Dead Tourist, Missing Shriner

The story opens with the disappearance of Theodore Bellamy, a hapless tourist in Miami, after a bizarre encounter with lifeguards who are not what they seem. His wife, Nell, is left bewildered as the police dismiss her concerns, focusing instead on the more sensational disappearance of B.D. "Sparky" Harper, a local business leader. The city is introduced as a place where the extraordinary is routine, and the seeds of chaos are sown in the humid, unpredictable air of South Florida. The missing persons are not isolated incidents but the first tremors of a larger, more sinister plot.

Suitcase Corpse and Rubber Gator

Sparky Harper's body is found stuffed in a suitcase, his legs crudely severed, his corpse slathered in suntan oil, and a toy rubber alligator jammed down his throat. The murder is both theatrical and chilling, signaling a killer with a flair for the grotesque and a message to send. The police and media are baffled, and the city's veneer of sun-drenched paradise is cracked by the macabre spectacle. The murder's symbolism—tourist trappings and Florida kitsch—hints at a deeper rage against what Miami has become.

The Reporter and the Columnist

Ricky Bloodworth, an ambitious but hapless reporter, and Skip Wiley, a brilliant, erratic columnist, become obsessed with the case. Wiley's cynicism and flair for drama shape public perception, while Bloodworth's desperation for a scoop leads him into dangerous territory. The newsroom is a microcosm of Miami's chaos, with truth, hype, and personal vendettas swirling together. Wiley's increasingly unhinged columns foreshadow his deeper involvement in the city's unraveling.

Private Eye on the Case

Brian Keyes, a former journalist turned private investigator, is hired to help clear Ernesto Cabal, a small-time Cuban burglar accused of Harper's murder. Keyes is haunted by his own failures and the emotional toll of his past reporting. As he digs deeper, he uncovers a web of evidence that points away from Cabal and toward a conspiracy with a political and ecological agenda. Keyes's journey is as much about redemption as it is about solving the case.

The Revolution's Manifesto

A series of letters signed by "El Fuego, Comandante, Las Noches de Diciembre" claim responsibility for the murders, declaring war on Miami's tourist industry. The letters are articulate, mocking, and chilling, promising more violence to come. The police and city leaders are slow to grasp the seriousness of the threat, dismissing the group as cranks. But Keyes and a few others recognize the pattern: the violence is targeted, symbolic, and escalating.

The Real Miami Unveiled

Through Wiley's columns and Keyes's investigation, the novel peels back the layers of Miami's boosterism and exposes the city's underbelly: corruption, environmental destruction, and the relentless commodification of paradise. The city's obsession with image and tourism is both its lifeblood and its curse. The narrative is laced with dark humor and biting social commentary, as the characters grapple with the consequences of unchecked growth and lost identity.

The Nights of December

The Nights of December are unmasked as a ragtag band led by Skip Wiley, including Viceroy Wilson (a disgraced ex-football star), Jesus Bernal (a failed Cuban revolutionary), and Tommy Tigertail (a Seminole Indian tycoon). Each is driven by personal grievances and a shared hatred of what Florida has become. Their methods are theatrical—murders staged as anti-tourist statements, kidnappings, and bombings—designed to terrify and drive away the very people the city depends on.

The Kidnapping Game Begins

The group escalates their campaign, kidnapping tourists and sending taunting communiqués to the press. The violence is both random and symbolic, each act a twisted parody of Florida's tourist culture. The city's leaders are paralyzed by fear of bad publicity, and the police are outmatched by the terrorists' cunning. Keyes, now personally invested, races to connect the dots and prevent further bloodshed.

The Journalist Unravels

Skip Wiley's mental state deteriorates as he becomes consumed by his crusade. His charisma and intelligence are matched only by his capacity for self-destruction. The lines between performance and reality blur, and his followers begin to question his sanity. Meanwhile, Keyes and Mulcahy, the editor, struggle with the ethical dilemma of exposing Wiley and risking a massacre, or keeping silent and enabling further violence.

The Everglades Confrontation

Keyes is lured into the Everglades, where he is forced to witness the group's methods firsthand. He survives a harrowing ordeal, including a near-fatal encounter with a crocodile, and is released as a "witness" to the group's seriousness. The confrontation is both physical and philosophical, as Wiley tries to justify his actions as necessary for the greater good. Keyes emerges wounded but more determined, carrying evidence and a warning back to the city.

