The Stingray Shuffle (Serge Storms, 5)

I got this because I needed a really funny book to read. I expected it to be like Hiaisen’s books—you know, the laugh-out-loud kind of book that always cheers you up. Sorry, but this just doesn’t do the trick for me. None of those chuckling or guffawing moments within these pages! Try Hiaisen or David Sedaris and some of his essays! Now they are Truly funny!

After "Hammerhead Ranch Motel" Dorsey threw us a curve ball, and went fast forward on "Orange Crush" and then way back on "Triggerfish Twist". In "Orange Crush", we found out that Serge A. Storms, one of the best main characters I have encountered in a long time, had lost his memory, but we had no idea how this happened. Also, there was no further mention of the suitcase with the five million dollars which had captured the attention of all of the characters in the first two books in the series. In this book, we finally get the answers we were looking for, and what a fun path to discovery it is. At the beginning of the story we find Paul and Jethro once more. They have the suitcase with the money and they are trying to leave the country without being detected. You remember Paul, right? I find it hard to believe you could forget about the Passive-Aggressive Private Eye! Paul and Jethro feel pretty good about their situation, but that is because they do not know that Serge and Lenny are following them, using the signal from a tracking device included in the suitcase. Once the chase starts all hell breaks lose. The array of characters in this book is perfect, since it allows the author to show his skill for creating hilarious and unbelievable situations. Of course, first of all, we have Serge, the psychopath killer who believes he is moral in his ways and usually makes a pretty good case to that effect. He possess an encyclopedic knowledge of Florida's history and I find his lectures and guided tours extremely interesting. Especially because I lived in Miami for a couple of years and now I live in Tampa, so I can picture in my mind a lot of the places Serge visits. There is also Johnny Vegas; the playboy who is never able to go all the way with women due to a whole myriad of outrageous interruptions. City and Country, the two young females from Alabama that are Thelma and Louise wannabes also contribute their fair share to the story. Finally, the author has the ability to introduce a "special" group of people in each book. For example, in the last installment, it was a group of old ladies that were wizards at finance. In this case we find a group of five women who created a book club and who hold a secret that haunts their existence. In my opinion, Dorsey has mastered what can be done in this niche. He consistently delivers well-balanced novels, that have the appropriate amount of humor, a story that keeps us interested and maintains a good pace, and a whole bunch of esoteric and lovable characters. This one is another winner.

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, or South Park cartoons, you will love these books. A must buy.

More terminally wacky zaniness from Dorsey. Like Hiaasen during his early years (and beyond), Dorsey just seems to get better with each passing book. Dorsey is a lot like Hiaasen, only with a significantly more violent twist. People are always getting bumped off, often in very creative ways. Since most of the characters seem to be criminals or other socially undesirable types who are always scamming or otherwise preying on each other (there being no honor among thieves), the body count at the end of his books is probably the highest of any of the authors in the genre. :-) This book might be Dorsey's best yet, and it's at least as good as Triggerfish Twist. Serge and Coleman, Dorsey's two signature and perversely funny characters, are also in this book, so fans of the irrespressible and ethically addled duo won't be disappointed there. In fact, Serge give perhaps his most inspired monolog yet on some arcane Florida history in a courtroom after being brought up on charges of vandalism. The book is replete with other wacky plot elements, ranging from the missing satchel of five million dollars from a previous novel to immigrant crime cartel expatriates trying to buy a Russian nuclear submarine on the black market. Overall it's another fun-filled and wickedly funny romp from Dorsey.

To anyone who thinks the description of laughter as "side-splitting" is an exageration, I have only one response: Read chapter 3 of The Stingray Shuffle. (Actually, read the entire book.) I was literally in tears, laughing uncontrollably, trying not to wake up my sleeping family as I read late into the night of the antics on the minature golf course/driving range, including the true goal of hitting a bucket of balls and the misadventures of Johnny Vegas, the Accidental Virgin. Tim Dorsey has written a series of zany adventures set in the ripe-for-satire Florida scene, further honing his literary skills with each ensuing book. I thought it would be hard to top the comic absurdity of his last effort, Triggerfish Twist, but this entry delivers the early promise so evident from the beginning. Read it and meet (or meet again, if you are already a fan) Serge A. Storms, the bad guy you just have to love. Find out what happens to the briefcase with $5 millon, careen all over Florida from the Keys to Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and points beyond all the way to NY City. Enjoy the forgotten pleasure of true belly laughs....but be prepared for the aching side effects of laughing until it hurts.

Picking up plotlines from each of Dorsey's previous books, the Stingray Shuffle follows the continuing adventures of Serge A. Storms and his pursuit of five million dollars he originally conned from a crooked insurance company in the first book of the series several years ago, Florida Roadkill. Tim Dorsey writes Serge A. Storms as a likeable pyschopathic serial killer. Charming one minute, insane killer the next. His main obession in the new book are trains, and the reader will learn a lot of archaic information about the topic while Storms pontificates every once in a while about the topic. The Stingray Shuffle brings back several of the whacky characters from earlier books, such as Johnny Vegas, provides an explanation for Serge's amnesia in the third novel Orange Crush, while continuing the plotline from the ending of the Hammerhead Ranch Motel book. The new book features many new characters who drop in and out of the plot, including more than a few who die a tragic, but funny, death. Dorsey folds the book into itself by including a subplot about a book called "The Stingray Shuffle" with a similar plot as the real book itself. It becomes hard to know when you are reading about something in the "real" book as opposed to the "ficticious" book, both with the same name. As the plot moves from Florida to New York City, and back to Florida, most of the living characters collide on an Amtrak train ride where several of the loosely connected plotlines reach their climax. Anyone interested in spending a few hours reading and laughing out loud should grab this book.