Florida Roadkill

By: Tim Dorsey

Narrated by: George Wilson

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Sunshine State trivia buff Serge A. Storms loves eliminating jerks and pests. His drug-addled partner Coleman loves cartoons. Hot stripper Sharon Rhodes loves cocaine, especially when purchased with rich dead men's money. On the other hand, there's Sean and David, who love fishing and are kind to animals - and who are about to cross paths with a suitcase filled with $5 million in stolen insurance money. Serge wants the suitcase. Sharon wants the suitcase. Coleman wants more drugs... and the suitcase. In the meantime, there's murder by gun, Space Shuttle, Barbie doll, and Levi's 501s. In other words, welcome to Tim Dorsey's Florida - where nobody gets out unscathed and untanned!

©1999 Tim Dorsey (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Its a Mad Mad Mad Florida!

I would never Mistake a Tim Dorsey Novel for a Hiaasen! If anyone does they are not paying attention. Mr. Dorseys characterizations are so wild and wacky they could be real, but only if you believe that truth is stranger than fiction.

If you are offended easily or dont like creative killings, this is not for you.

If you have said "i have a sense of humor and this is not funny", this is not for you.

If you believe that freedom of speech should only go so far, this is not for you.

Any or all of Tim Dorseys books will make just about anybody with a real sense of humor smile and cringe and spit milk out of your nose while you say i can see that as a newspaper story.

Fun book. Narrator not so...

It’s so easy to love Tim Dorsey’s Serge books, but this was the first I’ve listened to by the original narrator, George Wilson. Didn’t care for him AT ALL. Apart from that, loved the story and found myself laughing out loud often. If this is your introduction to Dorsey, do yourself a big favor and choose one performed by Oliver Wyman. He’s done the last 8 or so. You’ll get a funny novel with a narrator who doesn’t get in the way.

Almost couldn't finish it because of the reader

Would you try another book from Tim Dorsey and/or George Wilson?

Yes, but not if it was read by George Wilson, which means I won't listen to books 2-8

Would you be willing to try another one of George Wilson’s performances?

No

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, the story is what kept me involved

Any additional comments?

I'm glad that Wilson was replaced with Wyman starting with book 9 of the series but haven't listened to any more than a couple of samples so I can't comment on them other than to say that the samples sound like he understands Dorcey's characters better and doesn't put commas where they, shouldn't, be.

I tried to like it

I really did try to like it. I tried to laugh off the characters. I tried to wait for the author to start tying things together. But after about two hours I gave up.

The first two hours of the book is a shaggy dog story filled with the most amoral people you can imagine. No, wait ... I could not have imagined people that amoral. The book just finally wore me down ... it wasn't funny enough to hold my attention, and those characters were just soooo depressing.

The narrator was clear, but his performance had all the warmth of a 1960 educational film.

I realize I'm in the minority with regards to this book... but if you can make it all the way thru the book then you are a better man than I.

Book is great, the narrator sucked

the narrator was extremely dry and boring. Nothing like the story. I have read all of Tim Dorsey's books, the narrator made this so hard to listen to. it took me four months to get through the whole thing. I read the entire Harry Potter series and Twilight series 5 times before I could finish this book. it was depressing. the narrator not the book.

Florida Roadkill-not so good

What disappointed you about Florida Roadkill?

I was hoping for John McDonald or Karl Hiaasen quality and was very dissappointed

What could Tim Dorsey have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Story is just too much sleaze. Characters are ALL sickos with no meaning.

What about George Wilson’s performance did you like?

Narrator is good! Lots of feeling and easy to listen to.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Florida Roadkill?

Many, the grossness just goes on and on.

Love Tim Dorsey's Books!

I often wonder, as I listen to these books... What kind of crazy, sick, twisted, warped, thoughts must be rolling around in Tim Dorsey's head on a daily basis. To come up with all those highly inventive ways to kill. Does he just walk the aisles of Home Depot for inspiration?!? Serge is just a moral enforcer of epic proportion, you gotta love the guy! I really hope Triggerfish Twist is released soon! Thanks for all the great books! Highly Recommended!

