GATOR A-GO-GO: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
GATOR A-GO-GO
BY TIM DORSEY

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Serge and Coleman do spring break!

It’s been a long time coming, but they’re at the party now— and you’ll never look at a Frisbee the same way.

One spring break location obviously isn’t enough for Serge, so he must do them all, traveling through various historic locales, spewing history nuggets at anyone who won’t run away, and dispensing his own signature brand of Sunshine State justice.

Along the way he and his sidekick Coleman attract a growing following of the nation’s top college students ... and a mysterious gang that leaves a trail of young bodies in their wake.

Are the kids safer under Serge’s protection? Or does being with him put them in more peril? The classroom and the pot brownies never prepared them for this.

Which raises more questions:

Who’s the guy studying satellite photos? Where did the protected witness go? When did Coleman get all those trophies? Why are the feds hot on everyone’s trail? How did the burnt corpse end up by the pool? What’s the best way to keep beer cool on the beach?

Then there are the coke smugglers gone legit, and a pair of the most dangerously sexy bartenders to ever mix a rum runner. Throw in some dirty dancing contests, illicit drugs, rockin’ tunes, screamin’ sports cars, bungee rides, pawned class rings, church breakfasts, and you’ve got a potent concoction that keeps the hotel’s night watchmen up all night stopping people from falling off the balconies.

Want even more? Serge says, You got it!

After years of quiet, a legendary Miami kingpin from the anything-goes Eighties is suddenly back in the news ... along with one of the state’s most psychotic homicidal monsters, every bit as criminally insane as Serge -- except without the morals.

The mysteries continue to mount: How did Coleman end up with even more disciples than Serge? Can kids successfully climb fences while carrying pizzas? Will Serge surmount the carnage, armed with a GPS and a kiddie pool?

All will soon be answered -- and of course every last moment is caught on tape as Serge creates his most excellent documentary ever, the making of Gator A-Go-Go.

Pack the cooler, load the car and head to where the water is warm for a spring break vacation that – however much you want to – you won’t soon forget!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tim Dorsey was born in Indiana, moved to Florida at the age of 1, and grew up in a small town about an hour north of Miami called Riviera Beach. He graduated from Auburn University in 1983 with a B.S. in Transportation. While at Auburn, he was editor of the student newspaper The Plainsman. From 1983 to 1987, he was a police and courts reporter for The Alabama Journal, the now-defunct evening newspaper in Montgomery. He joined The Tampa Tribune in 1987 as a general assignment reporter. He also worked as a political reporter in the Tribune’s Tallahassee bureau and a copy desk editor. From 1994 to 1999, he was the Tribune’s night metro editor. He left the paper in August 1999 to write full-time. Tim has since published eleven novels in several languages: Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Orange Crush, Triggerfish Twist, The Stingray Shuffle, Cadillac Beach, Torpedo Juice, The Big Bamboo, Hurricane Punch, Atomic Lobster, and Nuclear Jellyfish. His next novel, Gator A-Go-Go, will be released January 26, 2010 He lives in Tampa with his family

REVIEW:

I was lucky enough to hear Tim Dorsey, the author of GATOR A-GO-GO speak at a local bookstore this past week. GATOR A-GO-GO is my first Tim Dorsey book and as a resident of Florida, I thought it was about time I read one of his best selling novels. I attended in order to ask questions about how he writes, or where he gets his inspiration, and how GATOR A-GO-GO came to be. Little did I know I was one of a very few, if not THE only person, to be in a crowd like this for the first time. I should have gotten a clue when many attending were dressed in flowered shirts, hibiscus in their hair, or pelicans, gators, or flamingos decorating their outfits that I was in the vast minority of first timers at a Tim Dorsey signing. Either that, or I had stumbled into a Jimmy Buffett concert by mistake.

Once I realized the devoted, knowledgeable followers of Tim's books return each year, many for this 12th time, I was able to listen to him answer their questions in which he did explain how he writes his books and where his ideas come from. All done with humor and often a side track about an experience during his driving throughout the state to get his ideas and do his research. In talking to the faithful, the impression they gave me was that this book was their favorite Dorsey book yet. In that it was my first, I am taking them at their word but upon finishing GATOR A-GO-GO, I am now in search of my own flowered shirt. This book was hilarious and a well written page turner. Tim writes about places and events in Florida, some well known and some not so famous, but the research he does for his book was evident.

