Hurricane Punch (Serge Storms, 9)

Tim is a lot of fun to read. He also knows his Florida. You'll be both entertained and educated.

This whole series of books by Tim Dorsey can be described as a twisted and funny study on the dark side in all of human beings. Tim Dorsey manages to take everyday situations and make them incredibly funny. Based in Florida, the series follows the twisted life of Serge Storms (one of the best characters ever created) and all his sick, violent and disturbed adventures. Of course, along the way you will get to meet every kind of character you can imagine. The interesting thing about this series is that behind all the funny stories, there are tons of social and political criticisms. I have read all the books in the series, and each one keeps getting better. If you are a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies, Family Guy cartoons or South Park cartoons, you will love these books. A MUST BUY.

OK... I'm caught back up with Tim Dorsey since I finished Hurricane Punch this evening. Serge and Coleman are on the loose in Florida again, and hurricane season takes on a whole new meaning... The (very!) loose story-line is that Agent Mahoney, freshly released from the psych ward, is convinced that he can nab Serge this time around. He teams up with a newspaper reporter, McSwirley, who doesn't want to do crime beat stories any more. Unfortunately, he's really good at it even though he tries everything possible to sabotage the stories. A series of murders are occurring with each new hurricane that rips through Florida, and Mahoney thinks that Serge is responsible for all of them. Of course, with Serge's sense of "justice" and rather creative ways to off people, it's entirely possible. Within that framework, you've got all the wacky, off-the-wall action that you've come to expect from a Dorsey novel. And along the way, you've got all the little obscure Florida history lessons that only someone like Serge would know and share. If you've read a Dorsey novel, you know how incredibly funny and bizarre they are. This one ranks right up there. If you've never read one, be prepared for anything and everything to happen. This was a lot of fun, and I don't think I'll ever view the number 20 in the same way again... (You'll need to read the book to get that one...)

Serge and Coleman return in another rollicking adventure. Tim Dorsey books are the most entertaining and hilarious one can find. Never disappointing, and I always feel a little sad when I get to the end because I want it to go on and on. Oh well, you know what they say "To much of a good thing..." Highly recommended.

Tim Dorsey doesn't get a bad rap so much as an inaccurate one. His penchant for writing about the off-kilter residents of the State of Florida has led to comparisons with other authors who mine similar territory, which is unfair to everyone involved. Because a Dorsey novel is an experience worthy of its own classification. All of his novels have featured, to varying degrees, a force of nature named Serge A. Storms. Storms is quite the character, a roiling, disruptive mass of mental illnesses, each of which is competing for attention and control, and all of which win the contest at one point or another. He maintains a running commentary out of his mouth and in his head, which is hysterically funny and requires that the reader pay close attention. Storms is also a serial killer, though for the most part his victims are people who will never be missed. In HURRICANE PUNCH, Storms finds time to cut and cull some of the Gulf Coast's more obnoxious citizens from the herd --- using ingenious, innovative techniques --- even as he and Coleman, his faithful intoxicated companion, transverse Florida in the midst of the worst hurricane season ever. Coleman spends most of his time succumbing to the god of chemical toxins while Storms chases hurricanes, seeking to drive within the eye of each one, even as he is the subject of yet another manhunt conducted by the undaunted and unbowed Detective Mahoney, his constant and hapless nemesis. Storms has some competition in the mayhem department, however, as a mysterious and jealous serial killer vies with Storms for newspaper headline space. There is a mystery here --- the identity of Storms's competitor is the puzzler --- but HURRICANE PUNCH is not so much a whodunit as it is a commentary, a snapshot of the underbelly of the Florida population, a demographic that is unacknowledged by the Florida Department of Tourism but nonetheless exists within a few miles of any beach in the state. As did John D. MacDonald in his brilliant Travis McGee series, Dorsey cannily documents a class of people at a particular time and place. Where McDonald utilized drama as his vehicle, however, Dorsey uses humor soaked in absurdity to illustrate and illuminate the women --- and men --- who didn't make the cut on the "Girls Gone Wild" videos. But the underclass is hardly Dorsey's only target. Everyone from the President of the United States to the CEO of Dorsey's own publishing company is lampooned here --- not always accurately, but nonetheless unflinchingly and hilariously. In addition to being the book's title, HURRICANE PUNCH is an apt description of Dorsey's work. He, like Storms, is a force of nature who will leave you howling. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub