Publishers Weekly
11/15/2021
In bestseller Dorsey’s delightfully madcap 25th crime novel featuring Serge A. Storms (after 2021’s Tropic of Stupid), vigilante serial killer Serge and his stoner pal, Coleman, take a break from road trips and criminal pursuits to become responsible tenants at Pelican Bay, a bustling condominium complex in the Florida Keys. But, alas, the condo’s fun-loving community spirit has given way to petty squabbles, drunk and disorderly behavior, gun violence, and malicious prank calls to police, with boisterous, disruptive renters causing havoc within the complex. Finding themselves in the thick of things, Serge and Coleman are encouraged to take suitable action against troublesome occupants on behalf of their friendly neighbors. Meanwhile, a blast across from Pelican Bay on a neighboring key, which injures dozens, including members of the infamous Millan cartel, heralds the onset of a turf war between the cartel and the Benzappa family, and a gang of murderous drug smugglers with a treasure map head for the Keys to unearth a hoard of buried cash. The suspenseful, seemingly unconnected subplots imaginatively intertwine as Dorsey brings everything to a suitably vicious and explosive finale. This fiendishly funny adventure is irresistible. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Delightfully madcap…The suspenseful, seemingly unconnected subplots imaginatively intertwine as Dorsey brings everything to a suitably vicious and explosive finale. This fiendishly funny adventure is irresistible.” — Publishers Weekly on Mermaid Confidential
“Dorsey has used his novels to showcase Florida, to embrace its eccentricities, its residents’ bizarre behavior and its unusual history. Dorsey shows he loves Florida in each novel…Dorsey ladles each novel with wide swaths of humor that is more guttural yet still funny. Like [Carl] Hiaasen, Dorsey’s humor is grounded in reality…Mermaid Confidential is more Keys-centric as he adds trivia and history that is ‘so nectar-of-Florida.’” — South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Mermaid Confidential
“Fans of the lovable Serge will enjoy his latest zany Florida adventures in Dorsey’s 25th series installment.” — Library Journal on Mermaid Confidential
“A wacky celebration of violence, depravity and the weirdness of Florida. Think the Three Stooges meets Ted Bundy . . . sure to appeal to readers who think that Carl Hiaasen’s slapstick noir novels are too darned subtle.” — Associated Press on Tropic of Stupid
“A rollicking road trip we’d love to sign up for. ” — New York Times Book Review on No Sunscreen for the Dead
“With what is his best title yet, best-selling Tampa author Tim Dorsey returns with his 24th adventure…a ‘fan’-tastic, worthy addition to the pantheon.” — Florida Times-Union on Tropic of Stupid
“Can it still be hurricane season? Must be, because here come Serge A. Storms and his perpetually stoned bro, Coleman, in Tim Dorsey’s gonzo crime caper Naked Came the Florida Man.” — New York Times Book Review
“Dorsey’s latest in the humorous crime fiction category highlights that outrageous brand of Florida humor. With chaos always at his side, Serge A. Storms is back, and this time, he’s on a cemetery tour across the state, investigating an urban myth that just might be real and causing mayhem along the way.” — Parade on Naked Came the Florida Man
“Upping the ante has always been the strategy for Tim Dorsey’s books, which are built on a peculiarly Floridian brand of outrageousness. So it’s no surprise that in his latest, Naked Came the Florida Man, Dorsey reaches a new high in that respect.” — Newsday
"Bestseller Dorsey breezes through his 24th comic novel . . . mixing the slapstick humor of the Three Stooges with Sunshine State details that would make a Florida history professor envious." — Publishers Weekly on Tropic of Stupid
"This hugely entertaining series . . . [has] 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." — Booklist on Tropic of Stupid
Newsday
Upping the ante has always been the strategy for Tim Dorsey’s books, which are built on a peculiarly Floridian brand of outrageousness. So it’s no surprise that in his latest, Naked Came the Florida Man, Dorsey reaches a new high in that respect.
Florida Times-Union on Tropic of Stupid
With what is his best title yet, best-selling Tampa author Tim Dorsey returns with his 24th adventure…a ‘fan’-tastic, worthy addition to the pantheon.
New York Times Book Review on No Sunscreen for the Dead
A rollicking road trip we’d love to sign up for.
