Shark Skin Suite

Hold on to your sunscreen and shades--Florida's own Serge A. Storms is back, and so is his versatile narrator, Oliver Wyman. This time the likable sometimes-serial-killer (when he goes off his meds) has recast himself as a freelance paralegal--with no training other than rewatching legal classics of the big screen that were filmed in the Sunshine State. A full-cast production isn't necessary with Wyman at the helm. His portrayals of a crew of plucky senior women sound as authentic as his take on the smooth jive of gumshoe Mahoney. Whether it's the unfocused diction of a drug addict or the speedy chatter of the highly caffeinated, Wyman is seamless in his delivery as he highlights subtle nuances in each character. Dorsey's series is known for its wacky humor, and Wyman delivers it with verve. J.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 19, 2015
Florida serial killer Serge A. Storms is still going strong, as shown by bestseller Dorsey's 18th entry in this brilliantly funny series (after 2014's Tiger Shrimp Tango). Accompanied by stoner friend Coleman, Stoner rockets around the state reveling in little known tidbits of Florida history, uncovering scams both blatantly obvious and stunningly subtle, and meting out inventive and inspired punishments to evil-doers. All of this is done with a razor sharp wit that skewers human foibles and follies illustrated by instantly recognizable character types. Big banks are engaging in mortgage fraud ("Florida has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation"), but the main human interest is with Brook Campanella, a newly minted lawyer and a former girlfriend of Serge's. Brook wages a losing war in the courtroom against powerful Consolidated Financial, until Serge appoints himself attorney for the plaintiff and makes a memorable courtroom appearance. Consolidated fights dirty, but that's Serge's specialty, and though the end result is obvious, the path Serge takes is not. Author tour. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber.

December 15, 2014
Florida's premier vigilante may have met his match. When Serge A. Storms (The Riptide Ultra-Glide, 2013, etc.) kidnaps lovely paralegal Brook Campanella, he ensnares himself in an attachment that makes Stockholm syndrome look like puppy love. But their ill-fated union is short-circuited just north of Key West by a massive manhunt triggered by two measly murders. The lovers part, united, although separated, in the common goal of becoming attorneys. Brook beats Serge to the punch by the simple expedient of actually attending law school, while her lover hones his legal skills by watching Legally Blonde and Cool Hand Luke. After she helps Hilda and Vernon Rockford save their home, which they bought with cash, from foreclosure by First American Bank, Brook is wooed by Shapiro, Heathcote-Mendacious and Blatt, one of the biggest firms in the Southeast. SH&B assigns her second chair on Sheffield et al v. Consolidated Financial, a class action suit against a bank that "robosigned" thousands of mortgages, waited until the buyers were underwater, seized their properties and sold them for more than the original loan amounts. It's a tough case. The plaintiffs' two lead witnesses, Ruth Wozniak and Cooder Ratch, are just a bit cray cray. Brook's first chair, Shelby Lang, has little more trial experience than she does. And trial judge Kennesaw Montgomery Boone thinks Citizens United didn't go far enough in protecting corporations. Fortunately, Serge, who's just completed his tour of South Florida courthouses, is tan, rested and ready to give Brook all the help she needs, and then some. Once again, Serge proves that homicidal mania has its points as Dorsey takes aim at more massive villains than usual.

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