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Serge Storms #1
Florida Roadkill
Sunshine State trivia buff Serge A. Storms loves eliminating jerks and pests. His drug-addled partner Coleman loves cartoons. Hot stripper Sharon Rhodes loves cocaine, especially when purchased with rich dead men's money.
On the other hand, there's Sean and David, who love fishing and are kind to animals -- and who are about to cross paths with a suitcase filled with $5 million in stolen insurance money. Serge wants the suitcase. Sharon wants the suitcase. Coleman wants more drugs . . . and the suitcase. In the meantime, there's murder by gun, Space Shuttle, Barbie doll, and Levi's 501s.
In other words, welcome to Tim Dorsey's Florida -- where nobody gets out unscathed and untanned!
On the other hand, there's Sean and David, who love fishing and are kind to animals -- and who are about to cross paths with a suitcase filled with $5 million in stolen insurance money. Serge wants the suitcase. Sharon wants the suitcase. Coleman wants more drugs . . . and the suitcase. In the meantime, there's murder by gun, Space Shuttle, Barbie doll, and Levi's 501s.
In other words, welcome to Tim Dorsey's Florida -- where nobody gets out unscathed and untanned!
388 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
1368 people are currently reading
8831 people want to read
About the author
Tim Dorsey
36 books1,657 followersTim Dorsey was born in Indiana, moved to Florida at the age of 1, and grew up in a small town about an hour north of Miami called Riviera Beach. He graduated from Auburn University in 1983. While at Auburn, he was editor of the student newspaper, The Plainsman.
From 1983 to 1987, he was a police and courts reporter for The Alabama Journal, the now-defunct evening newspaper in Montgomery. He joined The Tampa Tribune in 1987 as a general assignment reporter. He also worked as a political reporter in the Tribune’s Tallahassee bureau and a copy desk editor. From 1994 to 1999, he was the Tribune’s night metro editor. He left the paper in August 1999 to write full time.
From 1983 to 1987, he was a police and courts reporter for The Alabama Journal, the now-defunct evening newspaper in Montgomery. He joined The Tampa Tribune in 1987 as a general assignment reporter. He also worked as a political reporter in the Tribune’s Tallahassee bureau and a copy desk editor. From 1994 to 1999, he was the Tribune’s night metro editor. He left the paper in August 1999 to write full time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,022 reviews
April 22, 2018
A fast paced killer/thriller road trip through Florida, complete with the state trivia narration.
I liked it. Your actual mileage may vary.
There, that's the review.
Florida Roadkill's first paragraph.
"From Loggerhead Key to Amelia Island to the FloraBama Lounge, the Land of Flowers has natives caught in seductive headlights."
I've seen the FloraBama mentioned in several books, also a few songs.
It has to be because the place and it's patrons, along with the staff make such an impression on all who visit.
In the parking lot you're sure to find motorcycles and limousines... bicycles and walk ins are welcomed as well.
Inside the number one requirement is that you at least try to find that Flora-Bama frame of mind.
My own relationship with the place began around the mid 70's.
The women were friendly and the staff sold me booze. I was 16 years old.
I was 16 and working my way through high school with part time jobs.
So in the Flora-Bama's defense, they only sold me booze because I had money to pay for it.
Through the 80's I visited as much as possible.
The place was becoming more popular.
At any time you may be setting beside someone spending their last 20 dollars on a few drinks or they may be some well to do.
They may be someone famous or they may have no where else to go. Either way the conversation is usually about the same.
Back then the late great Rusty McHugh was the regular music attraction. With popular hits such as
Blackout Blues
Bushwacker Boogie
Daddy Was A Working Girl
Hey Lady, Please Don't Show Those Tits
I Went Home With A Mermaid And Woke Up With A Manatee
(and the hits kept coming)
Po'Ass People
Stuck In This Shithole With You
and many more hits but my personal favorite, because of it's wonderous lyrics
My Baby Is A Seafood Platter
She's got crab legs and a big red snapper
Hush puppies and they're size 12
a cute little oyster on the... half shell
Head like a mullet but that don't matter
cause my baby is a seafood platter.
The FloraBama is located on prestigious Gulf Of Mexico beachfront property.
From the bar itself a boardwalk leads you down to the waters edge.
Throughout all of it's history the late night atmosphere stirs the natives mating rituals there on the beach.
If you visit and you and your mate feel stired... join the club and go for it.
If you happen upon others engaged in this ritual... Please do not interfere.
You may certainly observe. It's a public beach.
But observation and cheering the couple on is proper etiquette.
http://www.florabama.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqzM7...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1V48...
I liked it. Your actual mileage may vary.
There, that's the review.
Florida Roadkill's first paragraph.
"From Loggerhead Key to Amelia Island to the FloraBama Lounge, the Land of Flowers has natives caught in seductive headlights."
I've seen the FloraBama mentioned in several books, also a few songs.
It has to be because the place and it's patrons, along with the staff make such an impression on all who visit.
In the parking lot you're sure to find motorcycles and limousines... bicycles and walk ins are welcomed as well.
Inside the number one requirement is that you at least try to find that Flora-Bama frame of mind.
My own relationship with the place began around the mid 70's.
The women were friendly and the staff sold me booze. I was 16 years old.
I was 16 and working my way through high school with part time jobs.
So in the Flora-Bama's defense, they only sold me booze because I had money to pay for it.
Through the 80's I visited as much as possible.
The place was becoming more popular.
At any time you may be setting beside someone spending their last 20 dollars on a few drinks or they may be some well to do.
They may be someone famous or they may have no where else to go. Either way the conversation is usually about the same.
Back then the late great Rusty McHugh was the regular music attraction. With popular hits such as
Blackout Blues
Bushwacker Boogie
Daddy Was A Working Girl
Hey Lady, Please Don't Show Those Tits
I Went Home With A Mermaid And Woke Up With A Manatee
(and the hits kept coming)
Po'Ass People
Stuck In This Shithole With You
and many more hits but my personal favorite, because of it's wonderous lyrics
My Baby Is A Seafood Platter
She's got crab legs and a big red snapper
Hush puppies and they're size 12
a cute little oyster on the... half shell
Head like a mullet but that don't matter
cause my baby is a seafood platter.
The FloraBama is located on prestigious Gulf Of Mexico beachfront property.
From the bar itself a boardwalk leads you down to the waters edge.
Throughout all of it's history the late night atmosphere stirs the natives mating rituals there on the beach.
If you visit and you and your mate feel stired... join the club and go for it.
If you happen upon others engaged in this ritual... Please do not interfere.
You may certainly observe. It's a public beach.
But observation and cheering the couple on is proper etiquette.
http://www.florabama.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqzM7...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1V48...
March 7, 2018
Acid humor and a lot of deaths!
THE PROTAGONIST, NOT THE HERO
This is the first novel in the Serge Storms book series, that while there were other following novels presenting prequel events to this very book, it was here where the literary series born in the matters of publication.
Serge Storms is a criminal, with an acid humor sense, and he’s a criminal in the whole extension of the meaning of that, so he’s not afraid of killing ANYBODY who is in his way to get what he wants.
So, it’s quite understandable that many reader would have some troubles to like Serge, but…
…the other chracters are rotten fruits of the same kind of tree, so…
…It’s criminals vs criminals vs criminals.
Therefore, Serge Storms is one of the reasons that you can’t call the main character in a novel and/or book series as “the hero(ine)” but it’s better to be called as “the protagonist”, which is quite curious that if the protagonist has questionable moral values, then his/her “antagonist”, which is a term commonly associated with evil acts, he/she can be well someone with “good principles”, but just against the acts of the protagonist.
However, even that can’t be much applied here, since you’ll have a hard time trying to find a character of good conscience here.
And as in any standard George RR Martin’s book, you’ll meet A LOT of deaths here, so many, that even Tim Dorsey, the writer, had to set some of the following books as prequels, since he killed off too much characters that later he realized that he’d needed them to other stories.
GET THE BRIEFCASE!!!
It’s the good ol’ 1997, we are in Florida, and the Marlins have won the World Series.
Everything is good, but good ol’ Serge has a problem.
He wants a briefcase with A LOT of money (who wouldn’t?) but that money is the result of mischief management of an insurance policy (obviously, it’s not something that worries at all to Serge), however finding the briefcase isn’t as easy as he’d thought at first, so he needs to ally in reluctant way to Sharon Rhodes, a stone-cold exotic dancer, and “Coleman” Bunsen, a drug addict that it’s quite stupid (well he takes drugs, so I think that it’s quite obvious that he’s dumb)…
…but life has an acid humor sense too, and life isn’t hesitate to play a joke on this unlikely trio on their quest for the briefcase.
You’ll meet a whole bunch of other characters in the middle of this wacky search for the briefcase, since the more people, more the cannon fodder!
The narrative style is many times kinda confusing in the sense that you have some difficulties to notice the change of scenario between characters’ groups, but...
...still is quite a dark humorous journey to read.
THE PROTAGONIST, NOT THE HERO
This is the first novel in the Serge Storms book series, that while there were other following novels presenting prequel events to this very book, it was here where the literary series born in the matters of publication.
Serge Storms is a criminal, with an acid humor sense, and he’s a criminal in the whole extension of the meaning of that, so he’s not afraid of killing ANYBODY who is in his way to get what he wants.
So, it’s quite understandable that many reader would have some troubles to like Serge, but…
…the other chracters are rotten fruits of the same kind of tree, so…
…It’s criminals vs criminals vs criminals.
Therefore, Serge Storms is one of the reasons that you can’t call the main character in a novel and/or book series as “the hero(ine)” but it’s better to be called as “the protagonist”, which is quite curious that if the protagonist has questionable moral values, then his/her “antagonist”, which is a term commonly associated with evil acts, he/she can be well someone with “good principles”, but just against the acts of the protagonist.
However, even that can’t be much applied here, since you’ll have a hard time trying to find a character of good conscience here.
And as in any standard George RR Martin’s book, you’ll meet A LOT of deaths here, so many, that even Tim Dorsey, the writer, had to set some of the following books as prequels, since he killed off too much characters that later he realized that he’d needed them to other stories.
GET THE BRIEFCASE!!!
It’s the good ol’ 1997, we are in Florida, and the Marlins have won the World Series.
Everything is good, but good ol’ Serge has a problem.
He wants a briefcase with A LOT of money (who wouldn’t?) but that money is the result of mischief management of an insurance policy (obviously, it’s not something that worries at all to Serge), however finding the briefcase isn’t as easy as he’d thought at first, so he needs to ally in reluctant way to Sharon Rhodes, a stone-cold exotic dancer, and “Coleman” Bunsen, a drug addict that it’s quite stupid (well he takes drugs, so I think that it’s quite obvious that he’s dumb)…
…but life has an acid humor sense too, and life isn’t hesitate to play a joke on this unlikely trio on their quest for the briefcase.
You’ll meet a whole bunch of other characters in the middle of this wacky search for the briefcase, since the more people, more the cannon fodder!
The narrative style is many times kinda confusing in the sense that you have some difficulties to notice the change of scenario between characters’ groups, but...
...still is quite a dark humorous journey to read.
April 20, 2012
I couldn't shake the feeling that Dorsey wrote this book with the full intention of pushing everything Hiaasen wrote to the next level of wacky mayhem. Dorsey makes the wildest most deviant scene ever concocted by Hiaasen seem plausible. Characters are killed, maimed or lost in the maze of plotting so quickly that I was challenged frequently to keep up with who is who and what was what. Subplots are conceived, abandoned, and reignited many, many pages later. When thinking about the plot of this novel I kept seeing images of William S. Burroughs art.
Burroughs finished out his days living in Lawrence, Kansas and started producing art not with a paint brush, but with a shotgun. He would set up aerosol cans of paint various distances from the canvas and blast away. I'm sure it kept him in bread and milk.
Our hero is a serial killer named Serge Storms (just a word of advice he's a bit prickly about being called a serial killer). After a jolt in jail at a young age, Serge's moral compass was permanently set to spin. He can kill people without blinking an eye, but when his friend in a acid addled haze shoots an endangered miniature Key Deer in the Florida Keys, Storms is distraught. I was left scratching my head that Serge didn't take the opportunity to rid himself of the albatross his friend Seymore Coleman Bunsen was becoming at this point in the plot.
There is a paragraph that is vintage Hunter S. Thompson and also explains Coleman.
"What's that? More Crank?" said Serge.
"No," said Coleman, "blow," and leaned over to take his turn.
"Shit, every day it's something else," said Serge.
"If it's Thursday, this must be cocaine," Coleman replied.
"One day it's meth, another day psilocybin; you drop acid on Sunday and Percodan on Monday," said Serge. "Then it's Thai sticks. And what about the time you boiled those flowers that were supposed to be like Aborigines' curare darts? Can't you just pick a drug and stick with it?"
Coleman said, completely serious: "I don't want to get hooked."
To keep myself centered with the lurching, spinning plot of Florida Roadkill I had to remind myself that everything was revolving around the briefcase of money. $5 million dollars in scammed insurance money to be exact.
I do like Serge Storms's obsession with Florida history. Dorsey uses this effectively to give the reader some cool Florida factoids that will be handy the next time we visit on vacation. It also lifted Serge above the stereotypical killer and gave the reader a reason to like Serge beyond his fascinating ingenuity (fix-a-flat can as deadly weapon?)in ushering morons and bad people out of this world and onto the next.
"Serge's interest in history, architecture, nature and all things Key West made him buzz around the island like a moth on speed."
