The Pope of Palm Beach

A killer opening sentence sets the tone for bestseller Dorsey’s 21st comic novel featuring eccentric murderer Serge Storms (after 2017’s Clownfish Blues): “The sun was going down behind the Big Burger when the alligator came flying in the drive-through window.” Starting in the Florida Keys, Serge and his childhood friend, Coleman, embark on a literary tour of the state. Along the way, they make detours so Serge can mete out his own brand of justice to various bad guys, beginning with Sterling Hanover, a pharmaceutical company’s callous president. Hanover acquired the patent to a drug that originally cost $12 a pill and raised the price to $700 after learning it was the only treatment for a protozoa infection that’s fatal to infants. Serge devises a diabolic punishment to fit the crime. He later seeks revenge on a gangster he holds responsible for the death of the legendary surfer known as the Pope. Flashbacks to Serge’s youth aren’t that interesting, and the storytelling is less amusing than usual, but fans of wacky crime fiction will have plenty of fun. Eight-city author tour. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber. (Jan.)