Tim Dorsey takes new novel on tour

February 26, 2015 11:00 pm • Last Updated: February 26, 2015 4:50 pm

By Rick Koster
Day Arts/Features writer

It helps that bestselling comic crime novelist Tim Dorsey is freakin' hilarious. And it's also key that Dorsey's series hero, Serge A. Storms, is a cheerful, heart-of-gold serial killer whose canvas of violence is reserved for numerous truly bad people who have in one way or another tainted the once-pristine greatness of his beloved Florida.

Because, frankly, as Dorsey rolls out his 18th Storms adventure, "Shark Skin Suite" (William Morrow, $26.99), a first-time reader might think he's truly pushed the level of willing-suspension-of-disbelief over the top.

Consider these plot elements from "Suite":

• A weary homeowner, frustrated with erroneous computer-generated demands from a faceless mortgage conglomerate, successfully forecloses on a bank. Yes: the sheriff's department shuts the branch down and seizes assets and equipment.

• Bored corporate workers erect a Princess Diana-style mourning shrine - complete with flowers, candles, heartfelt messages, ribbons and photos - to honor a sizeable dead cockroach slowly decomposing on a back stairwell of their office building.

• Newspaper reporters are ushered into a new strategic journalistic era by marketing experts who conduct must-attend moronic "motivational" meetings - and utilize a guy costumed as a superhero to punctuate ludicrous strategies by executing karate moves for each bullet point.

Admittedly, these scenarios are funny, but they're so over the top - even in the context of the lunacy of Florida - that one can imagine readers scratching their heads over the strained-credulity factor.

"That's what makes me laugh," Dorsey says. He's on the phone from his Tampa home shortly before embarking on a northeastern book tour swing that brings him Sunday to R. J. Julia in Madison. "Because it's all true. The cockroach shrine? True. The couple that had the bank shut down? It really happened. In Naples at a Bank of America. I saw it on television and thought, 'Well, why not?' And the guy in the Power Ranger costume? I was like, 'You've GOT to be kidding.' But, nope."

Tremendous.

But lest ye think Dorsey lets the bizarre daily occurrences in the state of Florida do all of his plot-structuring for him, remember that Serge - along with his eternally inebriated pal, Coleman - has a complex narrative agenda that tramples through numerous "Suite" tangents like a bull gator, and rest assured all threats will be beautifully fused together by the final chapter.

This time out, Serge has intentionally separated from girlfriend Brook Campanella to keep her safe from prosecution inasmuch as law enforcement types seem to be drawing closer to catching him. Once apart, Brook not only gets her law degree but becomes a rising star as a defense attorney.

Meanwhile, Serge envisions defending himself, if indeed he gets caught and goes to trial, and in preparation undergoes his own unorthodox legal education chiefly by analyzing the complexities of "Cool Hand Luke" on-site at the Florida location where Strother Martin's immortal "We have a failure to communicate" scene was filmed. But when Brook runs into legal shenanigans during her first big case - yes, the whole housing foreclosure/shady banks scenario plays a big part - Serge is happy to lend his unorthodox skills (legal or homicidal) to help Brook out.

Throw in a showdown set in Key West during the height of the annual Fantasy Fest madness - and all the essential elements are present to ensure the sustained greatness of Serge A. Storms.

"Basically, by this point," Dorsey says, "I've gotten to know Serge and Coleman well enough to know what they're gonna do, and I just wind them up and give them a starting point and an ensemble cast and let them roll. Readers know Serge and Coleman are going to find real things about Florida no one knows, and Serge's sense of wonder of all of this - his desire to maintain a childlike sense of curiosity and joy - means he'll never grow up or get tired of seeking out something new."

As with many successful novelists, Dorsey seems completely surprised by his success. A former editor and reporter at The Tampa Tribune, his only aspirations in that Great American Novel context were simply to finish one manuscript - just to say he'd done it.

"All I knew about the book business was that the odds were way against getting published at all, but I wanted to give it my best shot," he says, laughing. "The idea was to write a practice novel, and I did - not trying too hard, you know, just with the idea of looking forward and keep writing and maybe I'd actually finish."

The book actually sold, and Dorsey and Serge A. Storms became a phenomenon. At first, the local landmarks and vistas in the books helped to develop a substantial and ongoing regional fan base including biker rally-style Serge Fests throughout Florida - and the inaugural leg of the "Shark Skin Suite" signing tour consisted of 40 Sunshine State signing events in two weeks.

Dorsey says that junket alone provided plenty of material for future Serge books. For one thing, he's learned to stay in Motel 6 hotel rooms because the odds are much greater that something weird will happen. For example, Dorsey had come up from signings in the Florida Keys and checked into a Motel 6 in Cutler Bay prior to two events the following day. After unpacking his stuff in the room, his plan was to hop in the car and find something to eat - but was told the premises were in lockdown.

"I started laughing. 'Why are we in lockdown?'" Dorsey says. "It turns out it was Valentine's night and there were hundreds of teenagers rioting because they couldn't get in a nearby cinema to see 'Shades of Grey.' I guess they were under 17 and it made them mad. The thing was, it was like date night and they were rioting with all of these teddy bears and balloons and flowers. It was just wild. Crazy stuff was going on everywhere."

While much of the "Shark Skin Suite" follow-up is already written - did you know there once was a Republic of West Florida located in what are now four Louisiana parishes? Serge does! - rest assured the riotous teens of "Shades of Grey" fame will surface soon in a Tim Dorsey novel coming your way. It's too good - and real - for Dorsey to resist.