Book Review: Hammerhead Ranch Motel

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Hammerhead Ranch Motel     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Tim Dorsey
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Humorous
Morrow, Aug 2000, $24.00, 304 pp.

At the end of FLORIDA ROADKILL, homicidal maniac Serge has still not obtained the five million dollars in laundered drug money he sought. The stash is hidden in a secret panel inside the trunk of a Chrysler New Yorker driven by an innocent person unaware of his cargo. The driver wearing a Santa suit leaps from a bridge bringing the media focus on the event. Serge is back on the trail of the money.

Eventually the loot, Serge, other con artists, gangsters, and assorted ilk end up at the Hammerhead Roach Motel, an eyesore, located in an exclusive town in Southern Florida. Former drug supplier turned flim flam man Zargaza runs the motel with the aid of two bumbling thugs. With Hurricane Rolando-berto keeping the collection of riff raff in the motel, violence is inevitable.

There are so many weird, eccentric, but funny characters populating the HOMESTEAD RANCH MOTEL in unusual situations, readers will think the story line is irrelevant. Instead, the cleverly designed mystery uses a cartoon-like cast to propel the superb story line, with its biting social commentary, forward to a wild finish. Tim Dorsey makes the irrelevant relevant with his satirical romps.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner