Florida Roadkill: A Novel

Take two old high school buddies on a fishing vacation away from their jobs and families. Add a fun-loving serial killer with a drugged-up sidekick and a black widow tag-along, a right-wing talk show host turned detective, a crooked insurance company CEO, four vengeful drug smugglers, a real estate scam artist, a three-man unsuccessful biker gang, a development owner that swindles the elderly, and a sexual deviant into Barbie dolls and drowning. Now, throw a suitcase filled with ten million doll...more Take two old high school buddies on a fishing vacation away from their jobs and families. Add a fun-loving serial killer with a drugged-up sidekick and a black widow tag-along, a right-wing talk show host turned detective, a crooked show more insurance company CEO, four vengeful drug smugglers, a real estate scam artist, a three-man unsuccessful biker gang, a development owner that swindles the elderly, and a sexual deviant into Barbie dolls and drowning. Now, throw a suitcase filled with ten million dollars in the middle, and watch the real fun begin.

Florida Roadkill: A Novel is the first in a long series of novels featuring everyone's favorite obsessive/manic/psychopathic madman, Serge, and his lovable substance abusing sidekick, Coleman. It is also Tim Dorsey's first novel.

As debut novels go, Dorsey nails his audience right out of the gate. While his later books do become slightly more polished and streamlined, there is little in Florida Roadkill that would seem alien to anyone who started with his later works first. Dorsey's voice is consistent and unfaltering.

The key word is Madness. Dorsey's Florida is a land overflowing with criminals, lunatics, swindlers, scumbags, and cold-blooded killers. But he manages to make the this dangerous god-forsaken tourist trap a colorful and humorous at every turn. If you never thought you would find serial killers, drug dealers, real estate scam artists, and violent biker gangs funny, then Florida Roadkill will definitely surprise you. The Riders of Eternal Doom, for example, are the most memorable and laughable biker gang since the Black Widows first attempted to terrorize Clint Eastwood in Every Which Way but Loose.

Dorsey embraces the narrative format of jumping back and forth between seemingly unconnected people and events, all of which eventually tie in together, and in a very non-linear format. But he manages to weave these snippets into a chaotic tapestry that never confuses or discourages. He knows how to keep the readers interested, and exactly how far he can string them along before revealing the connections. In short, he's a storyteller, and a damn good one at that.

Humorous Floridian criminals are not an untapped resource, and Dorsey is well aware of this. He not only knows that he has others authors of such novels to contend with, he acknowledges it by including guest appearances by Carl Hiaasan and Dave Barry. A humbling and tongue-in-cheek tip of the hat, it shows that Dorsey isn't afraid of the competition. He shouldn't be, either, as his writing never borders on imitation. He's carved out his own stomping ground in Florida, and rightfully declared it his own.

The newest book in the Serge series, Nuclear Jellyfish, has just been released. If you start now, you can make it through the series before the next installment hits the stands. I highly recommend you give it a shot. show less

A frenetic slapstick caper, full of endearingly dysfunctional characters, zany antics, ludicrous violence, and social commentary. It's a hilarious and biting yet loving insightful send up of fin de millennium Florida.

I got to the end and I was like, wait, what? More Serge? Can the people handle more Serge? Because Serge is A LOT. This book has a zillion characters, half of them on coke, the other half with machine guns. It's the most Florida book to ever have Florida-ed and once I got past the confusing prologue, I was pretty much all in. Could it use a few more female characters who weren't coke whores? Yes, yes it could. Or just more ladies in general? Sure. There are so many batshit-crazy male characters that it's hard to keep them apart. The names and descriptions of place got to be a little much for a non-Floridian, but this is clearly a love letter to the most insane state in the nation. I will probably read the second.

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, show more 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. show less

A friend of mine turned me on to Carl Hiaasen years ago, and not only did I become a Hiaasen fan, buying all his previous books and breathlessly waiting for new ones, while waiting for those, I began looking for authors who also wrote humorous Florida Fiction.

I stumbled upon Laurence Shames when a book called Florida Straits caught my eye, and it didn’t take me long to devour his entire output. Then one day, at Kate’s Mystery Bookshop in Cambridge, another title caught my eye, Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey. Could there be, I asked myself, yet another author who writes uproarious Florida Fiction?

Yes. Yes, there could.

Among the many delights of reading Dorsey, whose books chronicle the exploits of renowned serial killer and show more all-around bon vivant Serge Storms and his stoner sidekick Coleman, is that they are travelogues of all things Florida.

For example there's a scene in this one in which Serge finds himself in Key West during the annual Hemingway lookalike festival, where he sparks the very first "Running of the Hemingways." You gotta read it to believe it. Truly laugh out loud funny.