Associated Press on Tropic of Stupid
A wacky celebration of violence, depravity and the weirdness of Florida. Think the Three Stooges meets Ted Bundy . . . sure to appeal to readers who think that Carl Hiaasen’s slapstick noir novels are too darned subtle.”
New York Times Book Review
Can it still be hurricane season? Must be, because here come Serge A. Storms and his perpetually stoned bro, Coleman, in Tim Dorsey’s gonzo crime caper Naked Came the Florida Man.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Mermaid Confidential
Dorsey has used his novels to showcase Florida, to embrace its eccentricities, its residents’ bizarre behavior and its unusual history. Dorsey shows he loves Florida in each novel…Dorsey ladles each novel with wide swaths of humor that is more guttural yet still funny. Like [Carl] Hiaasen, Dorsey’s humor is grounded in reality…Mermaid Confidential is more Keys-centric as he adds trivia and history that is ‘so nectar-of-Florida.’
Parade on Naked Came the Florida Man
Dorsey’s latest in the humorous crime fiction category highlights that outrageous brand of Florida humor. With chaos always at his side, Serge A. Storms is back, and this time, he’s on a cemetery tour across the state, investigating an urban myth that just might be real and causing mayhem along the way.
Parade Naked Came the Florida Man
Dorsey’s latest in the humorous crime fiction category highlights that outrageous brand of Florida humor. With chaos always at his side, Serge A. Storms is back, and this time, he’s on a cemetery tour across the state, investigating an urban myth that just might be real and causing mayhem along the way.
Booklist on Tropic of Stupid
"This hugely entertaining series . . . [has] 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."
Parade
Dorsey’s latest in the humorous crime fiction category highlights that outrageous brand of Florida humor. With chaos always at his side, Serge A. Storms is back, and this time, he’s on a cemetery tour across the state, investigating an urban myth that just might be real and causing mayhem along the way.
The Associated Press on Tropic of Stupid
A wacky celebration of violence, depravity and the weirdness of Florida. Think the Three Stooges meets Ted Bundy . . . sure to appeal to readers who think that Carl Hiaasen’s slapstick noir novels are too darned subtle.”
Library Journal - Audio
05/01/2022
The real surprise of Dorsey's 25th mystery starring serial killer Serge Storm and drug-addled Coleman is that there is a 25th installment. Serge wants to slow down and settle in a condo community, so he drags a reluctant Coleman into his plan. But wherever Serge is, mayhem and head-scratching, eye-rolling events follow. With so much going on, past and present, Serge's HOA condo troubles and the endless activity required to "relax" seem to be an afterthought. Florida does not shine brightly in this or any other book in the series, and perhaps it's time to let this gang of misfits retire for real before they realize they have outlived their entertainment value, and their shtick is more slapstick than humor. Oliver Wyman narrates all voices, old, young, female, male, stoned and delusional, and does his best with this tired material. VERDICT Longtime series fans will enjoy this entry with its usual offering of murder, sex, Florida-isms, well-known tourist sites, and offbeat characters. Newbies should skip this entry and start from the beginning of the series when the material was fresh and original.—Laura Brosie
Library Journal
01/01/2022
Serge Storms, Florida's serial killer with a heart of gold, moves to Key West to try condo living with Coleman, his friend whose brain is permanently damaged from drug use. The Keys are the appropriate habitat for the wacky duo who enjoy their neighbors except for a vacationer who takes up permanent residence. Serge's methods work to temporarily evict the man, until he takes revenge by calling the SWAT team on the neighborhood's spaghetti and game nights. Serge also meets Julie Cootehill, a children's hospice volunteer who lives in a mansion owned by a crime family and takes care of her own aged father and the crime family's ailing kingpin. A gang war is about to break out in Key West, and a carload of bad actors is heading straight down Highway 1, with a map pointing to Julie's father's house. Serge's new mission was to slow down and relax, but since his new friend Julie and her hospice charges have been targeted by an international gang, Serge can't yet kick back into the Key West lifestyle. VERDICT Fans of the lovable Serge will enjoy his latest zany Florida adventures in Dorsey's 25th series installment, following Tropic of Stupid.—Lesa Holstine