Dorsey gives a nod to James W. Hall, Thomas McGuaneand John D. MacDonald. Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry both make cameo appearances in the novel, and thank goodness Serge was reverential rather than homicidal when he met them. The book left me feeling like I'd been left by the side of a dirt road, with blood caked nostrils, and a nasty hitch in my giddy up. Dazed, confused, and yet still game to get back in the car and read the next installment Hammerhead Ranch Motel. It also left me with a hankering for some time with the coolest guy to ever walk out of a Florida novel.
Burroughs finished out his days living in Lawrence, Kansas and started producing art not with a paint brush, but with a shotgun. He would set up aerosol cans of paint various distances from the canvas and blast away. I'm sure it kept him in bread and milk.
Our hero is a serial killer named Serge Storms (just a word of advice he's a bit prickly about being called a serial killer). After a jolt in jail at a young age, Serge's moral compass was permanently set to spin. He can kill people without blinking an eye, but when his friend in a acid addled haze shoots an endangered miniature Key Deer in the Florida Keys, Storms is distraught. I was left scratching my head that Serge didn't take the opportunity to rid himself of the albatross his friend Seymore Coleman Bunsen was becoming at this point in the plot.
There is a paragraph that is vintage Hunter S. Thompson and also explains Coleman.
"What's that? More Crank?" said Serge.
"No," said Coleman, "blow," and leaned over to take his turn.
"Shit, every day it's something else," said Serge.
"If it's Thursday, this must be cocaine," Coleman replied.
"One day it's meth, another day psilocybin; you drop acid on Sunday and Percodan on Monday," said Serge. "Then it's Thai sticks. And what about the time you boiled those flowers that were supposed to be like Aborigines' curare darts? Can't you just pick a drug and stick with it?"
Coleman said, completely serious: "I don't want to get hooked."
To keep myself centered with the lurching, spinning plot of Florida Roadkill I had to remind myself that everything was revolving around the briefcase of money. $5 million dollars in scammed insurance money to be exact.
I do like Serge Storms's obsession with Florida history. Dorsey uses this effectively to give the reader some cool Florida factoids that will be handy the next time we visit on vacation. It also lifted Serge above the stereotypical killer and gave the reader a reason to like Serge beyond his fascinating ingenuity (fix-a-flat can as deadly weapon?)in ushering morons and bad people out of this world and onto the next.
"Serge's interest in history, architecture, nature and all things Key West made him buzz around the island like a moth on speed."
Dorsey gives a nod to James W. Hall, Thomas McGuaneand John D. MacDonald. Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry both make cameo appearances in the novel, and thank goodness Serge was reverential rather than homicidal when he met them. The book left me feeling like I'd been left by the side of a dirt road, with blood caked nostrils, and a nasty hitch in my giddy up. Dazed, confused, and yet still game to get back in the car and read the next installment Hammerhead Ranch Motel. It also left me with a hankering for some time with the coolest guy to ever walk out of a Florida novel.
April 23, 2023
Serge has a unique way to express his moral compass!
Florida Roadkill is the first in a Serge Storms series, 26 books so far. What caught my attention are the playful and catchy book covers I keep seeing (the audiobook covers need a big upgrade!) I have also been wanting to read more Florida fiction/Carl Hiaasen-esque books.
I thought I'm the right reader for this, but did I get the humor? Some. There are laugh out loud moments. Some jokes are a bit dated I think, and not for easily offended readers. This is written in the 90s so keep that in mind should you want to try.
I'm not loving nor hating this first book, and I'll be happy to check out the second one. Serge and his colorful wackadoodle supporting casts are manic and chaotic but also fun to hang out with once in a while.
Florida Roadkill is the first in a Serge Storms series, 26 books so far. What caught my attention are the playful and catchy book covers I keep seeing (the audiobook covers need a big upgrade!) I have also been wanting to read more Florida fiction/Carl Hiaasen-esque books.
I thought I'm the right reader for this, but did I get the humor? Some. There are laugh out loud moments. Some jokes are a bit dated I think, and not for easily offended readers. This is written in the 90s so keep that in mind should you want to try.
I'm not loving nor hating this first book, and I'll be happy to check out the second one. Serge and his colorful wackadoodle supporting casts are manic and chaotic but also fun to hang out with once in a while.
March 24, 2012
After years of reading John D. MacDonald, Elmore Leonard, and Carl Hiaasen, I was kind of burned out on Florida as a setting for crime novels. I’d never tried a Tim Dorsey book because of this, but I’m glad I finally got around to it because Serge Storms is one of the funnier characters I’ve read in a while.
This is definitely the Florida that Hiaasen and Dave Berry have warned us about with a cast of colorful and eccentric characters most of which are criminals and/or assholes engaging in random violent and reckless behavior that has turned the Sunshine State into an asylum that the inmates are definitely running. A drugged up black widow, bikers, a sleazy retirement community manager, an alcoholic orthodontist, and a trio of killers from a drug cartel with an inferiority complex are just some of the people who collide when random events and $5 million get everyone moving in the same direction. Our heroes are a couple of friends out on vacation who just want to do a little fishing and watch the Florida Marlins win the 1997 World Series.
Dorsey is a funny writer, and this was all entertaining enough, but it would have seemed like reheated Hiaasen if it wasn’t for Serge Storms. Serge is ….unique. Think of a hybrid of Hunter S. Thompson, MacGyver and Hannibal Lector. Occasionally brilliant but suffering from a myriad of mental disorders from ADD to OCD, Serge has a deep love of Florida history and culture. When he goes off his meds, Serge takes his buddy Coleman on a whirlwind trip of landmarks like a tourist from hell pinballing all over the state.
Since Serge’s moral compass is a bit off center, he comes up with inventive criminal money making schemes and has no problem with killing people whose behavior he deems unacceptable. His methods for dealing with people are often elaborate and weird, and he has a talent for serving up just deserts in a harsh way. Serge is dark and twisted and completely hilarious.
Dorsey does push the Florida-Is-So-Crazy!!! schtick a bit far at times. One character is a sleazy private detective, a state senator and a homophobic radio talk show host which is a bit hard to believe. Plus, there are so many characters that it’s easy to lose track or forget about entire subplots for a while. Still, Serge was entertaining enough that I’ll reading more of these.
This is definitely the Florida that Hiaasen and Dave Berry have warned us about with a cast of colorful and eccentric characters most of which are criminals and/or assholes engaging in random violent and reckless behavior that has turned the Sunshine State into an asylum that the inmates are definitely running. A drugged up black widow, bikers, a sleazy retirement community manager, an alcoholic orthodontist, and a trio of killers from a drug cartel with an inferiority complex are just some of the people who collide when random events and $5 million get everyone moving in the same direction. Our heroes are a couple of friends out on vacation who just want to do a little fishing and watch the Florida Marlins win the 1997 World Series.
Dorsey is a funny writer, and this was all entertaining enough, but it would have seemed like reheated Hiaasen if it wasn’t for Serge Storms. Serge is ….unique. Think of a hybrid of Hunter S. Thompson, MacGyver and Hannibal Lector. Occasionally brilliant but suffering from a myriad of mental disorders from ADD to OCD, Serge has a deep love of Florida history and culture. When he goes off his meds, Serge takes his buddy Coleman on a whirlwind trip of landmarks like a tourist from hell pinballing all over the state.
