Skid

by Rene Gutteridge

Book Overview

The third book in the Occupational Hazards series, a laugh-out-loud novel about a group of strangers flying from Atlanta to Amsterdam Blissfully unaware that Atlantica Flight 1945 from Atlanta to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400071593
• ISBN13: 9781400071593
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Loved the Zany Fun...Best Book in the Series

This is the best in the series. No contest. The characters are a quirky and touching bunch of complex folks who encounter life, death, and drama while flying across the Atlantic Ocean. Humor zings, clever writing and solid plotting make this read delightful and entertaining. The spiritual aspects are strong and solid but not preachy. The only struggle I can foresee is the camp that doesn't like ambiguous endings. Gutteridge doesn't provide clear cut endings for several characters. But, I imagine we might see one or more in future novels. This series needed to grow on me. I didn't quite get the premise at the beginning. Now that I've read three, I'm looking forward to the rest and am thrilled that the Hazard family is a big one.

What a joy ride!

As a fan of Rene Gutteridge's Occupational Hazards series, I was so excited when I discovered her latest installment, "Skid." It centers around the somewhat shy - especially around girls - Hank Hazard who was introduced in "Snitch." He gets a job as a "spy" for an airline and has a flight to Amsterdam with a pig, a dead lady, a criminal, and a guy secretly transporting valuable diamonds. The characters are well-developed, the plot zips along, and the writing is full of humor. It's an extremely fun and enjoyable read.

This hilarious novel by one of faith fiction's funniest authors will leave you in stitches!

Fasten your seatbelts low and tight across your lap, open that tiny bag of peanuts, and get ready for a rollicking fun flight as Rene Gutteridge, the funniest inspirational novelist in the business, pens SKID, her third installment in the Occupational Hazards series and the best of the bunch. This time, Gutteridge turns her pen to the airline industry, managing to incorporate enough wacky characters and oddball situations to fuel a year-long television sitcom. In case you missed SCOOP and SNITCH, the first books in the series, here's the premise. The Hazard Clowns, a family of seven homeschooled children and their parents, are about to be disbanded after the parents are killed in a freak hot tub accident. Hank Hazard, the shy gentle mime of the group who has never dated, looks for new work and eventually lands a job as an undercover spy for Atlantica Airlines, which is trying to figure out why it's in a slump. His first assignment is to be the highest maintenance passenger on Flight 1945 from Atlanta to Amsterdam and report back to the airline on every possible detail of the flight. As it turns out, this is no ordinary flight. Not only does Hank have to deal with his work assignment, but his pilot is one of the more unusual ones in the fleet. C.J. Brewster-Yarley is an aging female who relies on post-it notes stuck to the windshield to remember how to fly the plane. She's famous for having crashed a plane into the Bermuda Triangle years ago, but leading the passengers and crew to safety. Other strange stories are tagged to her career...and this flight is about to be one of them. Some valuable diamonds are in-route and the object of interest by more than just their courier, which promises further mayhem. Overseeing the passengers is GiGi, a 55-year-old senior flight attendant battling menopause, who can't seem to get the air cabin temperature comfortable enough for her hot flashes. Making the flight is positive-thinking passenger Lucy Meredith, who seems to be channeling Oprah (her bracelet reads WWOD --- What Would Oprah Do?) and is hoping to revamp her life after some bad romances. She has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend is on board with a new flame. Further complicating things is First Officer James Lawrence, who manages to offend just about everybody. Add to this cast of characters a prisoner who speaks limited English flying under the care of an FBI agent whose gun has just been taken away by the pilot, a certified companion pig for a supposedly "emotionally-challenged" women, a federal aircraft inspector, and a 103-year-old woman about to "pass on" at any moment. How fun --- and weird --- can this novel possibly get? The answer: more fun than you'd ever anticipate and weirder than anything you'd begin to imagine. Gutteridge is the author of a dozen novels, including the hilarious Boo series, but funny as that series was, this one outshines it. As events unfolding on the plane get more and more hilarious and wacky, she somehow weav

The best yet in the series...

Skid is, hands down, the best entry in Rene Gutteridge's Occupational Hazards series and probably a close second - maybe even tied for first - with my favorite Gutteridge novel, My Life as a Doormat: In Three Acts (Women of Faith Fiction #12). Hank is the third Hazard sibling to have his career misadventures chronicled in this series and he is the most fully realized, interesting, and sympathetic sibling to be featured to date. After a brief introduction in Snitch (Occupational Hazards, Book 2) where he helped his police officer sister break up an auto theft ring, Hank decides to pursue a career involving flying and gets a job working undercover for an airline. Little does he realize the drama that will unfold in the skies when an incredibly diverse and quirky assortment of characters find themselves confined in a jet on their way to the Netherlands. Each and every character in Skid leaps living and breathing off the page. From First Officer Danny, in a career funk and depressed over being dumped by his girlfriend, to Lisa, a polka dot loving woman on the rebound obsessed with Oprah and The Secret, to Jake, a paranoid diamond courier on a mission to connect with the grandmother he never met and to return stolen gems, every member of crew and passengers has a fascinating, fully realized story to tell. With every character Gutteridge manages to strike the right balance between humor and poignancy, finding the laugh-out-loud moments in everyday life while also making each character sympathetic and relatable. I absolutely loved how Gutteridge gently satirizes those who obsess over fads like The Secret and every word that comes from Oprah's mouth...the moments are laugh-out-loud funny, but she manages to never come across as cruelly mocking of those who follow the latest craze. Instead, in her most effective use of humor to date, she uses those pop culture phenomenons to reveal the holes those people are seeking to fill in their lives and how they can be pointed to the truth of Christ. The one character I didn't care for was the other copilot, James - his character does this about face halfway through the novel where he goes from being a complete jerk to the biblical voice of reason - and that abrupt of a change appeared to come totally out of left field. That one misstep aside, Skid is a thoroughly enjoyable cross between Airplane! (Don't Call Me Shirley! Edition) and A & E's reality show Airline - The Complete Season 1 (yes, I've watched a few eps of that...LOL), laced with thought-provoking observations about human nature and one's faith walk. One of Gutteridge's most satisfying novels to date - highly recommended.

Fly the Funny Skies

Rene Gutteridge has firmly established herself as the premier comedic writer in Christian fiction. She continues her strong tradition in Skid, the latest of the Occupational Hazards series. The series is tracking through a family of homeschooled kids whose parents owned a family-operated clown business until their untimely hot tub related death. The oldest brother sells the business and the siblings are going out in the world to find their way. Shy Hank was introduced in Snitch (The Occupational Hazards Series #2) when he helped sister Mack with an undercover stolen vehicle ring. The flight out to Vegas delighted him, so he takes a job with Atlantica Airlines as a spy on their own flights to test if the crew is doing its job properly. Flight 1945 from Atlanta to Amsterdam is about to have some turbulence, as Hank boards along with a jilted polka-dot babe, a captain who's survived the Bermuda Triangle, a convict, a pig, and a hot flashing head flight attendant. Skid continues the fun set up in Scoop and Snitch. I have not read anyone like her to take a mundane situation and turn it on a dime into a humerous romp. The plot is fresh and full of surprises. The characters stand out and the issues addressed on the flight are touching and realistic. The plot is not knuckle biting suspense, but it never has a down moment where it drags. I can't think of a more clever writer currently. Scoop (The Occupational Hazards Series #1) was my favorite book of 2006. Snitch was very good, but it didn't fully tickle my funny bone like the first did. Skid hits the runway at full throttle and doesn't let up, and has landed as one of my favorite books so far this year. My only gripe is that it is such an engaging, easy read that I'm done and ready for more. Here's hoping for more from the Hazard family. A great series continues to shine with Skid!