Tropic of Stupid
A Novel
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Serge A. Storms embarks on a tour to meet his long-lost relatives in this latest madcap entry in the bestselling series from Florida’s “compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny” (Boston Globe) Tim Dorsey.
Devoted Floridaphile Serge Storms is a lover of history, so he’s decided to investigate his own using one of those DNA services from late-night TV. Excited to construct a family tree, he and Coleman hit the road to meet his kin. Along the way, he plans to introduce Coleman to the Sunshine State’s beautiful parks where he can brush up on his flora, fauna, and wildlife, and more importantly, collect the missing stamps for his park passport book.
But as the old saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far . . . Serge is thrilled to discover he may be related to a notorious serial killer who’s terrorized the state for twenty years and never been caught. Which one of his newfound relatives will be the one to help him hunt down this deranged maniac? Serge doesn’t know that a dogged investigator from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also hot on the trail.
Then Serge meets a park ranger who’s also longing to make a family re-connection. But all is not as it appears on the surface, and Serge’s newfound friendship in the mysterious swamps of Florida may lead to deadly results.
Finding his own relatives has made Serge understand the importance of family. Of course he’ll do anything to help . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Dorsey breezes through his 24th comic novel featuring serial killer Serge A. Storms (after 2020's Naked Came the Florida Man), mixing the slapstick humor of the Three Stooges with Sunshine State details that would make a Florida history professor envious. Serge, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of Florida, wants to know more about his own background. So, he buys a DNA service advertised on TV to construct a family tree. Serge and his perpetually stoned friend, Coleman, cruise Florida, meeting far-flung relatives while deciding what to do with the string of guys tied up in their car's trunk. Along the way, Serge, who only kills those he deems deserving (such as those who swindle the vulnerable or disrespect Florida lore), realizes that one of his kin may also be a serial killer. As Serge holds forth on Florida's flora, fauna, parks, and the glories of the TV show Sea Hunt, he crosses paths with a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent investigating serial killers and a predatory lawyer. Though Dorsey lacks Carl Hiaasen's sophistication, he succeeds amid the pratfalls in making Serge a hero.