Wonderously insane

Any additional comments?

I was getting into a deep funk because I have read all of Christopher Moore and wanted more. Digging around I found Tim Dorsey and his Florida series and decided to give it a go. Boy am I glad I did, I now have another go to for my insanely funny reads.

Tim is the bastard son of Charles Dickens and Christopher Moore. No more needs to be said.

It is REALLY REALLY Hard to rate this book ...

1) I started the series by listening to the most recently published book first (When Elves Attack). I enjoyed that one so much I decided to start the series at the beginning and follow it through. I knew from Audible and other places on the net, that the chronology of the books is different than the publication order. However, the author intends the books to be read in the order they have been published. This book happens after When Elves Attack.
2) The author has me thoroughly convinced that anyone who was born and raised in southern Florida is either a lunatic, a homicidal maniac, or at least very different than us "regular" people ... LOL!
3) Other comments refer to Hiassen -- and how similar they are. Well, my "mini research" showed that the first book for both writers came out in 1999. No way could one have copied the other. Maybe Florida really IS as crazy as these two writers apparently indicate (I've not read or listened to any of Hiassen's books yet).
4) Having noted that the first Serge A. Storms novel has a 1999 copyright -- and it happens before the newest novel (and FLORIDA ROADKILL mentions 1997 as the year the Marlins won the World Series) -- I have a minor picayune problem. In When Elves Attack, Serge used Facebook to find some friends he hadn't seen in a while. Um ... no Facebook in 1997. But that is just being picky and I know it.
5) There are lots of deaths in the book. Some "inventive" (making me wonder about authors giving ideas to the public). And I must have missed something because one of the murderers (yep, Serge isn't the only serial or cereal killer in the book) goes after two guys and I'm still not sure why he did it. So, I I would really have to know someone before I could "safely" recommend the book ... I don't want to give anyone any of these ideas.
5b) The author is "scary" if he is inventing all these inventive ways of committing murder; or he has amassed a huge collection of weird and bizarre news reports and then I wonder how he has time to actually write if he is spending time creating that file of info.
6) And one of the characters that end up dying in the course of the story ... well, I wish that person hadn't died. And I got really bummed out when that happened toward the end of the book. And that has kept me from getting the next book in the series (and it continues this particular story and the chase for the suitcase of money) ... I think I need a bit of time to mourn that passing of that character before moving on. Though I plan to move on to the next book.
7) It is that one death that actually made me pull back from a full 5 star rating for the book.
I dunno -- Serge is a "real character" -- weird in his own way. But he is sort of like Stephanie Plum to me -- she is an interesting character in her own way, but what makes those novels interesting and fun and keeps me coming back for the next one in the series -- well, it's all those other characters that surround her at work, in life and the FTAs she is tracking down. Serge is okay, but it is the other characters that keep me listening to the book, and planning to indulge in the entire series very soon, more than Serge himself.
8) The book is full of strange characters, fun Florida history and trivia. My hubby's parents were snowbirds to Florida for a number of years and we went down there for our honeymoon. So, some of the places mentioned are places I was slightly familiar with. I mentioned them to my husband and he could tell me stories that could almost rival some of the strangest moments in this novel. The history and trivia and weird "other" characters -- yeh, I'll be traveling through Florida with Serge and if you can read the ingenious murder plots without "getting ideas" -- I think you just might enjoy the ride too.

Florida Chaotic Normal

This book is #%@&#* up. There's really no other way to describe it. It's an insane rampage through south Florida during which the bad people doing crazy evil things all get their just deserts in some oddball roundabout way or another. Serge is a great anti-hero. You don't like him but dang if you can't stop listening, like watching a train wreck for 10 hours straight. The way all the pieces fit together at the end is pretty impressive. That said, I don't really think I'll move on to #2 in this series. This book didn't really leave me with that feel good ah nice it all worked out feeling I want in a disturbing read like this. I frankly just felt pretty stunned.

Not for the squeemish

Good fun I hope these guys do not go to Disney land.
So wild I bet there are people like this in Florida.
The reader is very good and his voices bring a good story to life