Since Serge’s moral compass is a bit off center, he comes up with inventive criminal money making schemes and has no problem with killing people whose behavior he deems unacceptable. His methods for dealing with people are often elaborate and weird, and he has a talent for serving up just deserts in a harsh way. Serge is dark and twisted and completely hilarious.
Dorsey does push the Florida-Is-So-Crazy!!! schtick a bit far at times. One character is a sleazy private detective, a state senator and a homophobic radio talk show host which is a bit hard to believe. Plus, there are so many characters that it’s easy to lose track or forget about entire subplots for a while. Still, Serge was entertaining enough that I’ll reading more of these.
September 3, 2020
Florida Roadkill is a first novel by Tim Dorsey. It’s part of the South Florida wacky humorous mystery/adventure genre that Carl Hiassen pioneered. Centering around five million dollars of drug cartel money, and an extended multi-person chase across Florida to get it, there are numerous, diverse plot points that converge together in the end.
There is very large cast of distinct characters, some of which are more cartoon than human. An example:
You get Serge A. Storms, a manic-depressive, idiopathic spree-killer and Florida history buff, the planner of the fraud who loves eliminating jerks and pests.
There is Sharon Rhodes, a murderous stripper, and "Coleman" Bunsen, a drug-addled petty criminal, Serge's doped-up partners-in-crime.
We have Charles Saffron a drug-money-launderer and owner of the insurance company from which the cash was scammed by drunken dentist George Veale, Serge's unwilling accomplice.
Mo Grenadine a bigoted private eye, talk-show host, state senator, and private investigator.
And there’s more, such as Sean and David, who love fishing and are kind to animals and who are about to cross paths with a suitcase filled with $5 million.
There is very large cast of distinct characters, some of which are more cartoon than human. An example:
You get Serge A. Storms, a manic-depressive, idiopathic spree-killer and Florida history buff, the planner of the fraud who loves eliminating jerks and pests.
There is Sharon Rhodes, a murderous stripper, and "Coleman" Bunsen, a drug-addled petty criminal, Serge's doped-up partners-in-crime.
We have Charles Saffron a drug-money-launderer and owner of the insurance company from which the cash was scammed by drunken dentist George Veale, Serge's unwilling accomplice.
Mo Grenadine a bigoted private eye, talk-show host, state senator, and private investigator.
And there’s more, such as Sean and David, who love fishing and are kind to animals and who are about to cross paths with a suitcase filled with $5 million.
March 14, 2008
Good lord. My dad sent me this book to read and boy did it suck. I only finished it because we went to Florida to visit him and my stepmom and I was worried they'd ask me about it. If you enjoy books about whores, copious drug use, Florida history, gross violence and stupid people, then you can borrow my copy.
May 12, 2013
If you like your heroes to be psycho-killers, your action fast, your drugs considerable, constant and diverse, appreciate learning creative ways to extinguish human life, enjoy a large body count, appreciate a twisted, but informative guided tour of Florida, and don’t mind laughing out loud as you read, Florida Roadkill is the book for you. Dorsey opens with a bit of carnage, circles around to show us how it came to be, then zooms ahead with even more. There are drug dealers, drug users, radio bigots, real estate crooks, insurance crooks, HMO crooks, a coke-addled stripper/con-woman/extortionist, overage bikers, and frequent homage to the Florida's cultural icons, from Sonny Crockett to John McDonald to Carl Hiaason, from the Marlins in the World Series to a space shuttle launch. My favorite exchange in the book is between two of the few decent folks on these pages:
“Seriously, why do we stay in this state?” Sean asked.
“Co-dependency,” said David.
This book is great fun, (there are now 11 in the Serge series) but only if you have the stomach for it. Despite all the violence, it is crystal clear that Dorsey, like his protagonist, Serge, really, really loves Florida. But you might be forgiven if, after reading this, you alter your travel plans.
“Seriously, why do we stay in this state?” Sean asked.
“Co-dependency,” said David.
This book is great fun, (there are now 11 in the Serge series) but only if you have the stomach for it. Despite all the violence, it is crystal clear that Dorsey, like his protagonist, Serge, really, really loves Florida. But you might be forgiven if, after reading this, you alter your travel plans.
June 3, 2014
I am the native and this is my home. Faded pastels and Spanish tiles constantly slipping off roofs, shattering on the sidewalk. Dogs with mange and skateboard punks with mange roaming through yards, knocking over garbage cans. Lunatics wondering the streets at night, talking about spaceships. Bail bondsmen wake me up at three A.M. looking for the last tenant. Next door, a mail order bride is clubbed by a smelly man in a mechanic's shirt. Cats violently mate under my windows and rats breakdance in the drop ceiling. And I'm lying in bed with a broken air-conditioner, sweating and sipping lemonade through a straw. And I'm thinking, geez, this used to be a great state.
Quite a rant delivered by Serge Storms, the native Floridian who makes this debut here as the protagonist of a modern crime caper from Tim Dorsey. If all he did was droning on about the history and the sights of the country, or giving impassioned discourses about the politics, environmental destruction, tourism or morality in his beloved Florida, Serge Storms could almost qualify as a sane human being, pleading for a better society. There's a slight flaw in his character though: he likes to kill the people who cross him or annoy him using complicated and inventive contraptions. And please don't call him a serial killer because it bothers him and it might set him off on a murderous rampage. Tim Dorsey did an incredible (if not exactly original) genre switch here by making his hero not a part of the law enforcement or a gumshoe, but a local criminal with a neighborhood vigilante complex dealing his own brand of justice rather indiscriminately against evildoers and innocent bystanders. I am usually turned off by extremely violent and amoral lead characters, but Serge proved irressistible in his cheerful anarchism and earnest enthusiasm for historical trivia. The knack the author deployed is to make him irresponsible for his actions: Serge is classified as criminally insane by the Palm Beach County Health Department. He should be put behind bars or locked in a secure padded cell for the rest of his days, but the justice system, like so many other governement agencies, is broken in Florida.
Serge's attention deficit disorder was the first of many hyphens. Obsessive-compulsive, manic-depressive, anal-retentive, paranoid-schizophrenic. He was believed to have been the only self-inflicted case of shaken-baby syndrome. Some of the same disfunctions also made Serge animated, charming, ntertaining and sporadically brilliant.
If Serge wanted a recreational drug experience, he would skip taking his Prozac, Zoloft, Elavil and lithium. This usually resulted in brief incarcerations for petty mayhem, vandalism and unexplained acts of psychosis like putting on a top hat and tails and shooting up a cemetery.
