The Pope of Palm Beach, by Tim Dorsey
This is book #21 in Dorsey’s series – and every one will make you laugh out loud! The main character is Serge A. Storms – hyperactive, lover of Florida history, adventurer and explorer. Every book is Serge and his sidekick, Coleman, driving and exploring cool things from Florida’s history. They pull into a new town, and….wackiness ensues.
Oh. And Serge is a serial killer.
Not like *that* kind; he very specifically only kills bad people. And he’s amazingly creative about it. People generally don’t get shot in these books. Instead, in each book Serge spends time carefully thinking up punishments for people that fit their individual crimes. An alligator poacher is fed to a pool of alligators; evil bankers who stole people’s pensions are poisoned by bath salts in a Jacuzzi; he removes the safety device on a bungee swing ride and a gangster is thrown to his death.
As an added bonus, this book is all about books and the publishing industry. And, we get another example of Serge’s passion for librarians! (Smart chicks who like books: Really, aren’t they everyone’s type???)
If you need a beach-style book, that will make you laugh out loud as you read, with a dose of interesting Florida history mixed in for some educational value – these are the books for you! And if you like audio books, I really like these in that format – Oliver Wyman’s deadpan delivery adds to the laughter in every book.
From Amazon: “No one worships the Sunshine State as much as Serge A. Storms. Perpetually hunting Floridian arcana and lore, he and his permanently baked sidekick, Coleman, are on the road again. This time they’re on a frenzied literary pilgrimage that leads them back to Riviera Beach, the cozy seaside town where the boys spent their formative years.
Growing up, Serge was enthralled by the Legend of Riviera Beach, aka Darby, a welder at the port who surfed the local waves long before the hot spots were hot. A god on the water, the big-hearted surfer was a friend to everyone—the younger surfers, cops, politicians, wealthy businessmen and ordinary Joes—a generosity of spirit that earned him the admiration of all. Meanwhile, there was a much murkier legend that made the rounds of the schoolyards from Serge’s youth—that of the crazy hermit living in a makeshift jungle compound farther up the mysterious Loxahatchee River than anyone dared to venture.
Then Serge moved away. But never forgot.
Now he’s back, with those legends looming larger than ever in the rearview mirror of his memory. As his literary odyssey moves north from Key West, closer and closer to his old stomping grounds, Serge digs into the past as only Serge can. Along the way, he unintentionally disturbs some long-forgotten ground, attracting the attention of a cast of villains that only Florida can produce.
As the body count grows, so does the list of questions:
Why are the guys in the hard hats worried about the monkeys? When do you hack a motel air-conditioner? How does Coleman get high with cat toys? Who is expecting the dildo? And will book tours ever be the same after Serge decides to check one out?
Told in alternating flashbacks between Serge and Coleman’s childhoods and the present day, The Pope of Palm Beach is a witty and deliciously violent delight from the twisted imagination of Tim Dorsey.”
It’s so fun to pick books from Overdrive, because it exposes you to titles you may never have normally seen! This book was one of those finds, and I’m just about finished with it.
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