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Serge Storms #2
Hammerhead Ranch Motel
There's a different schemer or slimeball behind every cocaine duckpins who have survived only by the dumbest fortune, hard-luck gigolos desperate to score, undercover cops busting undercover cops who are running sting operations on undercover cops. And just down the row, local historian and spree killer Serge A. Storms -- who has stopped keeping up with his meds -- is still looking for a briefcase stuffed with five million dollars...and is now capable of wreaking more havoc than hurricane Rolando-berto, the big wind gathering force offshore, just waiting for the opportunity to blow everything straight to hell. Pack up your bags and head south to sunny Florida. Leave your rational mind at home and come well armed. There's a room with your number on it at the Hammerhead Ranch Motel.
354 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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1837 people want to read
About the author
Tim Dorsey
36 books1,651 followersTim Dorsey was born in Indiana, moved to Florida at the age of 1, and grew up in a small town about an hour north of Miami called Riviera Beach. He graduated from Auburn University in 1983. While at Auburn, he was editor of the student newspaper, The Plainsman.
From 1983 to 1987, he was a police and courts reporter for The Alabama Journal, the now-defunct evening newspaper in Montgomery. He joined The Tampa Tribune in 1987 as a general assignment reporter. He also worked as a political reporter in the Tribune’s Tallahassee bureau and a copy desk editor. From 1994 to 1999, he was the Tribune’s night metro editor. He left the paper in August 1999 to write full time.
From 1983 to 1987, he was a police and courts reporter for The Alabama Journal, the now-defunct evening newspaper in Montgomery. He joined The Tampa Tribune in 1987 as a general assignment reporter. He also worked as a political reporter in the Tribune’s Tallahassee bureau and a copy desk editor. From 1994 to 1999, he was the Tribune’s night metro editor. He left the paper in August 1999 to write full time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 317 reviews
September 11, 2020
This 2000 first edition hardcover published by William Morrow is signed by Tim Dorsey.
To sum up Tim Dorsey’s “Hammerhead Ranch Motel” in a few words, I’d tell ya the book is about some Violent farces set in Florida.
For example, a college student falls through the glass dome of the Florida Aquarium; aged but feisty Mrs. Edna Ploomfield fights a gun battle with a shotgun-toting drug dealer; coitally challenged playboy Johnny Vegas has his Porsche flattened by a truck; and a man in a Santa Claus suit torches a car on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge before jumping into the sea. Then we have The Diaz Boys, three cocaine-stoked brothers and a cousin skunked in a drug deal by one Zargoza, né Harvey Fiddlebottom, send three goons to deprive him of his oxygen supply, only to find themselves propelled through the windshield of Zargoza's car.
Then we meet Lenny, inveterate pothead and sometime alligator wrestler, whose exploits turn up in the Weekly Mail of the News World. Serge A. Storm of “Florida Roadkill” also shows up in this book. The story jumps backwards and forward in time: halfway through the book, for example, come the scenes that set up the wild prologue.
Sammy and Joe are on their way to a rendezvous with two luscious ex-cashiers from Piggly-Wiggly, LaToya Olsen and Ingrid Praline (a.k.a. "City" and "Country"), end up duct-taped to lawn chairs and helium-ballooned into the stratosphere. Not even Toto the Weather Dog, the top-rated attraction on the Florida Cable News, can escape his fate, meeting an untimely end high above the Caribbean in the eye of Hurricane Rolando-berto.
This is a really humorous book, There's a different schemer or slimeball behind every door. And I haven’t even written about the “Hammerhead Ranch Motel” .
To sum up Tim Dorsey’s “Hammerhead Ranch Motel” in a few words, I’d tell ya the book is about some Violent farces set in Florida.
For example, a college student falls through the glass dome of the Florida Aquarium; aged but feisty Mrs. Edna Ploomfield fights a gun battle with a shotgun-toting drug dealer; coitally challenged playboy Johnny Vegas has his Porsche flattened by a truck; and a man in a Santa Claus suit torches a car on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge before jumping into the sea. Then we have The Diaz Boys, three cocaine-stoked brothers and a cousin skunked in a drug deal by one Zargoza, né Harvey Fiddlebottom, send three goons to deprive him of his oxygen supply, only to find themselves propelled through the windshield of Zargoza's car.
Then we meet Lenny, inveterate pothead and sometime alligator wrestler, whose exploits turn up in the Weekly Mail of the News World. Serge A. Storm of “Florida Roadkill” also shows up in this book. The story jumps backwards and forward in time: halfway through the book, for example, come the scenes that set up the wild prologue.
