Author · guide verified September 10, 2026
Carl Hiaasen Books in Order
Every Carl Hiaasen book in publication order — 38 in total, spanning 1981–2025.
Nobody has ever loved Florida more, or been angrier about what's been done to it, than Carl Hiaasen. A Miami Herald columnist for 35 years, he turned his beat — crooked developers, bought politicians, the daily parade of the bizarre — into a run of comic crime novels that are equal parts thriller, satire and love letter to the Everglades. His villains are greedy and get what's coming to them, usually from an alligator or an ex-governor living in the swamp on roadkill. His heroes are exhausted decent people. And his books are, page for page, some of the funniest crime fiction in print.
Publication Order of Black Lizard Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Powder Burn | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Trap Line | 1982 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  A Death in China | 1984 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  The Sinners of San Ramon | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Skink Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Double Whammy | 1987 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Native Tongue | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Stormy Weather | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Sick Puppy | 2000 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Skinny Dip | 2004 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  Star Island | 2010 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Skink--No Surrender | 2014 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Mick Stranahan Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Skin Tight | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Skinny Dip | 2004 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Juvenile Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hoot | 2002 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Flush | 2005 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Scat | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Chomp | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Squirm | 2018 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 | Wrecker | 2023 | Amazon US |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tourist Season | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Strip Tease | 1993 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Lucky You | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Basket Case | 2002 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Nature Girl | 2006 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  Bad Monkey | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Razor Girl | 2016 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  Squirm | 2018 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 |  Squeeze Me | 2020 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 |  Fever Beach | 2025 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Picture Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Edible Exile | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World | 1998 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Kick Ass: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Paradise Screwed: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen | 2001 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  The Downhill Lie / Fairway to Hell | 2008 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Dance of the Reptiles | 2014 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  Assume the Worst | 2018 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Naked Came the Manatee | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 | 2007 | Amazon US UK |
Every title by year All 38, oldest to newest
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powder Burn | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 | Trap Line | 1982 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 | A Death in China | 1984 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 | Tourist Season | 1986 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 | Double Whammy | 1987 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 | The Sinners of San Ramon | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 | Skin Tight | 1989 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 | Native Tongue | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 | Strip Tease | 1993 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 | Stormy Weather | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 | Lucky You | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 12 | Naked Came the Manatee | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 13 | Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World | 1998 | Amazon US UK |
| 14 | Kick Ass: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 15 | Sick Puppy | 2000 | Amazon US UK |
| 16 | Paradise Screwed: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen | 2001 | Amazon US UK |
| 17 | Hoot | 2002 | Amazon US UK |
| 18 | Basket Case | 2002 | Amazon US UK |
| 19 | Skinny Dip | 2004 | Amazon US UK |
| 20 | Skinny Dip | 2004 | Amazon US UK |
| 21 | Flush | 2005 | Amazon US UK |
| 22 | Nature Girl | 2006 | Amazon US UK |
| 23 | The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 | 2007 | Amazon US UK |
| 24 | The Downhill Lie / Fairway to Hell | 2008 | Amazon US UK |
| 25 | Scat | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 26 | Star Island | 2010 | Amazon US UK |
| 27 | Chomp | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 28 | Bad Monkey | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 29 | The Edible Exile | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 30 | Skink--No Surrender | 2014 | Amazon US UK |
| 31 | Dance of the Reptiles | 2014 | Amazon US UK |
| 32 | Razor Girl | 2016 | Amazon US UK |
| 33 | Squirm | 2018 | Amazon US UK |
| 34 | Squirm | 2018 | Amazon US UK |
| 35 | Assume the Worst | 2018 | Amazon US UK |
| 36 | Squeeze Me | 2020 | Amazon US UK |
| 37 | Wrecker | 2023 | Amazon US |
| 38 | Fever Beach | 2025 | Amazon US UK |
A reader's guide to Carl Hiaasen
Do the books need to be read in order?
Mostly no. Nearly every Hiaasen novel is a standalone with its own cast, and you can pick them up in any order you like. There are two threads worth knowing about. The first is Skink — Clinton Tyree, a former governor of Florida who walked away from office in disgust and now lives wild in the swamp, eating roadkill and dispensing justice. He wanders through Double Whammy, Native Tongue, Stormy Weather, Sick Puppy, Skinny Dip, Star Island and the young-adult Skink — No Surrender; you don't need to read them in sequence, but fans love watching him age. The second is Andrew Yancy, the demoted detective of Bad Monkey (2013) and its direct sequel Razor Girl (2016) — read those two in order.
The adult novels, decade by decade
The 1980s and '90s books — Tourist Season, Double Whammy, Skin Tight, Native Tongue, Strip Tease, Stormy Weather — are the ones that built his reputation: fast, savage and very funny about the Florida boom. The 2000s brought Sick Puppy, Basket Case (a wonderful newspaper novel), Skinny Dip and Nature Girl. Star Island (2010) skewers celebrity culture; Bad Monkey and Razor Girl are the Keys books; Squeeze Me (2020) sets a python loose in Palm Beach high society; and Fever Beach (2025), his newest, takes on a gang of hapless would-be insurrectionists. Before all this he co-wrote three thrillers with fellow Herald reporter Bill Montalbano, listed above under Black Lizard.
The kids’ books
Hiaasen's middle-grade novels are the same recipe with the profanity removed: a kid, an endangered animal, a grown-up villain, and Florida. Hoot (2002) won a Newbery Honor and became a film; Flush, Scat, Chomp, Squirm and Wrecker (2023) followed. They are a wonderful way to introduce a ten-year-old to the idea that you can be funny and furious at the same time.
Carl Hiaasen on screen
Hiaasen's books are so visual it's a wonder it took Hollywood so long to get one right. Bad Monkey finally did.
- 1996StripteaseFilm — Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds; from Strip Tease. Not a success, though Reynolds is fun.
- 2006HootFilm — Family film with Luke Wilson; Jimmy Buffett co-produced and appears.
- 2024Bad MonkeyTV series — Apple TV+; Vince Vaughn as Andrew Yancy, from Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso). Renewed for a second season.
If you liked the show, read the books
Liked Bad Monkey (Apple TV+)? Read Bad Monkey and then Razor Girl — the second Yancy book is the one the show hasn’t reached yet.
Liked Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)? Same showrunner, very different vibe: try Skinny Dip for Hiaasen’s warmest, funniest revenge story.
Frequently asked
What order should I read Carl Hiaasen books in?
Any order — they are standalones. The only true sequence is Bad Monkey (2013) followed by Razor Girl (2016). The Skink books (Double Whammy, Native Tongue, Stormy Weather, Sick Puppy, Skinny Dip, Star Island) share a recurring character and are best enjoyed in publication order, but each works alone.
What is the best Carl Hiaasen book?
Skinny Dip and Tourist Season are the ones fans name most often; Sick Puppy, Native Tongue and Bad Monkey are close behind. Hoot is the best-loved of the kids’ books.
What is the newest Carl Hiaasen book?
Fever Beach (2025). Before that came Squeeze Me (2020) and, for younger readers, Wrecker (2023).
Who is Skink?
Clinton Tyree, a one-eyed former governor of Florida who abandoned office in disgust and lives in the wilderness, surfacing in seven of Hiaasen’s novels to punish people who abuse the state. He is the closest thing the books have to a hero.
Is Bad Monkey based on a book?
Yes — the Apple TV+ series starring Vince Vaughn is adapted from Hiaasen’s 2013 novel Bad Monkey. Its sequel, Razor Girl (2016), continues Andrew Yancy’s story.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.