The inspiration for the character and for the madcap style of black humor is stated openly and proudly by Mr. Dorsey, who pays homage in this first novel to the greatest crime writers of the Sunshine State, starting of course with Carl Hiaasen (Serge 'wagged a latent tail' at a book signing of the creator of Skip, the eco warrior of the swampland). Later, Serge visits the Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale where a plaque commemorates the Travis McGee character from Ross MacDonald's novels and gets an autograph from Dave Barry, a local columnist that I probably need to check out. From my own lectures I would add as another influence the Archy McNally books by Lawrence Sanders, even if the main character is quite tame compared to Serge.
If you wonder why I am not saying anything about the plot, I should point out that my reticence comes not so much from a fear of spoilers, but from the impossible task of making sense of the complex dance of coincidence and bad luck that brings together a district attorney and his definitely not gay friend who go on a fishing trip vacation, a venal land developer, an insurance company owner who specializes in scamming his clients, the worst bike gang in the country( a trio of rednecks named Stinky, Cheese-Dick and Ringworm), an inept gigolo who is still a virgin, some enraged elderly residents of a new housing estate, the 37th top drug cartel from the Carribbean, the SuperBowl, the launching of the Columbia shuttle and a bait in the form of a valise filled with money. Some paralles could be drawn with the Stanley Kramer comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World if the reader is prepared for about twenty times the craziness of the original.
Great, thought Serge, The Three Freakin' Musketeers. A ringleader, a mascot and a hood ornament!
Our neighborhood vigilante slash psychopat is sometimes assisted, but more often impeded, on his roadtrip by a couple of low level criminals: the equal opportunity drug addict Coleman, who is unable to operate a TV remote probably because he likes to try a different drug every day of the week (If it's Tuesday, it's crack!) and the sexbomb, amateur black widow Sharon, who would fornicate with anyone owning a bank account. Both of them are far behind in the brains department to Serge, who in his more sane moments could be classified as genius material, but they are quite good for comic effect. Here's a sample of Coleman playing a game of free association after inhaling a huge dose of pot. The passage could also serve as an impromptu book synopsis:
We're on the road to ruin, the highway to hell, going to hell in a handbasket, on the wrong side of the tracks, the last train to Clarksville, a bridge over troubled water, off the beaten path, between a rock and a hard place, at the school of hard knocks ... in Palookaville, dire straits, under the gun, up shit creek, the last resort, the end of the line ...
The end of the line for Serge et Co. is at the very southern tip of the Keys, after traversing the State from one corner to another, but the author promises more dead bodies, more car chases, more local colour delivered from the encyclopaedic reservoir of trivia stored in the deranged mind of our improvised tourist guide who goes by the name of Serge Storms. 20 more novels in his company don't sound at the moment to me as a bad proposition.
I will close this first review of a book by Tim Dorsey with another sample of his entertaining rants about a local convenience store:
Rapid Response stood a few blocks in from Biscayne Bay. Through the front door came construction workers filling forty-four-ounce Thirst Mutilators, schoolkids in baggy clothes shoplifting, registered nurses grabbing Evian from the glassed-in cooler, businessmen on cell phones unfolding maps they's never buy, Nicaraguans, Germans, Tamil rebels, Sikh separatists, scag mules, prom-queens-turned-drug-trollops, armored car guards, escaped convicts, getaway drivers, siding salesmen, rabbis and assorted nonbathers. Ellrod, like all Florida convenience store clerks, had the Serengeti alertness of the the tastiest gazelle in the herd.
February 24, 2021
I thought I’d give these series a try because I like Hiaasen’s books, but this one in particular seemed to have no real point or plot to speak of. There were numerous characters that just popped outta nowhere and had no substantial value to the general story. I didn’t find it funny either.
December 14, 2021
The audiobook was mildly entertaining, not very engaging or with an intriguing plot. But a rather ok book to listen to
August 2, 2017
Really enjoyed Dorsey's debut in his Serge series. Lots of dark humor and killings in ways one would never imagine, therefore probably not a book for everyone. Serge is an insane, but yet in his own unique way a genius, serial killer making his way across Florida in search of a suitcase filled with $5 million in cash. Accompanying Serge is Seymour "Bunsen" Burner, AKA Coleman who drinks heavily and uses about every drug imaginable throughout the entirety of their search. I enjoyed the way Dorsey did an excellent job of sprinkling in Florida's history and its geography. There was even cameo mentions of Carl Hiaasen, Dave Barry and others. This book does have a lot of characters and subplots but they do all tie together eventually believe me. Would recommend this book to those that enjoy humorous crime fiction.
May 3, 2008
I've read everything Tim Dorsey has written to date. He is my all time FAVORITE Florida Author. He writes about the real Florida, the seedy motels on Nebraska Ave., the Everglades, takes you on a WILD ride on an Amtrak Train through Florida, gives a hilarious (it could be funnier if it weren't so damned true) account of Florida Politiks, and has the most irresistible anti-hero in the form of Serge Storms.
He even takes on Gasparilla, my oh my, this author is my hero for sure.
He has a bit of Quentin Tarantino in him too. How I love gratuitous violence, especially when its victims are such deserving and unsalvageable beings.
You rock, Tim Dorsey!!
He even takes on Gasparilla, my oh my, this author is my hero for sure.
He has a bit of Quentin Tarantino in him too. How I love gratuitous violence, especially when its victims are such deserving and unsalvageable beings.
You rock, Tim Dorsey!!
April 28, 2022
Review originally published November 2003
Spoiler warning!
Everyone has authors they love: John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, J. K. Rowling and others. But they don’t seem to write new books as fast as we can read them, so we are forced to find new authors. A few years ago I found a new author that writes novels with recurring characters. His name is Tim Dorsey.
If you like authors like Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, you’ll love Dorsey. His characters, mainly the psychotic named Serge Storms and the accidental virgin Johnny Vegas, are oddball, kooky, and violent. His novels, which are hilarious violent farces, take place in Florida and include the state’s foibles and stereotypes. Dorsey, like many other novelists with settings in Florida (think Laurence Shames and Edna Buchanan), had been a newspaperman in Tampa, so it is the setting for many of his novels.
In Dorsey’s first novel Florida Roadkill, you will meet Serge. He’s a psychotic with a 1962 Florida guidebook. In between various crimes he likes to visit famous tourist attractions and collect souvenirs. Along with him are Coleman (think Cheech and Chong with guns) and a suitcase full of money that keeps getting in the wrong hands.
The search for the suitcase full of money continues in his next book, The Hammerhead Ranch Motel. There, a hurricane brings all the characters together. His third book, Orange Crush, skewers Florida politics as it follows an unassuming candidate for governor. In this book, Serge has developed amnesia and is working as a press officer.
Triggerfish Twist follows this, and is actually a prequel since characters killed in the first book reappear. The story here follows a nice guy and his family that move to 888 Triggerfish Lane. Across the street live Serge, Coleman, and Sharon. The nice guy somehow kills an escaped felon with an airbag during a carjacking. The felon’s brothers are out for revenge and from there events just keep escalating.
