Hammerhead Ranch Hotel

When I picked this book up I thought it sounded like a cross between Randy Wayne White and Carl Hiaasen. I didn't find any RWW, but it started out a bit Hiaasen-like. However, it quickly found its own groove with an offbeat, hysterical writing style. There were tons of weird and wacky things going on, the story jumped around left and right and to and fro, and I frequently caught myself laughing out loud.

Initially I thought the pacing was good because it was just so damn funny, but after a while I couldn’t really see where the story was going since it was all over the place. Ultimately it was all headed to the Hammerhead Ranch Motel, but it still wasn’t really going anywhere plotwise. About halfway through the book I was getting show more tired of the zany for the sake of zaniness and wacky for the sake of wackiness, I was starting to wish the story would end already because it seemed to simply drag along with no real purpose. It had a purpose, but there were so many moving parts that I didn't really care by the time I was reaching the end of the book.

Anyway, still worth reading and I will be looking for more Tim Dorsey for whenever I am in the frame of mind to read this kind of book. Plus, I came to appreciate Serge and his endless litany of all things Florida. show less

More sex, drugs and rock-and-roll marked Tim Dorsey’s second installment of the Serge A. Storm series. In Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Dorsey picked up where his first book, Florida Roadkill left off. Serge was still hunting down the suitcase with the $5 million, and a band of merry misfits intentionally (or unintentionally) got in his way. Not even a powerful hurricane could sway Serge from his quest for more riches.

Like the previous book, Hammerhead Ranch Motel was not for the faint of heart. There’s enough marijuana, cocaine and illicit sex to sink a boat. Where this book sparkled was the depiction of local landmarks and quirky news stories that showed the underbelly of the Sunshine State.

Hammerhead Ranch Motel was a wild ride – a show more fast, poolside read – that had me laughing at parts and groaning in others. Again, I could only recommend these books to Floridians who can appreciate the humor and wackiness that is Florida. I would also recommend putting some time between reading Dorsey books. They are a bit formulaic, and readers may enjoy them individually if read a month or two apart. show less

Though this book is funny and jam-packed with quirky facts and circumstances, I was a little let down by the rambling, disjointed feeling that it left me with. The sequence of events surrounding the loss of 5 million dollars was clever , but this sequence was never put in any sort of logical order. Hell, it wasn't even recapped at the end of the book. Hell, I still don't really know whose money it was and why it was in a strange car. The characters were great, the dialogue funny, but I really needed to make myself a timeline or something.

Serge Storms, lovable serial killer, follows the suitcase of drug money with millions through Florida. Along the way he meets many characters almost as crazy but not as lovable as himself. This particular novel focuses on the history of hurricanes and the current data collection there of.
This is now the fourth book I've read and this series. And there is no character development, only plot lines and history of Florida. It serves merely as an entertaining read as it isn't very deep-all action.

This is Tim Dorsey's sequel to Florida Roadkill. Serge Storms is back in this book still chasing the suitcase containing $5 Million in laundered drug-money. Early in the novel Serge gets his hands on the case, just to lose it to car thieves. The case continues to transfer hands until it makes it to the hands of drug-lord Zargozsa. The owner of the Hammerhead Ranch Motel. We follow Serge as he kills his way along the route taken by the case and meets up with zany companions along the way. The plot reaches its climax as the protaganist's gather in the bar of the Hammerhead Ranch to wait out a hurricane and see who will end up with the cash.

Writing in the Bunch-of-Crazy-People-Who-Live-In-South-Florida genre, Tim Doresy is like Carl Hiaasen with a mean streak.

The Hammerhead Ranch Motel on Tampa Bay, owned by a cocaine-dealing, nursing home cheating, call-center bamboozler named Zargoza is invaded by Serge Storms and a variety of other Florida weirdoes as Hurricane Rolando-Berto is about to come ashore.