The Pope of Palm Beach: 20 (A Serge Storms Adventure)

In his quest to impart knowledge to his faithful but perma-stoned bestie, Coleman,Serge embarks on a literary tour of his beloved Florida. Taking in some of the greats as well as less trumpeted authors, Serge digs deep into those obscure and dusty corners of his home state and proves yet again that history need never be dull.Of course, no Serge adventure would be complete without some miscreants. When some obnoxious young guns start messing with the turtles, they soon learn that Mother Nature has her very own enforcer and that he is not the forgiving type.The central story focuses on the legendary “Pope of Palm beach”, a hallowed surfer 🏄‍♂️ and just about the nicest guy you could hope to meet. Serge knows all about the Pope and when his protégée needs a helping hand to get him out of his funk, Serge steps up with mayhem basking in his slipstream.Compared to some other Serge adventures, the body count here is quite low but this is an absolute peach of a book and offers so much more than a regular crime fiction novel. Read it and then pick out another Serge book to stay on that reading high.

I loved The Pope Of Palm Beach.Although there are 20 previous books in this series, this is my first Tim Dorsey and it worked fine as a stand-alone novel. Set in Florida, it's a very amusing farce featuring the manically curious and furious Serge Storms and his drug-addled sidekick, Coleman. They are a brilliant pairing, with Serge venting his righteous rage on various scumbags who do things like dump polluting materials in nature reserves or price vital medicines out of the reach of those who need them out of personal greed. They all meet dreadful but appropriate ends, a bit like a modern-day, secular version of Dante's Inferno. There is also an historical story intercut with this, whose relevance we don't discover until the last quarter or so of the book, but which works very well and leads to a thrilling (and amusing) climax which kept me reading well after I should have stopped for the night.It's excellently done. You really do have to get the tone right if you're going to make gruesome killing funny, and Dorsey gets it perfectly. He writes brilliantly, creating an excellent sense of place, and the balance of excitement and humour in the narrative seemed perfect to me. He also skewers many of the idiocies of modern life and especially in the character of Darby Pope, makes some quite profound human statements below the witty surface.I'm delighted to have been introduced to Tim Dorsey and I'll definitely be looking into more Serge and Coleman books.(My thanks to Farrago Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Brilliantly described in the blurb as ‘part spree killer, part local historian’, Serge A Storms is a man with a strong moral code. He loves his native Florida and is committed to its ecology and culture and does not take kindly to those who undermine either. His version of ‘not taking kindly’ is both brutal and inventive.In the present day, Serge is on a literary road trip round the state with his stoner friend Coleman, in search of the truth about a writer whose disappearance is a mystery. Meanwhile, there is a drugs gang led by a man with a criminal toupée which is diversifying into new markets. A third story strand takes us back to the Palm Beach of Serge’s childhood, and to the life of the iconic surfer known as the Pope of Palm Beach.The setting, dark humour and focus on environmental issues mean that inevitably Dorsey has been compared to Carl Hiaasen (there is even a joke that plays on this in the book). Dorsey’s writing, though, has its own unique appeal. His prose is beautifully evocative and I loved the contrast between the languid, loving descriptions of Serge’s childhood home and the energy driving the narrative.Serge is a man of many passions and encyclopaedic knowledge. He raises everyday griping to an art form. There is poetry in his declamatory style and humour that runs from bone-dry to madcap, but there are also moments of great poignancy.This is a long-established series but new to me. The book worked well as a standalone but I’m now eager to read more about Serge and Coleman.

For those of us who enjoy mystery and mayhem Tim Dorsey has once again supplied a cornucopia of both. Serge has once again brought a storm to Florida with his unusual acts of vengeance carried out under the guise of teaching miscreants how to behave. If you are a Dorsey fan for whatever, this book will please you.

This is the newest adventures of America's favorite serial killer. In the beginning I wondered if this might have been a autobiographical fictional historical account of Tim Dorsey.The Pope is a great role model for the people of Riviera Beach, Florida.(Personally I first heard of Riviera Beach, is when Anthony Carter played for Michigan, and was from Riviera Beach)I am always impressed with the local history that Tim Dorsey shares in his novels. This story is much the same as most of the Serge book, but the side story of The Pope & Kenny, gives a fresh addition to the over all organ. I see nothing negative about this novel but it is all good. As for this review, This review is poorly written and it is boring. I give this review 2 stars

It takes a little time getting into it since you don’t recognize what you, the reader, have in your hands. Totally bizarre, with back & forth time lines, but worth the journey. I really don’t know what this says about me, but I found too much time was spent between Serge’s convoluted plotting and… execution. Yes, hilarious, and you’ll never view Silly String the same way again. This was my first time meeting Serge and Coleman, and I can only say I’m glad I was only reading about them.

Great author. Love his characters especially Serge and side kick Coleman. Provides great insight to life in Florida and Florida history.

This is Tim Dorsey’s best Serge Storms book yet. Couldn’t put it down. Great Florida lore and a great fast paced story. Please give us more Tim.