Squeeze Me

Squeeze Me by American journalist and author Carl Hiaasen was published in 2020 and debuted on the New York Times best-seller list. Hiaasen is primarily known for his humorous mystery novels, and Squeeze Me is a political satire written from a liberal-leaning perspective that sharply criticizes an incompetent fictional president and his disastrous policies. A southern Florida native, Hiaasen began his career as an investigative reporter and later penned a weekly column for the Miami-Herald. Hiaasen turned to fiction in 1981 and has written 16 adult novels, six middle school mysteries, and six nonfiction works, often focusing on the themes of political corruption, greed, and environmental protection. His writing has earned him numerous awards, including the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Lifetime Achievement Award and the Denver Press Club’s Damon Runyon Award. All page references in this study guide refer to the 2020 Kindle edition of the book.

Plot Summary

The story takes place at the present time in the wealthy island community of Palm Beach, southern Florida, where the President maintains his Winter White House at the exclusive club of Casa Bellicosa. Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons is a wealthy widow who heads a band of likeminded women who call themselves the Potussies. They are ardent supporters of the President and donate generously to his campaign. One night, Kiki is attending a charity benefit and wanders off into the garden, never to be seen again. That same evening, a group of illegal immigrants is smuggled onto Palm Beach.

Shortly afterward, a large Burmese python is found near the koi pond where Kiki disappeared. Wildlife relocation specialist Angie Armstrong is called to dispatch the creature. She is convinced that the snake ate the 88-pound Kiki. No one believes her, but the snake carcass mysteriously disappears from the freezer where Angie was keeping it prior to autopsy.

Kiki’s body is later found dumped at a construction site, minus her distinctive pink conch pearl necklace. The police are convinced that her death was a murder. One of the immigrants who landed in Palm Beach on the night of Kiki’s disappearance, Diego, is accused of the crime because he happened to find a pink pearl on the railroad tracks near his place of work. Because Kiki was an ardent supporter of the President, he intrudes into the investigation. This incriminating evidence is all the President needs to accuse Diego of the crime on social media, claiming the illegal immigrant wants to bring down his administration. As if this weren’t enough of a catastrophe, a disgruntled activist releases a swarm of deadly pythons all over Palm Beach as a wake-up call to its residents. Angie valiantly deals with the python threat and does her best to clear Diego of the murder charge. When it becomes apparent that the justice system will do nothing to help the immigrant, Angie finds a unique means of solving the problem through backdoor channels, and all ends well.

The narration is written from a limited third-person viewpoint and follows the experiences of numerous characters. At many stages in the novel, these plot lines do not seem to intersect, but they all converge in the final few chapters. As the situations spins out of control, the novel humorously examines the themes of justice in America, the danger of demagogues, and the ongoing battle between humans and nature.