Tim Dorsey, Torpedo Juice

Torpedo Juice

Tim Dorsey

Morrow, Feb 2005, $24.95, 336 pp.

ISBN: 0060585609

In Florida, serial killer Serge Storms decides he needs to settle down with a wife. However, Serge has a few things to take care of before tying the knot. For instance, where will they live? However before he can get married and they can select their home, Serge must find the right woman. Thus the quest for the ultimate female for Mr. Storms begins.

In the No Name Keys, a place where losers, lowlifes, and similar ilk are considered high society, Serge meets the woman of his dreams, mousy librarian Molly. However, as he writes in his Serge log, marriage is not quite what he expected as Mighty Mouse is driving Serge crazy with her needs. Still, murders aside, Serge somehow becomes a cult's Messiah though he denies it, which leads to High Noon with an oily CEO trying to overturn the anti-social order of the No Name Keys. Finally, there is the drug lord looking to invade the Keys and Anna Sebring seeking to murder the serial killer who executed her brother with her revenge radar targeting Serge.

TORPEDO JUICE is the typical, wacky, wild, Tim Dorsey, irreverent, Florida thriller. The key to this tale is Serge's effort to turn domestic when the world spirals through him in zany, insane circles. This series of circular subplots lead to an amusing, offbeat, madcap tale, but also is difficult to follow as the keys never fully interact, even with Serge as the foci. Still, Mr. Dorsey provides his typical, insane-yet-brilliant, extremely funny-yet-satirical, wild, South Florida tour.

Harriet Klausner