Sammy and Joe are on their way to a rendezvous with two luscious ex-cashiers from Piggly-Wiggly, LaToya Olsen and Ingrid Praline (a.k.a. "City" and "Country"), end up duct-taped to lawn chairs and helium-ballooned into the stratosphere. Not even Toto the Weather Dog, the top-rated attraction on the Florida Cable News, can escape his fate, meeting an untimely end high above the Caribbean in the eye of Hurricane Rolando-berto.
This is a really humorous book, There's a different schemer or slimeball behind every door. And I haven’t even written about the “Hammerhead Ranch Motel” .
December 30, 2018
What can you say about Serge A. Storms?
Well, I am fairly sure that Tim Dorsey is one of those writers who will have no middle ground - you will either like his stories or you will hate them. It's so difficult to review a story like this because there are a million things happening at once.
Let's put it this way:
Imagine you give Robin Williams a Red Bull and then hand him a book of little known Florida facts to read out loud. That's the best way I can describe it.
And Dorsey writes like nobody else - it's not slapstick, it's not satire, it's not sarcasm, yet it's all those things as well. I think I will place him (out on an edge) between Carl Hiaasen and Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder books.
Nobody can tell you whether you will like this series, you will have to find that out yourself, but this guy makes me laugh every time!
Well, I am fairly sure that Tim Dorsey is one of those writers who will have no middle ground - you will either like his stories or you will hate them. It's so difficult to review a story like this because there are a million things happening at once.
Let's put it this way:
Imagine you give Robin Williams a Red Bull and then hand him a book of little known Florida facts to read out loud. That's the best way I can describe it.
And Dorsey writes like nobody else - it's not slapstick, it's not satire, it's not sarcasm, yet it's all those things as well. I think I will place him (out on an edge) between Carl Hiaasen and Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder books.
Nobody can tell you whether you will like this series, you will have to find that out yourself, but this guy makes me laugh every time!
August 2, 2021
Tim Dorsey, not at his best. 3 of 10 stars
October 19, 2021
There it was again, his face on the front page, third day in a row. “Manhunt Widens for Keys Killer.” Can’t they give it a rest? You go and do a little spree killing and they never let you forget about it.
I almost forgot how much I enjoyed the debut novel in the series, always in a hurry to try new things, explore other literary avenues. My return to Florida feels both fresh and familiar, a sort of visit to an insane asylum where the inmates are sunning themselves on the beach and drinking colourful cocktails in bars, driving vintage cars over miles-long bridges. For most of the story, Serge Storms resides at the location named in the title.
“Hold it. Hold it! he said. “Let me see if I understand. The motel owner was really a gangster. A guy named Lenny was pretending to be Don Johnson. The short fella over there wants to be a private eye from the forties. And this guy thinks he’s Hemingway. Do I have all this straight?”
Everyone nodded.
“What kind of crazy motel is this?” asked the cop. Is there anyone here who’s what they’re supposed to be?”
“I am,” said Serge, raising his hand. “I’m a one-hundred-percent, made-in-Florida, dope-smugglin’, ‘time-sharin’, spring-breakin’, log-flumin’, double-occupancy discount vacation. I’m a tall glass of orange juice and a day without sunshine. I’m the wind in your sails, the sun on your burn and the moon over Miami. I am the native.”
Serge A. Storms is also a serial killer who just misplaced the medication needed to keep under control his five-star cocktail of neuroses and psychoses. And he is still hunting for a mysterious suitcase holding five million dollars in drug money. Nevertheless, I can’t think of a better guide for a tourist interested in Florida [unless you can get Clinton ‘Skink’ Tyree instead].
When he is not spree-killing annoying people, Serge Storms will probably dazzle you with his encyclopaedic treasure trove of trivia about his native state, from history and economic data to little known facts about movies and architecture.
“Did you know the first barbecue was held in Tampa?”
“It’s true,” said Serge. “In 1528 a stranded Spanish explorer named Juan Ortiz was marked for death by Harriga, the Timucuan Indian chief in Tampa Bay – mainly because another Spaniard had earlier cut off the chief’s nose. And we called them savages ...
Anyway, they decided to roast Ortiz alive over a fire pit that the Indians called barbacoa – and that’s how we got barbecue!”
I enjoy the scandalous, subversive narrative so much, I don’t even care how accurate Serge’s historical data is. Tim Dorsey did an amazing job, from the first book in the series, in turning the bad guy into a sympathetic lead character, someone to root for as he uses unconventional methods to thwart and expose corruption, graft and other criminal activities that threaten his idea of what Florida as a state should be. One is left thinking at the end of the story that Serge’s victims deserved whatever crazy punishment our resident psychopath dealt.
Jethro grabbed a day-old newspaper off the floorboard and handed it to Art. Strong-Arm robbery. Exploitation of the elderly. Church funds missing. Handicapped woman raped. Four-year-old bludgeoned to death by boyfriend while mom went to buy crack.
