Cadillac Beach

 Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey  339 pp.

I enjoy Carl Hiaasen's novels about Florida mayhem, especially the ones that include the former governor known as "Skink". I was expecting something in a similar vein in this book featuring Dorsey's main character Serge Storms. Yes, there are similarities but Serge Storms is "over the top" in his actions/reactions. Serge is off his meds and joins with his substance abusing friend, Lenny in the search for the truth about his grandfather Sergio's death and the missing jewels that were stolen in the early 1960s. They set up a phony tour company and kidnap some sports fans/customers for a wild romp through Miami. Flashbacks to the time period of the theft and Sergio's disappearance flesh out the story. The involvement of the Mob, the CIA, FBI, and the militant Cubans makes the story very convoluted. The body count is excessive. In spite of it all the ending is somewhat happy. 

Cadillac Beach

Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey  339 pp.

I don't know who came up with the quirky, Florida crazy man character first, Tim Dorsey or Carl Hiaasen but at this point I think Hiaasen does a better job. Granted this is the first of Dorsey's "Serge Storm" books I've tried but I don't find the character to be one I'm sympathetic to whereas Hiaasen's "Skink" is someone I would happy to know. That being said, this book is an homage to excess. There is excess killing, at least one too many kidnappings, Serge's sidekick smokes way too much dope, Serge writes too many weird letters to politician's and public figures, the authorities (police, FBI, and CIA) are horribly inept, and even the mobsters are uninteresting. Granted, Serge is mentally ill, delusional, and has been repeatedly committed to an institution that he easily escapes. Unfortunately, the crux of the story, Serge searching for the truth of his grandfather's death, gets lost in all the mayhem. There are laugh-out-loud funny moments but they don't save this car wreck (there are too many of those also) of a novel. I almost wonder if Dorsey read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a few too many times.