Books centering on book clubs seem to be the fashion now, so Dorsey’s fifth book has to do with a novel called The Stingray Shuffle and some women in a book group. Although the popularity of the book is due to its use as a cover for drug deals, members of the book group read it and go on a train ride from New York to Miami (the Silver Stingray). The suitcase full of the five million is still around and gets disbursed in the end. I’m looking forward to the next book, Cadillac Beach, which is due out next year.
The Onalaska Library, and soon other branches of the County Library system, has access to a product called Novel List. Here you can type in a favorite author and the program will recommend others that write in a similar vein. I wonder what results I’d get if I typed in Tim Dorsey?
Florida Roadkill is available in the paperback section at West Salem.
Hammerhead Ranch Motel is in the fiction section at West Salem.
Triggerfish Twist is in the fiction section at Holmen.
The Stingray Shuffle is in the fiction section at Onalaska.
Orange Crush is not currently in our collection, but has been ordered.
The books mentioned here are available through any branch. If they, or any other books you want, are not at your favorite branch they can be requested from another. Just ask the librarian! You are invited to visit any of our five branches at any time.
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
Spoiler warning!
Everyone has authors they love: John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, J. K. Rowling and others. But they don’t seem to write new books as fast as we can read them, so we are forced to find new authors. A few years ago I found a new author that writes novels with recurring characters. His name is Tim Dorsey.
If you like authors like Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, you’ll love Dorsey. His characters, mainly the psychotic named Serge Storms and the accidental virgin Johnny Vegas, are oddball, kooky, and violent. His novels, which are hilarious violent farces, take place in Florida and include the state’s foibles and stereotypes. Dorsey, like many other novelists with settings in Florida (think Laurence Shames and Edna Buchanan), had been a newspaperman in Tampa, so it is the setting for many of his novels.
In Dorsey’s first novel Florida Roadkill, you will meet Serge. He’s a psychotic with a 1962 Florida guidebook. In between various crimes he likes to visit famous tourist attractions and collect souvenirs. Along with him are Coleman (think Cheech and Chong with guns) and a suitcase full of money that keeps getting in the wrong hands.
The search for the suitcase full of money continues in his next book, The Hammerhead Ranch Motel. There, a hurricane brings all the characters together. His third book, Orange Crush, skewers Florida politics as it follows an unassuming candidate for governor. In this book, Serge has developed amnesia and is working as a press officer.
Triggerfish Twist follows this, and is actually a prequel since characters killed in the first book reappear. The story here follows a nice guy and his family that move to 888 Triggerfish Lane. Across the street live Serge, Coleman, and Sharon. The nice guy somehow kills an escaped felon with an airbag during a carjacking. The felon’s brothers are out for revenge and from there events just keep escalating.
Books centering on book clubs seem to be the fashion now, so Dorsey’s fifth book has to do with a novel called The Stingray Shuffle and some women in a book group. Although the popularity of the book is due to its use as a cover for drug deals, members of the book group read it and go on a train ride from New York to Miami (the Silver Stingray). The suitcase full of the five million is still around and gets disbursed in the end. I’m looking forward to the next book, Cadillac Beach, which is due out next year.
The Onalaska Library, and soon other branches of the County Library system, has access to a product called Novel List. Here you can type in a favorite author and the program will recommend others that write in a similar vein. I wonder what results I’d get if I typed in Tim Dorsey?
Florida Roadkill is available in the paperback section at West Salem.
Hammerhead Ranch Motel is in the fiction section at West Salem.
Triggerfish Twist is in the fiction section at Holmen.
The Stingray Shuffle is in the fiction section at Onalaska.
Orange Crush is not currently in our collection, but has been ordered.
The books mentioned here are available through any branch. If they, or any other books you want, are not at your favorite branch they can be requested from another. Just ask the librarian! You are invited to visit any of our five branches at any time.
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
March 10, 2015
I was told I should read these books. I had been putting them off and I saw my library had almost all of them in, so why not. It started off okay, got a little crazy and then I just lost interest. No offense. Just not really for me.
August 15, 2010
3.0 to 3.5 stars. This was my first book by Tim Dorsey and I thought it was fresh, original and a lot of fun. Basically, the book is a out a large number of "not so good" guys and "very bad" guys chasing around Florida for $5M in laundered drug money. However, that doesn't begin to describe the actual book because it is all about tone, dialogue and an up close look at the seedy under-belly of the Sun Shine State. Think "Pulp Fiction" meets "The Hangover" and you will be in the right ballpark of the tone. Overall, I liked it and will certainly read the next book in the series to see what Serge does next (or at least who he kills next).
September 29, 2015
Tim Dorsey's "Florida Roadkill" is a multi-character novel with a convoluted plot in which a bunch of people are running around looking for the same thing, a la “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. And boy, is it funny. The basic plot finds two criminals (a manic serial killer who's obsessed with all things Florida, and his substance-abusing, dopey sidekick) tracking down a five million dollar insurance settlement they forced a dentist to claim from a crooked insurance company. The money ends up in the car of two innocent men with the criminals following them all around Florida, leaving a trail of bodies behind. Various other characters, all extremely “colorful”, are looking for the money, too.
This is Tim Dorsey's first book, and the only real flaw with this book comes from a lack of experience. The tone is uneven, bouncing from subtle humor to flat-out one-liners, but I had a blast with this novel. Those two criminals -- one manic, the other always high -- are the Florida tour guides from Hell who continually find themselves in one crazy self-induced situation after another. Dorsey does adeptly keep the pace building over the course of the book as the all of the characters start moving toward each other; the novel gets better and better as it nears its end.
"Florida Roadkill" isn't perfect, but it made me laugh out loud a few times, and I found quite a bit of its characters' weirdness creatively amusing. I’m looking forward to reading its many sequels.
This is Tim Dorsey's first book, and the only real flaw with this book comes from a lack of experience. The tone is uneven, bouncing from subtle humor to flat-out one-liners, but I had a blast with this novel. Those two criminals -- one manic, the other always high -- are the Florida tour guides from Hell who continually find themselves in one crazy self-induced situation after another. Dorsey does adeptly keep the pace building over the course of the book as the all of the characters start moving toward each other; the novel gets better and better as it nears its end.
"Florida Roadkill" isn't perfect, but it made me laugh out loud a few times, and I found quite a bit of its characters' weirdness creatively amusing. I’m looking forward to reading its many sequels.
January 10, 2010
You can only continue reading this review if you promise to leave you judgements at the door...everyone deserves to see how the other side lives...and writes. I generally lean towards non-fiction books - from the political side over to the self-help genre - but every once in a while I will venture into the world of fiction, and Dorsey's early work is first-rate.
