and causes the tourists and employees to flee. As Frankie tries in vain to find his security detail, he is shot dead in his office by the hit man, posing as a tourist. Joe and Carrie escape the burning park on foot while Molly, Danny, and Bud watch the proceedings the television in her hospital room. In the epilogue, Falcon Trace is acquired by outside investors with plans to continue the development, but the project is halted when the Mothers of Wilderness report a sighting of two more of the presumed-extinct voles in the nearby woods. The land, and the remains of the Amazing Kingdom, are replanted and eventually incorporated into the nearby nature preserve.
Carl Hiaasen is an American writer. A long-time columnist for the Miami Herald and Tribune Content Agency, Hiaasen has also written more than 20 novels which can generally be classified as humorous crime fiction and often feature themes of environmentalism and political corruption in his native Florida. He began his career as a news reporter and by the late 1970s had begun writing novels in his spare time. In 2002 he also started publishing books for young readers. Two of his novels have been made into feature films.
Sick Puppy is a 2000 novel by Carl Hiaasen.
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.
Tourist Season is a 1986 novel by Carl Hiaasen. It was his first solo novel, after co-writing several mystery/thriller novels with William Montalbano.
Skinny Dip is a caper novel by Carl Hiaasen first published in 2004.
Hoot is a 2002 mystery/suspense novel, recommended for ages 9-12, by Carl Hiaasen. The setting takes place in Florida, where new arrival Roy makes two oddball friends and a bad enemy, and joins an effort to stop construction of a pancake house which would destroy a colony of burrowing owls who live on the site. The book won a Newbery Honor award in 2003.
Molly Hatchet is an American Southern hard rock band formed by guitarist Dave Hlubek in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1971. The band is best known for their 1979 hit song "Flirtin' with Disaster".
Danny Joe Brown was the lead singer of the Southern rock group Molly Hatchet, after succeeding founder Dave Hlubek in 1976, and co-writer of the band's biggest hits from the late 1970s.
Basket Case, published in 2002, is the ninth novel by Carl Hiaasen. It is a crime novel set in Florida that centers on the death of singer Jimmy Stoma, the former lead man of "Jimmy and the Slut Puppies". This novel marks the first time Hiaasen used first-person point of view to deliver the novel. In previous works, he used third-person view.
Meet the Robinsons is a 2007 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 30, 2007. The 47th Disney animated feature film, it was released in standard and Disney Digital 3-D versions. The film is loosely based on characters from the children's book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce. The voice cast includes Jordan Fry, Wesley Singerman, Harland Williams, Tom Kenny, Steve Anderson, Laurie Metcalf, Adam West, Tom Selleck, and Angela Bassett. It was the first film released after then-Pixar executive John Lasseter became chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Stormy Weather is a 1995 novel by Carl Hiaasen. It takes place in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in South Florida and concerns the tragic effects of the disaster, including insurance scams, street fights, hunt for food and shelter, corrupt bureaucracy, a ravaged environment and disaster tourists.
Clinton Tyree, a.k.a. Skink, is a fictional character who has appeared in several novels by Carl Hiaasen, beginning with Double Whammy in 1987. He is an opponent of sprawl and development, and partakes of roadkill cuisine.
The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation with some claims of freemasonry, based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership and benevolent works.
Double Whammy is a 1987 novel by Carl Hiaasen. The protagonist, a private investigator, is hired to expose a celebrity bass fisherman as a cheat and is drawn into a frame-up for murder. The book introduced the character of "Skink", who becomes a recurring character in Hiaasen's subsequent novels.
Mark Twain Riverboat is an attraction, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America. Originally named Mark Twain Steamboat when the park opened in 1955, the stately, 5/8-scale stern-wheeler was the first functional riverboat to be built in the United States for fifty years. Other Disney riverboat attractions now appear at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
The Burglar is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was left unnamed in most of his appearances. He is best known as the first criminal faced by Spider-Man, and as the killer of the hero's uncle and surrogate father figure, Ben Parker. The Burglar first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, making him directly responsible for Ben Parker's death and Spider-Man's turn to superheroics.
Star Island is a 2010 novel by Carl Hiaasen, released on Tuesday, July 27, 2010.
Team Rodent is a non-fiction book, collecting a series of essays written by Carl Hiaasen about the Walt Disney Company and its stance towards the outside world. The book's primary focus is on non-film related Disney enterprises such as Disney World and their effects on the environment and local culture.
Skink - No Surrender is a young adult novel by Carl Hiaasen, published on September 23, 2014. It is described as Hiaasen's first young adult novel. He has authored four previous novels for "young" readers. Like all of his novels, it is set in Hiaasen's native Florida.
Razor Girl is a 2016 novel by Carl Hiaasen.