A scathing commentary on modern "culture"

I picked up Basket Case after reading about it on Amazon.com and look forward to reading more of Carl Hiaasen's works.

Basket Case combines the gritty world of rock and roll and the recording industry with a pinch of romance, whodunit and death...lots o' death. Our leading man Jack Tagger writes obituaries and is obsessed with death, going as far as memorizing what celebrities died at what age, then seeing if he will outlive them.

At times Basket Case requires suspension of reality, but there are many enjoyable moments (the dead lizard in the freezer being one of them) as Jack searches for the truth about the death of Jimmy Stoma, lead singer of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. Hiaasen obviously has a handle on modern pop culture as he drops current band names and trends every few pages and doesn't miss a beat. Carl introduces us to the newsroom, ravers, Ecstasy, photo shop girls who make secret duplicates of naughty amateur photos, industry scumbags with L'Oreal hair and thug bodyguards, a Courtney Lovesque widow bent on building her career at the expense of her deceased husband.

The plot moves along at a steady pace, and Hiaasen includes enough twists and turns to make things interesting every few chapters. Being a musician, I enjoyed the musical descriptions and aspects of the book. Lots of memorable characters and moments.