This militant, satirical attack on a society that is going down the drain fast [an imagery reinforced by looking at the map of the US as a sort of giant bathtub, with Florida as the place where all the dirty stuff is flushed] is what prompted my association between this series and the Carl Hiaasen books featuring the eco-warrior ‘Skink’ . The author’s background in newspaper publishing may explain both the numerous trivia details that enhance the local colour and the social engagement of the main character.
“Our assault rifle prices are so low because we’re absolutely insane!”
I had to check the year this novel was published [2000] and make sure I am not reading an account of one of Trump’s rallies as various radio DJ’s, mayoral candidates and quasi-forgotten celebrities endorse Proposition 213:
“Holy shit,” Zargoza yelled. “This is that stupid anti-immigration thing. This can’t be happening!”
The TV panned over the large crowd in front of the stage. Several people waved signs: “They don’t look right!” “Different is evil!” and “If you can’t understand something, kill it!”
Both the plot and the large cast of characters serve this dual role of social commentary and wacky, screwball crime caper. My opening quote barely scratches the surface of the unfortunate and often fatal encounters between clueless petty criminals and disoriented tourists. Most of the action, in between car chases after the fabled money suitcase, takes place in and around the Hammerhead Ranch Motel, a decrepit lodging place by the beach, frequented by bad-luck playboys, cocaine dealers, FBI agents, spring-breaking students, ‘The Flying Hemingways’ [Don’t Ask!], runaway waitresses, drug addicts and telephone scammers.
“Sad-Sack Santa Swan-Dives in Seasonal Sunshine Skyway Suicide”
The fact that the story jumps around the timeline in unexpected directions adds to the general confusion. It also pushes the maniacal laughter quotient sky high, where not even Toto the Weather Dog is safe from accidents. The last hope for Florida might be the approaching hurricane Rolando-berto – a direct hit on the Hammerhead Ranch to wash all the crazies out to sea.
“This is the only way to experience a natural disaster – throw a little schizophrenia in the soup.”
>>><<<>>><<<
I enjoyed my second Serge Storms caper even more than the debut, but I recommend not waiting seven years between visits like I did – I’m sure I missed a lot of references to past events and characters. I hope to get my hands on the third book a lot sooner .
I almost forgot how much I enjoyed the debut novel in the series, always in a hurry to try new things, explore other literary avenues. My return to Florida feels both fresh and familiar, a sort of visit to an insane asylum where the inmates are sunning themselves on the beach and drinking colourful cocktails in bars, driving vintage cars over miles-long bridges. For most of the story, Serge Storms resides at the location named in the title.
“Hold it. Hold it! he said. “Let me see if I understand. The motel owner was really a gangster. A guy named Lenny was pretending to be Don Johnson. The short fella over there wants to be a private eye from the forties. And this guy thinks he’s Hemingway. Do I have all this straight?”
Everyone nodded.
“What kind of crazy motel is this?” asked the cop. Is there anyone here who’s what they’re supposed to be?”
“I am,” said Serge, raising his hand. “I’m a one-hundred-percent, made-in-Florida, dope-smugglin’, ‘time-sharin’, spring-breakin’, log-flumin’, double-occupancy discount vacation. I’m a tall glass of orange juice and a day without sunshine. I’m the wind in your sails, the sun on your burn and the moon over Miami. I am the native.”
Serge A. Storms is also a serial killer who just misplaced the medication needed to keep under control his five-star cocktail of neuroses and psychoses. And he is still hunting for a mysterious suitcase holding five million dollars in drug money. Nevertheless, I can’t think of a better guide for a tourist interested in Florida [unless you can get Clinton ‘Skink’ Tyree instead].
When he is not spree-killing annoying people, Serge Storms will probably dazzle you with his encyclopaedic treasure trove of trivia about his native state, from history and economic data to little known facts about movies and architecture.
“Did you know the first barbecue was held in Tampa?”
“It’s true,” said Serge. “In 1528 a stranded Spanish explorer named Juan Ortiz was marked for death by Harriga, the Timucuan Indian chief in Tampa Bay – mainly because another Spaniard had earlier cut off the chief’s nose. And we called them savages ...
Anyway, they decided to roast Ortiz alive over a fire pit that the Indians called barbacoa – and that’s how we got barbecue!”
I enjoy the scandalous, subversive narrative so much, I don’t even care how accurate Serge’s historical data is. Tim Dorsey did an amazing job, from the first book in the series, in turning the bad guy into a sympathetic lead character, someone to root for as he uses unconventional methods to thwart and expose corruption, graft and other criminal activities that threaten his idea of what Florida as a state should be. One is left thinking at the end of the story that Serge’s victims deserved whatever crazy punishment our resident psychopath dealt.
Jethro grabbed a day-old newspaper off the floorboard and handed it to Art. Strong-Arm robbery. Exploitation of the elderly. Church funds missing. Handicapped woman raped. Four-year-old bludgeoned to death by boyfriend while mom went to buy crack.
This militant, satirical attack on a society that is going down the drain fast [an imagery reinforced by looking at the map of the US as a sort of giant bathtub, with Florida as the place where all the dirty stuff is flushed] is what prompted my association between this series and the Carl Hiaasen books featuring the eco-warrior ‘Skink’ . The author’s background in newspaper publishing may explain both the numerous trivia details that enhance the local colour and the social engagement of the main character.
“Our assault rifle prices are so low because we’re absolutely insane!”
I had to check the year this novel was published [2000] and make sure I am not reading an account of one of Trump’s rallies as various radio DJ’s, mayoral candidates and quasi-forgotten celebrities endorse Proposition 213:
“Holy shit,” Zargoza yelled. “This is that stupid anti-immigration thing. This can’t be happening!”
The TV panned over the large crowd in front of the stage. Several people waved signs: “They don’t look right!” “Different is evil!” and “If you can’t understand something, kill it!”
Both the plot and the large cast of characters serve this dual role of social commentary and wacky, screwball crime caper. My opening quote barely scratches the surface of the unfortunate and often fatal encounters between clueless petty criminals and disoriented tourists. Most of the action, in between car chases after the fabled money suitcase, takes place in and around the Hammerhead Ranch Motel, a decrepit lodging place by the beach, frequented by bad-luck playboys, cocaine dealers, FBI agents, spring-breaking students, ‘The Flying Hemingways’ [Don’t Ask!], runaway waitresses, drug addicts and telephone scammers.
“Sad-Sack Santa Swan-Dives in Seasonal Sunshine Skyway Suicide”
The fact that the story jumps around the timeline in unexpected directions adds to the general confusion. It also pushes the maniacal laughter quotient sky high, where not even Toto the Weather Dog is safe from accidents. The last hope for Florida might be the approaching hurricane Rolando-berto – a direct hit on the Hammerhead Ranch to wash all the crazies out to sea.
“This is the only way to experience a natural disaster – throw a little schizophrenia in the soup.”
>>><<<>>><<<
I enjoyed my second Serge Storms caper even more than the debut, but I recommend not waiting seven years between visits like I did – I’m sure I missed a lot of references to past events and characters. I hope to get my hands on the third book a lot sooner .
February 16, 2015
My GR Friend Fred Forbes commented that Serge Storms grows on you. He is correct! Serge (Tim Dorsey) and Skink(Carl Hiaasen) have to be two of wackiest characters in American Literature and I love their antics! If you like Carl Hiaasen,Paul Levine and Dave Barry, you will love Tim Dorsey.
July 30, 2021
Under duress and during a car trip with hubby, I was forced to listen to this super silly stuff about Florida. Most of it true. Excellent audible narrator.
April 2, 2013
This book was a chaotic mess. Not to suggest that it is all bad, but it is sort of like the author was smoking meth and up for days as he wrote it. The book has a frenetic pacing that is at times endearing and at others annoying. The characters are all unscrupulous nutcases and at times this is fun and at others frustrating.
Almost every chapter seems to introduce a new character, some of whom don't even survive the chapter. The reader is granted a readers digest introduction to these characters and then they soon are killed.
This book was a lot of fun, for the first thirty or forty pages. After that, the plot just didn't really go anywhere, it just ran around like a manic druggie who has been up for three or four days, spouting nonsense, some of which is comical and some of which is just tedious.
After all the wandering around, one would expect a resolution to what passes for the main plot, the search for the FIVE MILLION bucks in a suitcase. If it was actually found, I sure missed it, but I was struggling to get through the nonsense of the last few pages.
Serge is an interesting character, and it is only because his character, off his medications, is manic, that I put up with the manic writing style of the author. Serge likes to discuss Florida history, something that I'm not particularly interested in, but I enjoyed those discussions nevertheless.
Dorsey has a clever wit and the stories within the story are truly comedic and worthy of a laugh or too, but for me, it is sort of like the Brady Bunch Movie... after the first fifteen minutes, the gag gets really, really old.
Almost every chapter seems to introduce a new character, some of whom don't even survive the chapter. The reader is granted a readers digest introduction to these characters and then they soon are killed.
This book was a lot of fun, for the first thirty or forty pages. After that, the plot just didn't really go anywhere, it just ran around like a manic druggie who has been up for three or four days, spouting nonsense, some of which is comical and some of which is just tedious.
After all the wandering around, one would expect a resolution to what passes for the main plot, the search for the FIVE MILLION bucks in a suitcase. If it was actually found, I sure missed it, but I was struggling to get through the nonsense of the last few pages.
