Jim Davenport is an average family man from Indiana, a classic "nice guy" who moves his family down to quaint, suburban Triggerfish Lane in Tampa, Florida to take a job with a consulting firm. But Triggerfish Lane is not the paradise it appears. A local land-grabber is trying to scare away the homeowners by bringing in an assortment of degenerate tenants.
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Jim, a pacifist to the core, is fired by his firm after he refuses to allow them to change his report to recommend layoffs.
With the firing, Jim's life begins to spin out of control. A defective airbag in Jim's Suburban kills a carjacker who, it develops, has a quartet of vicious brothers who have just been sprung from jail.
John Milton, a mild-mannered bank-teller, is laidoff and led to believe that Jim recommended it. Suffering a nervous breakdown, the now-homeless Milton plots revenge.
Finally, Serge A. Storms, psychotic thief, spree killer, and Florida history buff, moves into a house down the street from Jim and takes a liking to the "unsung hero of America, a parent," as he and his lackeys Coleman and Sharon plot a kidnap-for-ransom that goes hilariously wrong.
The wild, multi-faceted plot careens around Triggerfish Lane and out into the streets of Tampa, where everything from used-car lots to people who pay by check at convenience stores are mercilessly lampooned by Dorsey's razor-wit before returning to the Davenport home for an Independence Day barbecue that offers a truly explosive finale.
The review of this Book prepared by James Craver
Morrow, May 2002, 24.95, 306 pp.
ISBN: 0060185716
In the Tampa Bay area, after his roommates Sharon and Coleman burn down their townhouse along with a few historical homes while freebasing lint, Serge A. Storms relocates the entire crew to Triggerfish Lane. Meanwhile in the same Triggerfish Lane area, Lance Boyle rents to the shoddiest tenants on the planet. The slumlord wants the more respectable locals to sell cheaply to him.
Shockingly, Serge the historian loves life in the Burbs. He “helps” his neighbors, which requires some kind of conning. His best buddy is Midwest refugee Jim Davenport, a gentle-hearted father of three, who moved his family here because Tampa ranks third as a desirable place to live. However, the magazine Tampa and the Boyle Tampa are not the same. Serge places the Davenports off limits to the local nasties. However, Serge's bodyguard service requires 24-7 when Jim accidentally kills one of the McGraws leading to the rest of the family of thugs seeking vengeance.
The latest Serge tale TRIGGERFISH TWIST is a very humorous look at suburbia through the eyes of a kindhearted urban con man. The story line is wacky, as Serge looks so comfortable outside his element. Except for the Davenports the rest of the cast adds zany depth while the Midwest transfers appear as a typical American family caught in the midst of an asylum that leaves the quintet tugging at the hearts of the reader and Serge when the McGraws seek revenge. Tim Dorsey provides a humorous tale that continues the crazy tradition that along with the 2k election paints Florida with a lunatic terrific fringe.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
