Five acid-splashed Florida capers in one great package! Prepare for the road trip of a lifetime with everyone’s favorite serial killer, Serge A. Storms, in the New York Times bestselling series from the “compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny” (Boston Globe) Tim Dorsey.In CADILLAC BEACH, Serge A. Storms, the one-man crime spree, hits no speed bumps as he swings through Tampa, Disney World, … the one-man crime spree, hits no speed bumps as he swings through Tampa, Disney World, and parts south before settling down in Miami Beach to team up with a former sidekick and launch his long-overdue offbeat travel service. Our overachieving antihero has a full to-do list, and he multitasks during the tourist juggernaut to battle the Palermo crime family, mystery assassins, local police, the FBI, the CIA, Fidel Castro, and telemarketers. Serge and his customers have become the hunted, hopscotching through a series of famous hotel rooms. But Serge tells them not to worry. He has a master plan, which is about to unfold in all of its insane glory . . . on Cadillac Beach!
In TORPEDO JUICE, this time our lovable but maniacal hero is on a mission: Stay off police radar and reinvent himself. Naturally Serge makes a beeline to the Reinvention Capital of the United States, the Florida Keys, where nobody is who they seem to be and the freaks are the least of your worries. The perfect place for Serge to blend in! Unfortunately, some other less likable lunatics have latched on to the same idea, and the sheriff’s fax machine keeps jamming because of all the APBs coming in like a storm front about to break… Lurking beneath paradise are many questions: Who is the mystery driver of the metallic green Trans Am? The brown Plymouth Duster with Ohio plates? What about the white Mercedes with tinted windows?
In THE BIG BAMBOO, Serge finds time to resurrect his obsession with movies, particularly those showcasing his beloved home state. And he wants answers! Why aren’t more films shot here? How come the ones that are stink so bad? And what’s up with filming “Florida” scenes in California? Then there’s the cryptic message from his grandfather, Sergio, telling him to go to Los Angeles to uncover a mysterious secret from the distant past. It’s too much of a coincidence. It’s fate. Naturally, Serge, accompanied by his substance-sustained sidekick, Coleman, must immediately hop a transcontinental flight to straighten out Hollywood once and for all.
In HURRICANE PUNCH, our lovable, under-undermedicated dispenser of truth, justice, and trivia is back with a vengeance—just as his cherished home state is about to take a beating from a conga line of hurricanes bearing down on the peninsula. But as Serge and his burnout buddy Coleman go storm-chasing, bodies begin turning up at a disturbing rate, even by Florida standards. It looks like a serial killer is on the loose—another serial killer—which highly offends Serge’s moral sensibilities. And he vows he’ll stop at nothing to unmask his thrill-killing rival and make All Things Right—though Coleman’s triathlete approach to the sport of polyabuse binging threatens to derail the mission more completely than the entire combined Sunshine State police community could ever hope to.
In ATOMIC LOBSTER, Serge is back with a bullet, torn between homicide and souvenirs. So is Coleman, torn between getting hammered and getting more hammered. Then there’s good ol’ Jim Davenport, the E-Team, the Diaz Brothers, and Johnny Vegas, the Accidental Virgin, cranking up the fevered action as the pot boils over on a street called Lobster Lane. It’s reunion time in the Sunshine State, and we’re not just talking the family jamboree of that blood-soaked criminal clan, the McGraws, whose nastiest, meanest member is finally released from prison and heads south bent on revenge. On top of it all, the government is covering up a growing list of mysterious victims across Florida who may or may not be connected to a nefarious plot being hatched against national security.
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I’m always sad when I finish a Tim Dorsey book. I’m always so hooked into what Serge and Coleman are up to. It’s the best escape ever.
This package of books was awesome. Books that I’ve never read and one or…three that I have. I loved rereading with a different context. How did Serge get his name, what made him…well Serge? Now I get it. If you haven’t read any of this authors books, you should make it a priority! Go get one now!
The humor, sarcasm, the creative deaths, and drug use by Coleman may not be for everyone.
All that said, my grief of finishing was compounded by the number of books in the pack. Because yes, I did read them all straight through. Relieved by knowing that I own them and can reread them at will!!
The plot doesn’t matter. It is just there to support the enjoyably crazy characters,
Florida Crazy, with a serial killer with creative means for retribution, a fetish for Florida history, and a sidekick who will try any mind-altering substance available easily. You WILL learn great tidbits of history, but you WILL NOT see big box hardware stores the same way. This is not for anyone who prefers cozy mysteries, lofty literature, or stern moral lessons. But for the rest of us who appreciate twisted acts of justice, quirky travelogues, and rampant substance abuse, this is the best series you’ll read.
Laugh out loud, sometimes so hilarious I cried tears,
Tim Dorsey has been a favorite of mine for a number of years. HE is an enjoyable read and I have come to the point of I can’t wait to see what Surge will do next.
Suppose Carl HIassen, John McDonald and Hunter S. Thompson met to do the literary equivalent of a one of Johnny Cash’s guitar pulls, and Jimmy Buffet came along for the ride. I don’t know if Serge Storms is an original creation, but I’m pretty sure if Dorsey wanted him to have an attorney on retainer, he would have looked no further than Dr Duke’s 400 pound Samoan attorney. I read everything Dorsey’s written, and will do so as soon as they are released as long as I’m around. Great stuff…
Since it is actually (5) different books, I would say it is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with this N.Y. Times Best-Selling “Fiction” writer about all things Florida – If you are “Dorsey-naive,” maybe check out a synopsis of one or two of the books on-line just to make sure you’re up for “the set” but he’ll make you laugh, cheer for the “bad” guy, and be drawn into the wild world of what author – and all around down-to-earth guy Tim Dorsey calls “Trop Lit” but which I call, “Trop, Drop, and Roll” Lit. If you are like his legions of long-time fans, you will come away from this reading shaking your head and smiling at the memory. Enjoy!