So, now we can get down to business...this was the first in a ten book series (might be more now) of one of the most underrated fictional characters of all time, Mr. Serge A. Storms. Though it does have its intermittent, egregious venereal episodes, just breeze over them and carry on because it is one of the funnier books I have ever read. It was a great opening book for the series, with superb character development, and best of all was an easy read that will most definitely leave you wanting to pick up the series' next book - Hammerhead Ranch Motel, then Orange Crush (the only one thats a little dull in the early books), then the unofficial Pulitzer Award winning pair, Triggerfish Twist and Stingray Shuffle...which are quite possibly the funniest books ever written. After that the series kind of took a downward turn for me, but Dorsey's early work - from Florida Roadkill thru Stingray Shuffle - is absolutely priceless and a must read for anyone who has ever lived, or stepped foot in The Sunshine State.
So, now we can get down to business...this was the first in a ten book series (might be more now) of one of the most underrated fictional characters of all time, Mr. Serge A. Storms. Though it does have its intermittent, egregious venereal episodes, just breeze over them and carry on because it is one of the funnier books I have ever read. It was a great opening book for the series, with superb character development, and best of all was an easy read that will most definitely leave you wanting to pick up the series' next book - Hammerhead Ranch Motel, then Orange Crush (the only one thats a little dull in the early books), then the unofficial Pulitzer Award winning pair, Triggerfish Twist and Stingray Shuffle...which are quite possibly the funniest books ever written. After that the series kind of took a downward turn for me, but Dorsey's early work - from Florida Roadkill thru Stingray Shuffle - is absolutely priceless and a must read for anyone who has ever lived, or stepped foot in The Sunshine State.
February 25, 2021
2 Stars for Florida Roadkill (audiobook) by Tim Dorsey read by George Wilson. I really appreciate Carl Hiaasen more now. I will read one or two of his a year and that’s enough for me. This book seemed to try and up Hiaasen’s style in craziness but it really lacked a story.
January 18, 2016
"Florida Roadkill" is Tim Dorsey's first novel, and it shows. The Dorsey formula is pretty routine, and usually enjoyable. This novel is no exception, but the formula is still in the making in this debut, and Dorsey is not able to competently keep all his many subplots together, or always interesting. In his later novels he does a much better job.
We are introduced to Serge A. Storms (serial killer) in this novel, and in later books I really enjoyed his character. In this first one Dorsey is still figuring his creation out, and he lacks the spark that animates him in later works. As a result Serge, and his best bud Coleman, are more aggravating then likable.
Unless you sit down and devour this book in a few days you will be lost at times as Dorsey populates it with too many minor characters who play pivotal roles in key moments at awkward times. The inconsistency is annoying for the reader.
Still, I enjoyed this text and will continue my adventures with Serge and company.
I would be bored if this type of fiction was all I read, but it serves as a nice diversion from time to time. Approaching it in that manner, I believe, will allow one to make allowances for the text, and thus you will be able to enjoy it more.
We are introduced to Serge A. Storms (serial killer) in this novel, and in later books I really enjoyed his character. In this first one Dorsey is still figuring his creation out, and he lacks the spark that animates him in later works. As a result Serge, and his best bud Coleman, are more aggravating then likable.
Unless you sit down and devour this book in a few days you will be lost at times as Dorsey populates it with too many minor characters who play pivotal roles in key moments at awkward times. The inconsistency is annoying for the reader.
Still, I enjoyed this text and will continue my adventures with Serge and company.
I would be bored if this type of fiction was all I read, but it serves as a nice diversion from time to time. Approaching it in that manner, I believe, will allow one to make allowances for the text, and thus you will be able to enjoy it more.
January 21, 2009
This author, Tim Dorsey, was recommended to me by a friend of mine, with who I share a common interest in Carl Hiaasen's work. "Florida Roadkill" is Tim Dorsey's first novel, I believe, and it's clear that Hiaasen is a big inspiration to this guy's writing. Both Hiaasen and Dorsey write about eccentric characters in Florida, in a genre probably best described as "bizarre crime fiction". The crimes (murders, primarily) that take place are hilariously strange, even more strange than those that Hiaasen writes about (examples: murders by a Barbie-doll fetishist, murder by a can of tire sealant, murder by Levis 501s). Although Dorsey's prose is not quite as adept as Hiaasen's, it still is plenty interesting (especially if you enjoy Hiaasen's work). Dorsey has a vivid imagination, and fills his writing with a combination of the fanciful with the factual. If you are at all interested in Florida (I am), and love a good yarn involving bumbling fools dreaming up stupid crimes, then this book is for you. Evidently (I am told) that much like Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey uses recurring characters in his novels. Given that this is his first book, I'm looking forward to reading his newer stuff.
June 20, 2018
More like a high 3 star rating. Read it before/while I went on a road trip to FL. Felt Miami Vice-y. May read more of the series, saw the next book in line had higher ratings. Was fun to look up all the islands/places they mentioned in the book.
October 14, 2011
"The debut album by Tim Dorsey is probably the most entertaining opening album I have read in a long time and I can second that with so many others who have read this book too. This novel - and all the novels after - are very reminiscent of Carl Hiaason's novels but instead of being a dark satire, it is more of a very upbeat, somewhat skirting the fine line of slapstick, comedy writing and thus makes it worth the read even though it is supposed to be satire as well.
This novel also introduced one of the most entertaining characters I have read about in any work of fiction, Serge A. Storms who is a Florida buff that knows the history of Florida like none other and is also a psychopathic killer but only kills bad, mean, and evil people which I don't mind having someone like that run around. Little bit of of trivia for you, there are over fifty serial killers in the state of Florida the police know about - as in they know who they are and where they live - but leave alone because these serial killers kill bad people or people the police really want off the streets. Talk about fine line right? This is the comedic version of that little statistic. Throw in a drug-addled partner named Coleman and a sexy stripper named Sharon Rhodes with all of them chasing five million dollars in a suitcase in stolen insurance money, you get a good read.
I would recommend this anyone who wants a good laugh as well as an insight on how Florida is for Florida is the state where all of the nations psychopaths, sociopaths, and crazy people live and most of them are retirees too. Also on a sidenote, this novel also introduces Johnny Vegas the accidental virgin. I'll leave it at that and will let you the reader find out why he is called that."
This novel also introduced one of the most entertaining characters I have read about in any work of fiction, Serge A. Storms who is a Florida buff that knows the history of Florida like none other and is also a psychopathic killer but only kills bad, mean, and evil people which I don't mind having someone like that run around. Little bit of of trivia for you, there are over fifty serial killers in the state of Florida the police know about - as in they know who they are and where they live - but leave alone because these serial killers kill bad people or people the police really want off the streets. Talk about fine line right? This is the comedic version of that little statistic. Throw in a drug-addled partner named Coleman and a sexy stripper named Sharon Rhodes with all of them chasing five million dollars in a suitcase in stolen insurance money, you get a good read.
I would recommend this anyone who wants a good laugh as well as an insight on how Florida is for Florida is the state where all of the nations psychopaths, sociopaths, and crazy people live and most of them are retirees too. Also on a sidenote, this novel also introduces Johnny Vegas the accidental virgin. I'll leave it at that and will let you the reader find out why he is called that."
