| Nature Girl | |
| Author: | Carl Hiaasen |
| Cover Artist: | Charles Burns |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Release Date: | 2006 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages: | 306 pp. |
| Isbn: | 978-0-307-26299-8 |
| Preceded By: | Skinny Dip |
| Followed By: | Star Island |
Nature Girl is a novel by Carl Hiaasen, published in 2006.[1]
Honey Santana becomes irritated by telemarketers and invites a particularly obnoxious one to a phony real estate promotion - which she describes as an eco-tour - in the Ten Thousand Islands in order to teach him a lesson. It is thus that telemarketers Boyd Shreave and his reluctant mistress Eugenie Fonda make their way from Texas to Everglades City, Florida, and eventually Dismal Key with Honey, unaware that she is being stalked by Louis Piejack, Honey's perverted and disfigured ex-employer, who is unaware that he is being followed by Fry, Honey's wise and protective twelve-year-old son, and his courageous ex-drug runner father. Also on the island are a young half-Seminole man named Sammy Tigertail and his very willing captive, Gillian, a sex-obsessed, warmhearted Florida State coed. Various odd events surface along the way.
Honey Santana loses her job after she hits her lecherous boss, Louis Piejack. During dinner, she receives a call from telemarketer Boyd Shreave, trying to sell her cheap land. Honey asks Boyd if his mother knows what he does for a living, causing him to insult her; she resolves to track Boyd down to teach him a lesson. Meanwhile, a drunken tourist dies of a heart attack during an airboat ride with Sammy Tigertail, a young half-Seminole. Misconstruing his uncle's advice, he dumps the body in a river and camps out on the Ten Thousand Islands. Sammy's solitude is interrupted by a group of college students having a drunken party. He is about to steal one of their canoes and find another island when one of the students, Gillian, pressures him to take her along.
Boyd loses his job for insulting Honey and his co-worker Eugenie Fonda, the one-time mistress of a tabloid murderer, ends their affair. He is also unaware that his wife, Lily, has hired a private investigator, Dealey, to gather evidence of his infidelity for their divorce. Lily demands more explicit footage of Boyd's affair, causing Dealey to realize that she is now indulging a sexual fetish instead of gathering evidence. Meanwhile, Honey tracks Boyd down and calls him at home, posing as a telemarketer offering a free trip to Florida as part of a timeshare promotion. Boyd seizes the opportunity to try to win Eugenie back, and she is intrigued enough to accept. Honey borrows the airfare from her ex-husband, Perry Skinner, and asks her son, Fry, if he can stay with Perry for a few days.
Boyd and Eugenie arrive at Honey's trailer park. There, Dealey — who has followed the pair — is abducted by Louis, who is stalking Honey. While skateboarding past the trailer park, Fry catches sight of them. Honey leads Boyd and Eugenie on a kayaking trip. By coincidence they land on Dismal Key, where Sammy and Gillian have begun to bond. Fry is so preoccupied worrying about his mother that he collides with a garbage truck on his skateboard, suffering a concussion. Perry, who does not trust the hospital to look after his son, gives him a Miami Dolphins helmet and drives with him to the docks. He spots Louis tailing Honey's kayak in a jon boat and follows them. On Dismal Key, Honey reveals her identity to Boyd and gives him a rehearsed lecture on basic courtesy. Boyd turns to leave with Eugenie, but they find the kayaks gone — Sammy, mistaking them for intruders, has stolen them.
Dealey arrives on Dismal Key with Louis. Sammy finds them, knocks Louis out and takes Dealey prisoner, mistaking him for the tourist's ghost. After Honey, Boyd and Eugenie fall asleep, Sammy sneaks to their campsite to steal water. Eugenie wakes and follows him back, wanting the quickest possible way off the island. There, she meets Dealey, who admits he was sent by Lily. Dealey borrows Gillian's cell phone and calls the Coast Guard for air rescue. Sammy says that Eugenie and Gillian are leaving with him, whether they want to or not. Sensing her last opportunity, Gillian asks Eugenie for some privacy and seduces Sammy. Perry and Fry arrive on the island, with Fry ignoring his father and leaving the boat to find his mother. He runs into Eugenie, who is charmed by Fry's intelligence and manners, and helps him back toward the camp when he is overcome by vertigo.
In the morning, Honey makes Boyd climb a tree with her to watch a sunrise, which fails to impress him. As they climb down, Louis snatches Honey; Boyd watches mutely as she is dragged away. Dealey tries to paddle out in one of Honey's kayaks when a Coast Guard helicopter arrives, but has to be rescued by Gillian when he tips the kayak over and nearly drowns. Fry encourages Eugenie to go, and she is rescued along with Dealey and Gillian. Fry comes upon Louis threatening Honey with a shotgun. Sammy strikes Louis with his guitar, killing him. Perry is shot in the hip during the skirmish, and Honey rushes him and Fry back to the mainland. Sammy disposes of Louis's body using his jon boat. Boyd reaches another island on Sammy's canoe and stumbles on a small religious group who identify him as the returned Jesus Christ.
In the epilogue, Sammy finds a new island and realizes that Gillian is searching for him, but wonders whether or not he wants to keep hiding. Eugenie leaves her telemarketing job and, as a snub to Lily, sends her footage of two mating geckos which she idly filmed on the island with one of Dealey's cameras. Dealey offers her a job in his office. Boyd alienates his religious followers, who kick him out of the group and leave him on the island with his canoe. He makes his way to the mainland, coming across a tourist couple from Chicago asking for a realtor. Honey and Perry get back together while recovering from their injuries. Fry is happy, but worried about whether his mother's obsessiveness will drive them apart again. During dinner, Honey decides not to answer the phone when it rings.
Like many of Hiaasen's novels, the events of the book are largely driven by the collection of characters who populate it:
The New York Times wrote that "perhaps as compensation for its familiarity, Nature Girl is a bit too frantic in its plotting."[1] Kirkus Reviews wrote: "For once, the characters are funnier than their exhaustingly unpredictable interactions. The result is less satire than usual from Hiaasen ... and more Rube Goldberg farce."[2] Publishers Weekly called the book "another hilarious Florida romp."[3] The Independent called it "an hysterical romp of crooks and tarts by a delectably deranged imagination."[4]