Serge is an interesting character, and it is only because his character, off his medications, is manic, that I put up with the manic writing style of the author. Serge likes to discuss Florida history, something that I'm not particularly interested in, but I enjoyed those discussions nevertheless.
Dorsey has a clever wit and the stories within the story are truly comedic and worthy of a laugh or too, but for me, it is sort of like the Brady Bunch Movie... after the first fifteen minutes, the gag gets really, really old.
January 10, 2010
You can only continue reading this review if you promise to leave you judgements at the door...everyone deserves to see how the other side lives...and writes. I generally lean towards non-fiction books - from the political side over to the self-help genre - but every once in a while I will venture into the world of fiction, and Dorsey's early work is first-rate.
So, now we can get down to business...this was the second in a ten book series (might be more now) of one of the most underrated fictional characters of all time, Mr. Serge A. Storms. Though, as its predecessors it does have its intermittent, egregious venereal episodes, just breeze over them and carry on because it is one of the funnier books I have ever read...and even better than his series opener, Florida Roadkill. You have to read the series in the order they were published because the way he mixes up the chronology throughout the series is worthy of four stars on its own. Again, Dorsey comes through with superb character development, and best of all was another easy read that will most definitely leave you wanting to pick up the series' next book - Orange Crush, but don't give up there...in fact skip it if you must, because then come the unofficial Pulitzer Award winning pair that ARE ALL TIME CLASSICS - Triggerfish Twist and Stingray Shuffle...which are quite possibly two of the funniest books ever written. After that Stingray Shuffle the rest were kind of hit or miss...but man his early stuff is CLASSIC!!! These first five books are an absolutely must read for anyone who has ever lived, or stepped foot in The Sunshine State...ENJOY!
So, now we can get down to business...this was the second in a ten book series (might be more now) of one of the most underrated fictional characters of all time, Mr. Serge A. Storms. Though, as its predecessors it does have its intermittent, egregious venereal episodes, just breeze over them and carry on because it is one of the funnier books I have ever read...and even better than his series opener, Florida Roadkill. You have to read the series in the order they were published because the way he mixes up the chronology throughout the series is worthy of four stars on its own. Again, Dorsey comes through with superb character development, and best of all was another easy read that will most definitely leave you wanting to pick up the series' next book - Orange Crush, but don't give up there...in fact skip it if you must, because then come the unofficial Pulitzer Award winning pair that ARE ALL TIME CLASSICS - Triggerfish Twist and Stingray Shuffle...which are quite possibly two of the funniest books ever written. After that Stingray Shuffle the rest were kind of hit or miss...but man his early stuff is CLASSIC!!! These first five books are an absolutely must read for anyone who has ever lived, or stepped foot in The Sunshine State...ENJOY!
April 1, 2024
The sequel to Florida Roadkill. I don’t believe it’s possible to give a précis of the plot here. Serge Storms, the deranged serial killer obsessed with his state's history, has his money stolen and kills lots of people getting it back, and many other equally immoral people do other horrible things, mostly to old people and tourists.
It’s utterly deranged, like Hunter S. Thompson writing black comedy at his most addled. It's also hilarious, and written in assured, sharp, graceful prose. It’s a convoluted, bizarre mess – for example, a character is introduced as we see him writing a headline to a weird news item, then is not mentioned for 100 pages, until he pops up again, noted as a man who writes boring headlines, and then, at the end of the book, we’re shown him receiving an award for punchiest headline, and told the headline at last. This kind of chronological shuffling gives a more rewarding payoff between the insane, over-the-top social satire and cartoonish violence. Total fun.
It’s utterly deranged, like Hunter S. Thompson writing black comedy at his most addled. It's also hilarious, and written in assured, sharp, graceful prose. It’s a convoluted, bizarre mess – for example, a character is introduced as we see him writing a headline to a weird news item, then is not mentioned for 100 pages, until he pops up again, noted as a man who writes boring headlines, and then, at the end of the book, we’re shown him receiving an award for punchiest headline, and told the headline at last. This kind of chronological shuffling gives a more rewarding payoff between the insane, over-the-top social satire and cartoonish violence. Total fun.
April 24, 2012
With Serge A. Storms, the schico/attention-deficit/spree killer/anti-hero of Tim Dorsey's zany series. Serge is a walking encyclopedia of his beloved home state of Florida, who will get side tracked, with an obscure history lesson. With bungling thugs, drugs, sex and rock 'n roll, this series is laugh out loud craziness.
One example...
"What kind of a crazy motel is this?" asked the cop. "Is there anyone here who's what they're supposed to be?"
"I am," said Serge, raising his hand. "I'm a one-hundred percent, made in Florida, dope-smugglin', time-sharin', spring-breakin', log-flumin', double-occupancy discount vacation. I'm a tall glass of orange juice and a day without sunshine. I'm the wind in your sails, the sun on your burn and the moon over Miami. I am the native."
