History Literature / SqueezeMe

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: When a suburban husband hands Angie a ''"Glock nine [milimeter]"'', she ''"ma[kes] sure the safety [is] on before placing it on the counter."'' Glock pistols do not have manual safeties.

* GunsAreWorthless: Justified. Angie is required to dispatch two invasive pythons by the same method ([[HeroesPreferSwords decapitation with a machete]]); in the first case, the venue's manager refuses to let other guests hear the sound of a gunshot; in the second, there are too many InnocentBystanders to risk a stray shot or a ricochet;

* NatureIsNotNice: Despite the proliferation of Burmese pythons in South Florida, Angie, a professional wildlife wrangler, is surprised to find one as far north as Palm Beach, which is normally too cold for them to survive. Although this proliferation has been widely publicized, none of Palm Beach's residents are prepared when they actually see one.
** Lampshaded in the ending, when [[spoiler:Skink reveals that the python that killed and devoured Kiki Pew [=FitzSimmons=] was not "one of his", but instead ''"motored up there all by herself."'']]

* SympatheticAdulterer: Mockingbird's affair with one of her Secret Service agents is fairly common knowledge among the staff at Casa Bellicosa. According to Angie's friend Spalding, ''"the prevailing sentiment is, 'you go, girl.'"''

* RacistGrandma: the POTUS Pussies social club; subverted in that there is nothing funny about their racism, as they fully embrace the President's ''"fake populist narrative"'' about illegal immigrants ''"charging like rabid wolverines across the borders"'', and enthusiastically support his social media campaign to denounce Diego Beltran as not only the murderer of their recently deceased friend, but also the leader of a ''"border cartel"'' targeting all of the President's most loyal supporters; there are even oblique hints that they are the ones who place the bounty on Diego's life that lead to several murder attempts while he is in prison;

** When one agent asks if there is any actual evidence that ''"terrorist immigrants"'' murdered Kiki Pew [=FitzSimmons=], or that Diego Beltran has a connection to any such group, Ryscamp's terse response is that Mastodon ''"just pulled it out of his ass, like everything else]]."''

* DudeNotFunny: Hiaasen is well-known for creating madcap comedy scenarios, but there is no humor whatsoever in his description of the nightmare Diego Beltran is plunged into as a result of the President's scapegoating; forced to remain in jail, surrounded by right-wing protestors, attacked several times by racist inmates, and [[spoiler:finally DrivenToSuicide (almost)]]. All while telling his entirely true version of events to Jerry Crosby and Paul Ryscamp, and them being forced to say they can't do anything in the face of the public furor stirred up by the President.

** The POTUS Pussies are the worst of a bad bunch: they swap the services of gigolos, drop ClusterFBomb{{s}}, flaunt their wealth in the trashiest ways possible, and use any occasion (including a funeral) as an excuse to get stinking drunk. After Jerry Crosby brushes off Fay Alex Riptoad's xenophobic rant about ''"brown-skinned hordes"'', she and the other Potussies post a bounty for Diego Beltran to be murdered in jail;

* IgnoranceIsBliss: Skink ruefully tells both Jim Tile and Angie that he misses the days before he got his own WiFi hotspot, when ''"I couldn't tell you what day, month or year it was."''

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Angie asks offhandedly who the "stars" are at the "Stars For SARS" charity ball. Tripp Teabull lists "Dr. Oz, Ann Coulter, and a former Mrs. Creator/RonPerlman." The article "a" implies that Perlman has more than one ex-wife, when in fact at the time of the novel's publication (2020), he had just divorced his wife of 19 years, Opal Stone. He remarried in 2022, but as of the date of this note, there is still only one "former Mrs. Ron Perlman", so the article "the" would have been more accurate.

** The club is practically deserted even at the height of the winter season; when Mockingbird testily orders the groundskeeper to ''"clear the guests from the pool"'' so she can go for a swim, the groundskeeper's silently thinks, ''"what guests?"'';

* TaughtByTelevision: One of the police officers investigating the break-in to Angie's apartment points out a surgical glove dropped by one of the burglars, remarking, "doesn't mean he was a pro. Any shithead [who] watches ''Series/CSI'' knows to use these."

* {{Malaproper}}: Mastodon, UpToEleven.

** The POTUS Pussies are the worst of a bad bunch: they swap the services of gigolos, drop [[ClusterFBomb]]s, flaunt their wealth in the trashiest ways possible, and use any occasion (including a funeral) as an excuse to get stinking drunk. After Jerry Crosby brushes off Fay Alex Riptoad's xenophobic rant about ''"brown-skinned hordes"'', she and the other Potussies post a bounty for Diego Beltran to be murdered in jail;

** (in the updated epilogue) One of the Potussies absents herself from the group's usual gathering, after her son is arrested for ''"smearing what the FBI had determined to be beagle feces"'' over a statue in the Capitol Building during the January 6, 2021 riot. To anyone who asks, her standard response is, ''"my boy was framed by antifa!"'', but she still can't show her face in the ''"hideously small town"'' of Palm Beach, since every member of the island's population knows that her son is a ConspiracyTheory-obsessed ''"imbecile"'', who happens to own several beagles.

* ImproperlyParanoid: The Potussies, having been fed a steady diet of ConspiracyTheories and racist fear-mongering by Mastodon and the right-wing media, immediately leap to the conclusion that their friend Kiki Pew was ''"murdered by terrorist immigrants."''

* OriginalPositionFallacy: Fay Alex Riptoad and the POTUS Pussies once lovingly embraced, parroted, and amplified all of Mastodon's ConspiracyTheories about ''"immigrant hordes"'', and the ''"deep state traitors'"'' futile attempts to undermine his Presidency, and donated almost $500,000 to fund his post-election lawsuits, but (in the updated epilogue) they resent being blacklisted from the Palm Beach social circuit after January 6, 2021, as if they have '''anything''' in common with ''"the knuckle-dragging fascist contingent of Mastodon's fanbase"'' who stormed the Capitol building.

* TheUpperCrass: A novel set primarily in Palm Beach takes the reader inside the daily lives of America's "sun-drenched one-percenters", and it's ''not'' pretty. Whether the denizens of Palm Beach are OldMoney or NoveauRiche, not one of them makes even a pretense of class, manners, or ''noblesse oblige''. Aptly summed up by Mauricio, the groundskeeper for Lipid House: ''"Anyone can take the ride. All you need is money."''

* RichBitch: The Potussies. In the words of the reviewer for ''The New Republic'': ''"By setting ''Squeeze Me'' in Palm Beach, Hiaasen focuses squarely on the president's wealthiest supporters - the true heart of his base... These people support [the President] because they have nothing but disdain for everyone beneath them - it's a way of acting out fantasies of punishing the poor and the non-white."''
** Mockingbird, to a lesser degree. In the main novel, most of the characters, and the reader, might feel somewhat sorry for her, being ''"lonely, bored out of her mind"'', and desperately needing to distract herself from her ''"ghastly husband"''. But she takes plenty of solace in shopping, expensive jewels, and a ''"super-sloppy hot affair"'' with her lead Secret Service Agent. When Angie confronts her and demands that she intercede with the President on Diego Beltran's behalf, Mockingbird is genuinely baffled at why Angie cares, or why Mockingbird should be expected to do anything.
*** (in the updated epilogue) Mockingbird is equally baffled when her bodyguard/lover expects her to divorce her husband for the sake of their relationship. [[spoiler:After he dumps her, she's ''"extra testy"'' to her remaining agents and the staff at Casa Bellicosa.]]
* {{Rich in Dollars Poor in Sense}}: Stanleigh Kobo, the brother of one of the Potussies, is so desperate for a ''"presentable erection"'' that he agrees to bring a known Chinese intelligence agent as his date to the President's ball, in exchange for ''"five grams of powdered narwhal tusk"''. Ryscamp manages to persuade him to dump his date by offering him a baggie of the same substance - which is actually ''"an improvised blend of baking soda and cupcake mix, cut with jock-itch talc"''. Naturally, Kobo doesn't bother to test the powder before eagerly inhaling it.

* {{Safety in Indifference}}: Averted when Jim Tile pleads with his old friend, Skink:

* {{Screw the Rules I Have Connections}}: Averted. Fay Alex Riptoad and the other Potussies assume the President is ''"very fond"'' of them, and that Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons' death will immediately capture his attention. They remain unaware, or else can't admit, that the President counts on their financial support, but has never bothered to distinguish them, by name or appearance, from the dozens of other ''"lacquered weekend warriors"'' who cheer his appearances at Casa Bellicosa.

* {{Screw the Rules I Have Money}}: Fay Alex Riptoad and the Potussies: