Tropic of Stupid

November 2, 2020
Bestseller Dorsey breezes through his 24th comic novel featuring serial killer Serge A. Storms (after 2020’s Naked Came the Florida Man), mixing the slapstick humor of the Three Stooges with Sunshine State details that would make a Florida history professor envious. Serge, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of Florida, wants to know more about his own background. So, he buys a DNA service advertised on TV to construct a family tree. Serge and his perpetually stoned friend, Coleman,
cruise Florida, meeting far-flung relatives while deciding what to do with the string of guys tied up in their car’s trunk. Along the way, Serge, who only kills those he deems deserving (such as those who swindle the vulnerable or disrespect Florida lore), realizes that one of his kin may also be a serial killer. As Serge holds forth on Florida’s flora, fauna, parks, and the glories of the TV show Sea Hunt, he crosses paths with a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent investigating serial killers and a predatory lawyer. Though Dorsey lacks Carl Hiaasen’s sophistication, he succeeds amid the pratfalls in making Serge a hero. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc.

November 1, 2020
Cheerful serial killer and Florida-history buff Serge Storms continues his eccentric tour of Florida's places of interest (to him, anyway), accompanied by his constant companion, Coleman. This time, Serge is also looking for long-lost relatives; imagine his surprise when he discovers that one of those relatives may also be a serial killer, on the loose for 20 years. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is tracking the killer, too. The stage is set for mayhem, but will Serge emerge unscathed yet again? The first novel in this hugely entertaining series, Florida Roadkill, was published in 1999, and it's been one delightful adventure after another. Storms is a wonderful character, a man with a can-do attitude and, well, a unique sense of retribution. You can't help liking the guy: he is, by all objective standards, a dangerously insane psychopath, but to Serge, it's the rest of the world that's crazy, while he's merely a misunderstood crusader for law and order. A new Dorsey novel is always a cause for celebration among readers who like their heroes more than a little bent.

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