Gotta love Serge.
One example...
"What kind of a crazy motel is this?" asked the cop. "Is there anyone here who's what they're supposed to be?"
"I am," said Serge, raising his hand. "I'm a one-hundred percent, made in Florida, dope-smugglin', time-sharin', spring-breakin', log-flumin', double-occupancy discount vacation. I'm a tall glass of orange juice and a day without sunshine. I'm the wind in your sails, the sun on your burn and the moon over Miami. I am the native."
Gotta love Serge.
August 21, 2014
Hammerhead Ranch Motel starts off right where we left Serge Storms and Mr. Dorsey's bunch of loonies in Florida Roadkill. It continues on the back of the 5 Million Dollars chase. I hate to admit this but I picked up this book right after I read Florida Roadkill JUST to find out whether Johnny Vegas gets laid? That's probably the weirdest motivation I have EVER had to read a book. The credit for that goes to Mr. Dorsey to even inspire a reader to come along for the ride to quench my curiosity about a fictional characters sex life. Jesus Christ, I know how it sounds, but you will know what I mean when you do start this series. Hammerhead Ranch Motel continues to be the laugh-riot of non-stop bizarre antics of the freakiest collection of characters that can ever come together in a book together. Exploring the trials and tribunals of Johnny Vegas is hilarious, but once again, it's Serge, the sociopath with scruples that carries the book squarely on his shoulders. Unlike "Florida Roadkill" the plot remains in the forefront with the characters resonating with it all the way. The plot and players are weaved in with precision. If you get a bit confused with so many players romping around throughout the book, be patient, everything and everyone comes together in a grand finale that is excitingly unpredictable. Hammerhead Ranch Motel continues the "twisted tradition" that started in Florida Roadkill. Its, once again, a dysfunctional story about dysfunctional people with dysfunctional relationships in a dysfunctional world. Buckle up your seat belt, you WILL be experiencing turbulence.
July 14, 2021
I have read quite a few Serge Storms books but I read them in any old order, which honestly doesn't matter much because the plots are so insane; and I think you may have to be slightly demented to appreciate Serge. Anyway, I'm now going back to read the series in order and catch up on the ones I missed.
Like the first one, Florida Roadkill, I didn't love Book 2 as much as some of the later installments. The quest for the briefcase filled with $5 million continues; but it took a LONG time to get going, with the introduction of a seemingly endless parade of peripheral characters and story arcs that didn't seem to relate to each other. By the end, the connections were made and there were some serious (and slightly shameful) laughs to be had, but I think someone who wasn't already a Dorsey fan might have given up by then. Serge is a serial killer as we already know, but the body count still seemed disturbingly high and it wasn't always his doing. I didn't like the fact that Coleman was replaced with an almost identical drug-addled character, Lenny. What was the point, why not just keep Coleman around?
Anyway, it's on to the next one, Orange Crush.
Note: The audiobooks are enjoyable for the excellent narration by George Wilson.
Like the first one, Florida Roadkill, I didn't love Book 2 as much as some of the later installments. The quest for the briefcase filled with $5 million continues; but it took a LONG time to get going, with the introduction of a seemingly endless parade of peripheral characters and story arcs that didn't seem to relate to each other. By the end, the connections were made and there were some serious (and slightly shameful) laughs to be had, but I think someone who wasn't already a Dorsey fan might have given up by then. Serge is a serial killer as we already know, but the body count still seemed disturbingly high and it wasn't always his doing. I didn't like the fact that Coleman was replaced with an almost identical drug-addled character, Lenny. What was the point, why not just keep Coleman around?
Anyway, it's on to the next one, Orange Crush.
Note: The audiobooks are enjoyable for the excellent narration by George Wilson.
July 30, 2008
This takes place where I live and I can't help but notice the similarities between these fictional characters and the characters I know that hang out in places eerily similar to the "fictional" ones in the book. Tim Dorsey has a very warped sense of humor, and I for one love it. Laugh out loud funny but a little vulgar.
January 30, 2025
2nd entry in the Serge Storm series and it was just about if not just as good as the 1st.
I really think there isn't any grey matter in this series. I think people are gonna find it hilariously funny and live it. Or they'll find it extremely offensive and hate. As for now I'm on the love it bandwagon
I really think there isn't any grey matter in this series. I think people are gonna find it hilariously funny and live it. Or they'll find it extremely offensive and hate. As for now I'm on the love it bandwagon
August 9, 2017
Definitely a series I will continue to read. I believe the total book count in this series is around 20 & Dorsey has me hooked 2 books in with the likeable serial killer Serge Storms and the many, many wacky and wierd characters involved in each book. I've enjoyed the creative ways one might lose their life, with Dorsey you just never know. Coleman's gone but we're introduced to somewhat of a sidekick Lenny and Dorsey is spot on with a lot of good Florida history that he mixes in rather well with the storyline. Where will that briefcase with $5 million turn up next? Good series for those that appreciate dark humor and don't mind the cursing.
