Wrecker

By: Carl Hiaasen

Narrated by: Ron Butler

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Wrecker needs to deal with smugglers, grave robbers, and pooping iguanas—just as soon as he finishes Zoom school. Welcome to another wild adventure in Carl Hiaasen's Florida!

Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker because his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather salvaged shipwrecks for a living.

So is it destiny, irony, or just bad luck when Wrecker comes across a speedboat that has run hard aground on a sand flat? The men in the boat don't want Wrecker to call for help—in fact, they'll pay him to forget he ever saw them.

Wrecker would be happy to forget, but he keeps seeing these men all over Key West—at the marina, in the cemetery, even right outside his own door. And now they want more than his silence—they want a lookout.

He'll have to dive deep into their shady dealings to figure out a way to escape this tangled net. . . .

Critic reviews

★ "Hiaasen packs his tale with rich character details, local history, and present-day concerns, all while carefully spinning a layered mystery that gets more serious with every turn. One heck of a ride."—Booklist, starred review

"A batten-down-the-hatches thriller anchored by critical real-life themes." —Kirkus Reviews

"Action-packed and endlessly funny." — Shelf Awareness

"A beautifully told mystery with plenty of action and heart." —The Horn Book

"Hiaasen blends ecological conservation, family drama, and Key West history. Multilayered, with all the hallmarks of a thrilling heist." —Publishers Weekly

It’s a young adult book..not what was represented in Audible preview

Audible.. please do better. Totally misrepresented this title from this author . It’s a kids book. Ok for what it is but not what anyone who regularly reads CH expected. Money back please..

I don’t usually listen to YA but…

But it’s Carl Hiaasen! I am huge fan so know that as you read this review it is not entirely unbiased!
I liked the story a lot. It was engaging, informative and as with all Hiaasen novels a strong and important message about our need to protect and manage environmental resources. Yes it was designed for a younger market so did lack some of the deliciously twisted undertones of some of his books designed for older readers but it didn’t lack pointed humor.
Honestly it was a thoroughly entertaining few hours listening. I recommend and having run out of his other books to read/listen to for the first time, I will be investigating his other YA books.

good enough but I'm maybe for children

not really funny but amusing.
more like a real book rather than an ever so funny story. the cruise ships putting in at key west doesn't pull my sympathy & the fake vac cards are old tory

Wreckers character

Immersive description of Florida keys. Friendship between Wrecker and Willy. Story of a healing family amidst the pandemic.

Fun Hiaasen Read

Classic Hiaasen. Great South Florida settings and the usual quirky characters getting themselves in quandries and pickles. Have fun with it.