The main character, Serge A. Storm, (an icon for Dorsey fans) is your lovable serial killer with a heart. Recognized by his love for 70's gas guzzling cars, all things Florida, and his devotion to eliminating any obnoxiously rude folks who might tarnish Serge's beloved peninsula, and a sidekick named Coleman, Serge is taking on spring break in this novel. He tours around with his mounted camera taking film footage for his "documentary", so that he can reveal the background and settings for the history of spring break in Florida. Dorsey makes sure this information is included throughout the book even to the point of how the different centers of the spring break ritual changed over the years and what their effect was on the places where the partying took place.

A Serge story wouldn't be complete without his wacky partner-in-crime, Coleman, who is the opposite of Serge's somewhat somber, sober self. Coleman is an out there, harmless, drug happy, beer drinking but loyal friend. How handy, especially during spring break to have someone who can open a beer bottle with no opener, bake tasty pot brownies, and knows how you can still keep your beer cold on the beach without having to use a cooler! This unlikely duo of filmmakers gets sidetracked by befriending a group of Spring Breakers down from their college in the cold of New Hampshire, to party hardy in the Sunshine State. Unfortunately, the group doesn't realize they are being hunted down by a crime gang (well, doesn't every spring breaker have that hanging over their head?). The breaker named Andy McKenna doesn't know that he is the object of the gang's search.

When Andy was five years old, his family had been taken into the witness protection plan because his dad was the heart of the testimony that would put away a major crime family. Unfortunately, the family's cover including Andy's is blown by a well meaning mistake. When Andy finally realizes he is a target, he is wary of trusting anyone. Of course, that was OK because he was now under the care of Serge.

With the entrance of "the family" headed up "my Madre" and her killer son Guillermo, as well as the FBI involvement, Serge's filming gets interrupted and he is called on to display is talents in doing away with people. The interesting way that he kills people, by stalking his local home improvement store seeking inspiration from what he sees, helps Serge to come up with some of his elaborate but effective ideas. I don't want to spoil it so I will only say, be careful of your garage door opener next time you use it if Serge is around.

GATOR A-GO-GO is my first Tim Dorsey novel but won't be my last. Yes, it is almost dark in places but the humor overshadows it and makes you cheer for the gentler and kinder serial killer that is Serge A. Storm. If nothing else, when planning a trip to Florida, you will certainly know more about how to get around and some interesting history and places to go, as well as have a clever flip book that you get in this book as a gator gobbles up the pages and that will keep the little ones busy on your trip (just be sure they can't read yet as this isn't a bedtime story). Now I must get to the store before all the flowered shirts are bought out so I am prepared for Tim Dorsey's next visit. I guess I would have been wise to buy one of the "Serge" shirts he sells from the trunk of his own big gas guzzling muscle car after his appearance. At least I got a picture of it and if I can figure how to get it from my camera to my computer, I will post it with the winners' page! Thanks, Tim!

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO SHAWN AND THE GANG
AT HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHING,
I HAVE FIVE COPIES OF THIS FUN
BEST SELLER TO GIVE AWAY

THERE WILL ALSO BE ONE GRAND PRIZE
WINNER WHO WILL ALSO RECEIVE A
"BOOKIN' WITH BINGO" CAP FROM ME
THAT IS PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED
BY AUTHOR, TIM DORSEY. HERE IS
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN!

RULES:

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING FROM AUTHOR TIM DORSEY'S "FUN STUFF" PAGE ON THE HARPER COLLINS WEBSITE ABOUT HIM HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: GO TO TIM DORSEY'S WEBSITE AND COMMENT ON ONE OF HIS BOOKS YOU'D LIKE TO READ, OR HAVE READ, (OTHER THAN GATOR A-GO-GO), OR ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE YOU FIND INTERESTING ON HIS SITE AS THERE IS SO MUCH TO ENJOY!

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT AND TELL IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN TO TIM DORSEY'S BELOVED FLORIDA AND IF SO WHAT PART. IF YOU LIVE HERE, LIKE I DO, THEN TELL ME WHAT PART OF FLORIDA YOU LIKE THE BEST.

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE WITH THE LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW. YOU CAN TWEET OR BLOG ON FACEBOOK AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE BUT EACH ONE MUST BE COMMENTED ON SEPARATELY TO COUNT.

DEADLINE FOR ENTERING IS
6 PM, EST, FEBRUARY 28
GOOD LUCK!