Clownfish Blues

Serge A. Storms and his stoner buddy, Coleman, take a mayhem-filled trip through Florida in bestseller Dorsey’s wild 20th novel starring the vigilante serial killer (after 2016’s Coconut Cowboy). Serge and Coleman are moving from town to town, getting a new job each week and causing havoc wherever they go. They try worm-grunting (a method for driving earthworms to the surface) in Apalachicola and sign-spinning (holding up ads on the highway) on the Gold Coast. Meanwhile, Serge devises inspired punishments for a couple of zany reality-show nuts, a show-off in a red Porsche, and a caregiver taking advantage of his elderly patient. The funniest extended scene involves Serge and Coleman impersonating hostage negotiators while an alphabet soup of agencies try to figure them out. This entry may not rank with Dorsey’s best, but readers will find plenty of sharp cultural commentary (“The sidewalks were thick with street crazies talking to themselves, and executives with Bluetooths talking to themselves”). Eight-city author tour. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber. (Jan.)