I admit that after a while, I kind of fell away from Dorsey, because it seemed at times like he was writing the same book over and over again. It was only after a few years and moving to Florida that I found myself in the bookstore and decided to pick up his latest.

And yes, it sometimes still seems as if he’s writing the same book over and over again. But you know what?

I like the book. show less

Take two old high school buddies on a fishing vacation away from their jobs and families. Add a fun-loving serial killer with a drugged-up sidekick and a black widow tag-along, a right-wing talk show host turned detective, a crooked insurance company CEO, four vengeful drug smugglers, a real estate scam artist, a three-man unsuccessful biker gang, a development owner that swindles the elderly, and a sexual deviant into Barbie dolls and drowning. Now, throw a suitcase filled with ten million dollars in the middle, and watch the real fun begin.

Florida Roadkill is the first in a long series of novels featuring everyone's favorite obsessive/manic/psychopathic madman, Serge, and his lovable substance abusing sidekick, Coleman. It is also Tim show more Dorsey's first novel.

As debut novels go, Dorsey nails his audience right out of the gate. While his later books do become slightly more polished and streamlined, there is little in Florida Roadkill that would seem alien to anyone who started with his later works first. Dorsey's voice is consistent and unfaltering.

The key word is Madness. Dorsey's Florida is a land overflowing with criminals, lunatics, swindlers, scumbags, and cold-blooded killers. But he manages to make the this dangerous god-forsaken tourist trap a colorful and humorous at every turn. If you never thought you would find serial killers, drug dealers, real estate scam artists, and violent biker gangs funny, then Florida Roadkill will definitely surprise you. The Riders of Eternal Doom, for example, are the most memorable and laughable biker gang since the Black Widows first attempted to terrorize Clint Eastwood in Every Which Way but Loose.

Dorsey embraces the narrative format of jumping back and forth between seemingly unconnected people and events, all of which eventually tie in together, and in a very non-linear format. But he manages to weave these snippets into a chaotic tapestry that never confuses or discourages. He knows how to keep the readers interested, and exactly how far he can string them along before revealing the connections. In short, he's a storyteller, and a damn good one at that.

Humorous Floridian criminals are not an untapped resource, and Dorsey is well aware of this. He not only knows that he has others authors of such novels to contend with, he acknowledges it by including guest appearances by Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry. A humbling and tongue-in-cheek tip of the hat, it shows that Dorsey isn't afraid of the competition. He shouldn't be, either, as his writing never borders on imitation. He's carved out his own stomping ground in Florida, and rightfully declared it his own.

The newest book in the Serge series, Nuclear Jellyfish, has just been released. If you start now, you can make it through the series before the next installment hits the stands. I highly recommend you give it a shot. show less

Sometimes, there is an advantage to reading a book series out of order. That’s the case for me and Tim Dorsey’s “Serge A. Storm” series. Last year, I read Atomic Lobster, which I received from the publisher before it hit the book stores. I enjoyed this book a lot – it offered a great blend of humor, crime and Florida-ness to keep me enthralled.

My recent book was the first book of the Serge series - Florida Roadkill. If this book was my first look at Serge, I would have never read another Dorsey book. That doesn’t mean that Florida Roadkill was a bad story – in fact, it’s an entertaining, yet dark read. What encourages me about this series, though, is the knowledge that Serge’s character develops as the series show more progresses. I now am intrigued by this character and can’t wait to read about his next set of shenanigans.

Florida Roadkill introduced us to Serge, a genius plagued with mental illness. When he’s not on his medication, he’s manic about Florida history. When he’s medicated, he’s unstoppable. In this book, it appeared that Serge lacked any sort of moral compass – he’s reckless and willing to do whatever he can to get the $10 million stuffed in a suitcase. Befriended by drug addict Coleman, the two set out to find the suitcase, evading the police, drug dealers, guns for hire and a former employer of a life insurance company, to find the money.

Throughout this story, we are treated to many historical tidbits about Florida – from the Space Coast to the Keys. I liked that Serge was fascinated with history because he shared his knowledge with those around him (which meant the reader benefited too). In addition to the historical substories, Dorsey added doses of Florida idiosyncrasies – from Hemingway look-alikes hanging out in the Keys to how women can successfully accumulate beads during the Gasparilla Parade. Both elements were a treat for a Floridian like me.

In fact, I would argue that you must be a Floridian to truly appreciate Dorsey’s novels. I think the humor and tidbits would fly over a non-Floridian’s head. You also have to stomach some heinous crimes throughout Florida Roadkill. I would recommend this story to the strong-at-heart, fun-lovin’ Floridian who likes a good yarn (and poke) about the Sunshine State we all know and love. show less