September 23, 2010
Very funny, laugh out loud. If you are offended easily stay away, if you can find humor in odd ways, read on. Check out Dorsey's web site though, he explains his characters. He uses the characters over and over but reserves the right to kill one in one book and bring them back in the next as if that book never occurred. It confused me at first but once you say, it is just another book you are fine.
June 10, 2012
Nobody writes 'crazy psychopath' like Tim Dorsey and nobody knows how to kill people off so frequently and in such an odd manner like Dorsey does. If you like dark comedies, pick up any Tim Dorsey book. The guy is twisted, deranged, demented, hilarious and just absolutely screwed up...and you'll love every minute of it.
January 15, 2009
"Hammerhead Ranch Motel" further cements my opinion of Tim Dorsey: a very funny storyteller. "Hammerhead..." is a sequel to his first novel, "Florida Roadkill", and is a little tighter with the plotline on this one. I consistenly found myself laughing out loud at many of Dorsey's depictions of Florida (and Alabama) eccentrics, criminals and would-bes. My only complaint would be that he tries to pile in TOO MANY crazies in the mix, and the reader can often get lost in trying to decipher labyrinthine plot lines. Clearly Carl Hiaasen has been a big influence in Dorsey's oeuvre (which perhaps can be best described as "bizarre crime fiction", although that label is hardly sufficient to describe the zaniness that ensues in his works). I also am reminded of the craziness of Tom Robbins' plot set-ups. In "Hammerhead...", the plot loosely continues the pursuit of a briefcase filled with $5 million in drug money, pursued by a zany ensemble of criminals (some career, some aspiring, some unknowing). Central to the plot is Serge, a loon with an encyclopedic knowledge of Floridian history and arcana. Zaniness ensues when the search for the money takes Serge and other wanna-be millionaires to a kitsch-y motel in the Tampa area where they contend with condo owners, racists, themselves and a force-4 hurricane.
It reads much better than can be described here.
It reads much better than can be described here.
March 6, 2016
This is the second wacky entry in the Serge Storms series by Dorsey. A followup to Florida Road Kill with Serge still after the briefcase containing $5 million in missing drug money from Road Kill. This one again is full of violence and crazy characters who all converge on Tampa on the brink of a major hurricane. These include the owner of the titular Hammerhead Motel, Zargoza, who is using the motel as a front for a drug operation and other scams evidently prevalent in Florida; the Diaz Boys who provide the drugs and are involved in the scams of Zargoza; City and Country, a pair of young women who are on the run for being in the wrong place during the accidental death of an Alabama sorority girl; a would be detective who is looking for a man who thinks he only has weeks to live; and of course, Serge Storms, the serial killer suffering from mental conditions who is off of his meds! Overall, I liked this followup novel, but it was a little difficult sometimes to keep track of all of the characters who were randomly introduced and sometimes seemed to have no bearing on the story. Mild recommendation for this one.
May 3, 2010
Dear God this was funny. My wife and daughter were staring at me as I read, because I couldn't stop from laughing out loud.
Dorsey's first book had some funny scenes but also dragged in some places. This book pretty much was hilarious the whole way. Imagine the most ridiculous Hiaasen scenes populating a whole book. I have to give a book that gave me this much enjoyment five stars.
Now, I will warn you that the plot was a little uneven. But the plot was totally effing irrelevant to liking the book.
Dorsey's first book had some funny scenes but also dragged in some places. This book pretty much was hilarious the whole way. Imagine the most ridiculous Hiaasen scenes populating a whole book. I have to give a book that gave me this much enjoyment five stars.
Now, I will warn you that the plot was a little uneven. But the plot was totally effing irrelevant to liking the book.
September 15, 2014
"Hammerhead Ranch Motel" by Tim Dorsey - 2nd time I've read it. Even better than the first.
July 10, 2012
I explained my reasons for loving the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey in my review of Florida Roadkill - the same applies here. It's a hilarious book, fast-paced, lots of twists and turns and highly recommended.
November 14, 2007
See Triggerfish Twist review, it applies to all of these : D
May 23, 2021
Yeeeeears ago, back in the early 2000s, I read "Florida Roadkill," Tim Dorsey's first novel about Florida-obsessed serial killer Serge Storms, and found it bizarre and hilarious. I went on to read a lot (but not all) of the others, in particular "Orange Crush." But only recently did I realize that I had somehow skipped the novel that was published in between "Florida Roadkill" and "Orange Crush," so when it popped up on a Kindle deal, I snapped it up.
