Florida Road Kill: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Tastiest Roadkill Ever
Review: Tastiest Roadkill Ever -- no extra salt required. I was stalking the stacks and stumbled across this book and decided it would make for some great summer reading. And how. Other reviewers have done a fine job outlining the plot...my only comments are that I kept looking at Dorsey's picture on the jacket flap thinking, "Who IS this guy and how does he think this stuff up??" As an ex-Florida resident, he captures the Florid-essence of Weirdness beautifully. Strange, hilarious, drug-induced. Food for your alter ego's brain.

Rating:
Summary: Trouble in Florida again
Review: Dorsey takes us on a wild ride again, so strap your seatbelt and hang on. Characters from other books continue their life of crime and drugs, notably Serge and Coleman, as they speed along (pun intended), pursuing an elusive suitcase loaded with cash.

Along the way, a few folks suffer unusual forms of death while Serge and Coleman narrowly escape detection. Their journey takes them from Tampa to Miami, and then to the Keys and the Dry Tortugas. The space center and the world series play into the plot, too. It's life lived on the edge, maniacal and fatal for most characters. At the end, we do get a dose of romance as foxy Keys' policewoman follows the trail of crime and finds David, one of two friends on their annual fishing trip who get mixed up in the mess.

Another reviewer has noted a few points I have to echo. The cast of characters grows ungainly, the grisly murders seem excessive, and plausibility is stretched beyond the breaking point, well beyond what Hiaasen offers in a plot. It's loads of fun, taken for what it is, a raucous high-spirited romp, but it's too far over-the-top for me (write it off to thinning hair and waning years). Its excesses become cloying: too much death, too much contrivance, and too many characters.

That Dorsey should have a loyal following of readers is understandable. His books are wacky entertainments. If you would like more restraint, as I do, try a similar book by Michael McClelland, OYSTER BLUES. It's just as irreverent and hilarious, but, for me, it's more convincing and better written.



Rating:
Summary: hilarious
Review: Florida roadkill is my first "Florida book" if you don't count seeing the movie Big trouble (based on the book by Dave Barry), and I don't.
The hero/villain, Serge, who appears in more of Dorsey's books, is probably the first villain ever that I have loved to love (instead of hate). I find myself agreeing with his reasoning and motives and his love of animals and all things Florida will endear him to many readers.
Not for those who dislike gore/violence/profanity, but those things are not the center theme of the book. Visit Dorsey's website (www.timdorsey.com) and link to a guided "Serge tour of Florida".

Rating:
Summary: Left me laughing for hours...
Review: I could NOT put "Florida Roadkill" down. If you like sardonic humor with a Florida kind of twist, this book is the one to read. Pretty gruesome ways to die in the book, too, but you know, if you don't like that sort of thing, you can forgive Tim Dorsey for that when the characters themselves have you laughing. This is the kind of book that requires a weird sense of humor to enjoy it... and for people like me that actually LIVE in Tampa, we can just SEE all of this stuff happening. lol Worth the money, and one of the few books I'd call off work for in order to kick back and have a great laugh.