Crocodile Justice

The group's most shocking act is the ritualistic murder of a retiree, fed to a crocodile as a symbol of nature reclaiming its own. The act is witnessed by Keyes and becomes the moral nadir of the group's campaign. The city reels from the horror, and the media frenzy reaches new heights. The murder crystallizes the novel's central question: can violence ever be justified in the name of a higher cause?

The Queen's Peril

The group announces their intention to kidnap the Orange Bowl queen during the city's most public event. The city's leaders are thrown into chaos, torn between protecting their image and ensuring safety. Keyes is hired to protect Kara Lynn Shivers, the queen, and a tense cat-and-mouse game ensues. The parade becomes a battleground for the soul of Miami, with the world watching.

Bombs, Snakes, and Blood

The Nights of December unleash a wave of terror: bombs at a golf course and a dog track, a reporter maimed by a package bomb, and a cruise ship attacked from the air with bags of live snakes. The violence is surreal, darkly comic, and devastatingly effective. The city's institutions are exposed as inept, and the public's fear reaches a fever pitch. The group's message is clear: paradise is a lie, and the price of denial is blood.

The Parade Trap

As the parade approaches, the city mobilizes every resource to protect the queen and prevent disaster. Keyes, aided by unlikely allies, prepares for the inevitable attack. The tension is palpable, and the narrative shifts between the perspectives of the conspirators, the police, and the potential victims. The parade becomes a microcosm of Miami's contradictions: spectacle, danger, and desperate hope.

The Final Gambit

The group's plan culminates in a spectacular assault during the Orange Bowl halftime show. Disguised and determined, they kidnap the queen in front of a national audience, using an airboat to escape across the flooded football field. The city's security measures are outmaneuvered, and the spectacle is both absurd and terrifying. The group's motives—rage, loss, and a twisted sense of justice—are laid bare.

Osprey Island Showdown

Keyes tracks Wiley and the queen to Osprey Island, slated for destruction by developers. The island becomes a stage for the novel's ultimate moral reckoning. Wiley, wounded and defiant, prepares to die with the island, making the queen a symbol of all that is lost. Keyes, Jenna, and Kara Lynn must escape before the island is obliterated. The confrontation is intimate, tragic, and darkly comic, as the characters grapple with the cost of their choices.

The Eagle's Flight

As dawn breaks and the dynamite countdown nears zero, Wiley makes a final, desperate attempt to save a bald eagle—the last wild thing on the island. His gesture is both heroic and futile, a symbol of the novel's central paradox: the impossibility of saving paradise by destroying it. Keyes, Jenna, and Kara Lynn escape as the island explodes, leaving Wiley's fate ambiguous. The city, chastened but unchanged, moves on, and the revolution fades into legend.

Characters

Skip Wiley

Skip Wiley is the novel's dark heart: a brilliant, passionate, and ultimately unstable newspaper columnist who becomes the mastermind of the Nights of December. Disgusted by Miami's transformation into a tourist wasteland, Wiley channels his rage into a campaign of terror designed to drive out the very people he blames for the city's ruin. His psychological complexity is rooted in both genuine love for the land and a messianic ego that blinds him to the consequences of his actions. Wiley's relationships—with Jenna, Keyes, and his followers—are marked by manipulation, charisma, and a desperate need for validation. His arc is a descent from satirical observer to tragic, self-destructive zealot.

Brian Keyes

Brian Keyes is a former journalist turned private eye, drawn into the case by a sense of duty and personal guilt. Sensitive, introspective, and often overwhelmed, Keyes is the novel's moral center. His journey is one of self-discovery and redemption, as he confronts both external threats and his own failures. Keyes's relationships—with Jenna, Kara Lynn, and Wiley—are fraught with longing, regret, and the search for meaning in a world gone mad. He is both a participant and an observer, forced to choose between detachment and action.

Jenna

Jenna is Wiley's lover and Keyes's former partner, a magnetic and enigmatic figure who drifts between loyalty and self-preservation. She is both complicit in Wiley's schemes and a victim of his charisma, torn between admiration and fear. Jenna's psychological depth lies in her need for excitement and her inability to commit fully to any cause or person. She is the novel's emotional wild card, her choices shaping the fates of those around her.

Viceroy Wilson

Viceroy Wilson is a former football star whose bitterness and sense of betrayal fuel his role in the Nights of December. Physically imposing and ideologically adrift, Wilson is both a true believer and a mercenary, seeking redemption through violence. His relationship with Wiley is one of mutual exploitation, and his ultimate fate is both tragic and inevitable—a symbol of wasted potential and the corrosive power of rage.

Jesus Bernal

Jesus Bernal is a Cuban exile whose dreams of glory have been dashed by incompetence and bad luck. His expertise in terror is matched only by his insecurity and need for recognition. Bernal's psychological profile is one of resentment, envy, and self-sabotage. He is both comic and dangerous, his actions escalating the group's violence and ultimately leading to his own destruction.

Tommy Tigertail

Tommy Tigertail is a wealthy Seminole Indian whose quiet intensity and deep connection to the land make him the group's conscience. He bankrolls the operation with bingo profits and provides both logistical support and a sense of purpose. Tommy's psychological depth lies in his stoic acceptance of loss and his refusal to compromise his heritage. He is both a participant in and a victim of the revolution, seeking justice for his people in a world that has left them behind.

Kara Lynn Shivers

Kara Lynn is the Orange Bowl queen, chosen for her looks but revealed to be intelligent, self-aware, and resilient. She becomes the ultimate target of the Nights of December, a living embodiment of the city's contradictions. Kara Lynn's psychological journey is one of awakening, as she moves from passive victim to active participant in her own survival. Her relationship with Keyes is both romantic and redemptive, offering a glimmer of hope amid the chaos.

Al Garcia

Al Garcia is the lead investigator on the case, a Cuban-American cop whose pragmatism and integrity set him apart from the city's corrupt institutions. He is both an ally and a foil to Keyes, providing comic relief and moral clarity. Garcia's psychological resilience is tested by the case's absurdity and violence, but he remains steadfast in his pursuit of justice.

Ricky Bloodworth

Bloodworth is a minor but memorable character, a young journalist desperate for fame and respect. His psychological need for validation leads him into danger and ultimately to physical and professional ruin. Bloodworth is both a satire of media ambition and a cautionary tale about the cost of chasing headlines.

Nell Bellamy

Nell is the wife of the first victim, Theodore Bellamy. Her journey through grief and confusion mirrors the city's own bewilderment in the face of senseless violence. Nell's psychological strength is revealed in her determination to find answers and her refusal to be dismissed by the authorities.

Plot Devices

Satire and Social Critique

The novel's primary engine is its relentless satire of Miami's boosterism, environmental destruction, and obsession with image. Hiaasen uses exaggerated characters, absurd situations, and biting wit to lay bare the city's flaws. The violence is both real and symbolic, each act a commentary on the cost of unchecked growth and the commodification of paradise. The narrative structure alternates between farce and tragedy, keeping the reader off balance and engaged.

Symbolism and Irony

The murders and acts of terror are laden with symbolism: suntan oil, rubber alligators, cruise ships, and beauty queens become instruments of both horror and critique. The group's methods are designed to mock and subvert the very things Miami celebrates. Irony pervades the narrative, as the city's attempts to protect its image only hasten its downfall.

Multiple Perspectives

The story unfolds through the eyes of journalists, police, terrorists, and victims, creating a kaleidoscopic portrait of a city in crisis. This structure allows for both intimacy and distance, as the reader is drawn into the personal struggles of the characters while also witnessing the broader social collapse.

Foreshadowing and Escalation

From the opening disappearance to the final showdown, the novel is driven by a sense of impending disaster. Each act of terror is foreshadowed by both narrative hints and the characters' own anxieties. The escalation is both logical and absurd, culminating in a climax that is as much a spectacle as a resolution.

Moral Ambiguity

The novel refuses to offer simple heroes or villains. Wiley's crusade is both understandable and monstrous; Keyes's quest for justice is tainted by personal failings. The city itself is both victim and perpetrator, complicit in its own destruction. The plot devices reinforce the central theme: the line between savior and destroyer is perilously thin.

Analysis

is a razor-sharp satire that uses the conventions of crime fiction to dissect the environmental, social, and psychological costs of Miami's transformation into a tourist mecca. Hiaasen's novel is both a love letter and a eulogy for a lost paradise, channeling rage, humor, and despair into a narrative that is as entertaining as it is unsettling. The book's central lesson is that the relentless pursuit of profit and image comes at a price—one paid not only in lost landscapes and corrupted institutions, but in the souls of those who call the city home. Through its unforgettable characters and escalating absurdity, Tourist Season