Reading it made me wish I had read it back in the day, in the right order, because a lot of "Hammerhead Ranch Motel" refers back to events and characters from "Florida Roadkill." That's the origin of the suitcase full of $5 million that's the MacGuffin throughout this novel, and also the origin of characters such as Johnny Vegas.
Still, there's plenty to appreciate on its own in this exceedingly dark crime comedy involving rival drug smugglers, an extremely offensive shock jock with the perfect radio name, a wrong-headed anti-immigration measure, a team of parachuting Hemingway lookalikes, something called "the Miami Vice Experience," a crooked nursing home operation and a looming hurricane with a ridiculous name. For instance, in one delightful scene, Serge's knowledge of the dialogue in the movie "Key Largo" comes in handy for disarming a guy who's determined to shoot him, and his solution for shutting up the shock jock is ingenious. An ongoing scam involving a fake moon rock is good for some laughs as well. I think this is also the novel in which Dorsey introduces his longrunning characters of City and Country, one of whom soon falls for Serge.
The body count in this novel is much higher than I recall from any of the other Storms novels, but Serge is not responsible for a lot of it -- only the really grisly ones. I think I prefer the later Serge novels in which he's not so motivated by self-interest in killing people in elaborate ways as he is in righting wrongs and ridding the world of bad people who pretty much deserve their fate.
Reading it made me wish I had read it back in the day, in the right order, because a lot of "Hammerhead Ranch Motel" refers back to events and characters from "Florida Roadkill." That's the origin of the suitcase full of $5 million that's the MacGuffin throughout this novel, and also the origin of characters such as Johnny Vegas.
Still, there's plenty to appreciate on its own in this exceedingly dark crime comedy involving rival drug smugglers, an extremely offensive shock jock with the perfect radio name, a wrong-headed anti-immigration measure, a team of parachuting Hemingway lookalikes, something called "the Miami Vice Experience," a crooked nursing home operation and a looming hurricane with a ridiculous name. For instance, in one delightful scene, Serge's knowledge of the dialogue in the movie "Key Largo" comes in handy for disarming a guy who's determined to shoot him, and his solution for shutting up the shock jock is ingenious. An ongoing scam involving a fake moon rock is good for some laughs as well. I think this is also the novel in which Dorsey introduces his longrunning characters of City and Country, one of whom soon falls for Serge.
The body count in this novel is much higher than I recall from any of the other Storms novels, but Serge is not responsible for a lot of it -- only the really grisly ones. I think I prefer the later Serge novels in which he's not so motivated by self-interest in killing people in elaborate ways as he is in righting wrongs and ridding the world of bad people who pretty much deserve their fate.
August 9, 2016
I am from Florida and love these "in situ" novel where people and places are named and in the fiction. Tim Dorsey adds his warped sense of humor to the characters, especially Serge (the native floridian), and his accomplices! This if a very good comical read that just lays all the players out, in a willy nilly fashion (or so it seems) and brings them all together into a whacky conclusion. Chaotic in the beginning, comes together in the middle, and slaps you in the face with a funky ending.
It is a good read with 5 stars ......
It is a good read with 5 stars ......
November 15, 2015
Serge is a modern day MacGyver of death. He's the most creative when it's comes to murder and mayhem.
Seems like everyone in Tampa is searching for the cursed Five million dollars. The craziest of mishaps and a massive hurricane is heading towards the Hammerhead Motel.
Tim Dorsey is one of the best comedy writers of our times. And he still have this series going. Creative gold.
Seems like everyone in Tampa is searching for the cursed Five million dollars. The craziest of mishaps and a massive hurricane is heading towards the Hammerhead Motel.
Tim Dorsey is one of the best comedy writers of our times. And he still have this series going. Creative gold.
January 29, 2018
I read this author's "Florida Roadkill" and thought it was good enough for a second try with this author. I was wrong. This one is pretty much the same book as "Roadkill" but with a few different names. So it's back to the always reliable Travis McGhee "James Bond on a boat in Ft. Lauderdale" books by John D. Macdonald.
July 24, 2010
Re reading this - meant to start with the first in the series - oops, I'll get to Florida Roadkill next.
Serge Storms - everyone's favorite serial killer - he's got a set of ethics, only hurts you if you're a douche, and he loves history. Sounds like my type of anti-hero
Serge Storms - everyone's favorite serial killer - he's got a set of ethics, only hurts you if you're a douche, and he loves history. Sounds like my type of anti-hero
June 4, 2008
Bad bad bad. Only useful as trashy beach fiction. Includes a roller-skating parrot and a murderer who taxidermies his victims alive. Hilarity!
July 8, 2008
If you like Elmore Leonard, your gonna love this guy!
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