August 3, 2024
This book was like reading Carl Hiaasen on steroids! It takes place in the Florida of Hiaasen with a cast of wacky characters who for the most part engage in random acts of mindless and reckless behavior including murder and mayhem across the State of Florida. These include a killer stripper, bikers without bikes, an alcoholic dentist, a despicable retirement community manager, and miscellaneous drug cartel killers looking for $5 million dollars ripped off through an insurance scam. The innocents in the novel are two friends on vacations just looking for some fishing and wanting to see the Florida Marlins play in the 1997 World Series.
Then there is Serge Storms--a serial killer who is also out to get the $5 million and who suffers from mental disorders, but loves Florida history and trivia. He and his buddy Coleman wreck havoc across the State in search of the money.
This novel was entertaining and laugh out loud funny in some spots. It was also extremely violent and meandered all over the place before it came to a conclusion that left you wanting to read the next in the series. Mild overall recommendation.
Then there is Serge Storms--a serial killer who is also out to get the $5 million and who suffers from mental disorders, but loves Florida history and trivia. He and his buddy Coleman wreck havoc across the State in search of the money.
This novel was entertaining and laugh out loud funny in some spots. It was also extremely violent and meandered all over the place before it came to a conclusion that left you wanting to read the next in the series. Mild overall recommendation.
August 22, 2008
If you've ever had a person pull up next to you at the light with their stereo blaring so loud you can barely hear yourself think, or wondered how crooked CEOs who gut their company's pension plans only to build tax protected mansions in exotic locations live with themselves, then you need to read Tim Dorsey's series of novels starring Serge A Storms. Dorsey isn't the first to mine Florida for wacky ripped from the headlines stories and set them loosely within the confines of a crime novel, but he's among the best at it. The thing that differentiates Dorsey from, say, Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard, is Serge; a likable sociopath who is as addicted to Florida's history and pop culture as he is to erasing some really annoying people from he planet in amusing and often very creative ways. Serge is often called a serial killer on the blurbs on the paperbacks but don't believe it. He's more like a modern day Robin Hood except that instead of robbing the rich and giving to the poor, he usually just kills them.
September 27, 2011
I really enjoyed this wacky comedy about crazy and/or murderous characters and their violent criminal hijinks in south Florida.
There are a couple of nice guys, old high school buddies on vacation together, but they're the misfits in a story largely filled with thugs, frauds, bullies, sociopaths, drug addicts, thieves and murderers. Most of the characters fit into more than one of those categories. The violence is all played for laughs, but the book is enough to make you keep a wary eye out the next time you visit Florida.
Much of the action takes place around the 1997 World Series, then later it moves to the Keys. They go out to the Dry Tortugas at one point.
A little of this kind of thing goes a long way, so I won't rush into the next book, but I will look forward to it.
There are a couple of nice guys, old high school buddies on vacation together, but they're the misfits in a story largely filled with thugs, frauds, bullies, sociopaths, drug addicts, thieves and murderers. Most of the characters fit into more than one of those categories. The violence is all played for laughs, but the book is enough to make you keep a wary eye out the next time you visit Florida.
Much of the action takes place around the 1997 World Series, then later it moves to the Keys. They go out to the Dry Tortugas at one point.
A little of this kind of thing goes a long way, so I won't rush into the next book, but I will look forward to it.
May 2, 2009
At first I was puzzled by the scene switching, but later, as the characters began to converge I was delighted to see how the author wove the story together. Serge is a brilliant psychopath and Coleman is about as bright a sidekick as any stoner. The devil is in the details and this book is devilishly good. If I ever to a road trip in Florida, I'm making notes. The Dry Tortugas are the last of the keys, populated by park rangers and the occasional biology students. Serge and Coleman take mayhem on the road to cover the whole lower region from Miami to the end of the Keys. It's a frenetic blast. Loved it.
July 20, 2013
You have to have a strong taste for satire to enjoy this. Dorsey treats Florida as the "ultimate trash state." Examples: retirees revolting against their developer's rip-offs retaliated, resulting in one of the developer's employees walking back to the office "with his thumb super-glued up his butt." A convenience store chain named "Addiction World." Levi's 501 jeans and a can of Fix-a-Flat used as murder weapons (separately). World Series ticket scalper murdered for two tickets. You quickly realize there is no useful plot, simply a chain of incidents on which to hang ever more ridiculous acts and dialogue. And it really is funny.
November 16, 2017
More of a shock attack type of novel than one with a plot, Dorsey's wildly inventive ways of consuming drugs, scamming folks, making millions, then losing even more might just make one weary of living in Florida. But here I am, taking walks on the fabulous beaches and enjoying the eye candy everywhere. And avoiding anyone who appears to have their brains fried from the heat, which is...umm....most of the population. As one character says, "I used to love Buffet." Nuff said.
March 23, 2012
Tim Dorsey is Carl Hiaasen on hallucinogens. While Hiaasen still makes some effort to tie his characters to whatever passes for reality in Florida, Dorsey has cut his mooring lines entirely and sailed off into an antimatter version of the Sunshine State that's still entirely recognizable, just twisted like a Moebius strip.
Yes, there is a plot (sort of). It serves mostly as a framework for non-stop riffs on development, corruption, psychosis, ecological despoliation, tourists, local news and bad taste in general, each wilder and more on-the-money than the last. While the two average Joes caught in the center of the storm are the nominal protagonists, Serge Storms -- Florida trivia expert, serial killer and psychotic off his meds -- steals the show from the first page he appears. There's a reason Dorsey built a series around Storms: he's crazier than a sack of wolverines, but in a way that makes himself look normal and everyone around him seem insane.
This is the first and by far the best of the series, before Serge's multiple kinks turned into shtick and Coleman became a terminal bore. The manic energy just couldn't survive God-knows-how-many sequels; get it fresh here.
If you read South Florida crime fiction, you must read Florida Roadkill, as an antidote if nothing else. If you ever wondered what a Florida crime novel written by Douglas Adams or Terry Pritchett would be like, here you go.
Yes, there is a plot (sort of). It serves mostly as a framework for non-stop riffs on development, corruption, psychosis, ecological despoliation, tourists, local news and bad taste in general, each wilder and more on-the-money than the last. While the two average Joes caught in the center of the storm are the nominal protagonists, Serge Storms -- Florida trivia expert, serial killer and psychotic off his meds -- steals the show from the first page he appears. There's a reason Dorsey built a series around Storms: he's crazier than a sack of wolverines, but in a way that makes himself look normal and everyone around him seem insane.
This is the first and by far the best of the series, before Serge's multiple kinks turned into shtick and Coleman became a terminal bore. The manic energy just couldn't survive God-knows-how-many sequels; get it fresh here.
If you read South Florida crime fiction, you must read Florida Roadkill, as an antidote if nothing else. If you ever wondered what a Florida crime novel written by Douglas Adams or Terry Pritchett would be like, here you go.
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