 |
 US edition | |
| Author | Tim Dorsey |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | William Morrow (USA) & HarperCollins (UK) |
Publication date | 2002 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 372 pp |
| ISBN | 0-06-103155-0 |
| 813 | |
| LC Class | PS3554.O719 T75 |
| Preceded by | Orange Crush |
| Followed by | The Stingray Shuffle |
Triggerfish Twist is a 2002 crime novel by Tim Dorsey, the fourth in his series featuring Serge A. Storms.
Jim Davenport is transferred to his company's branch in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Martha are initially excited by the move and the beauty of their new neighborhood on Triggerfish Lane, but the reality proves to be disturbing: the Davenports' neighbors are a strange bunch of eccentrics, and crime is much worse than they had thought. These neighbors eventually include brutal-but-charismatic criminal Serge Storms, spiteful cocaine-addicted stripper Sharon Rhodes, and drug addict Seymour "Coleman" Bunsen, who move into the rental home across from the Davenports after Sharon and Coleman's brainless antics accidentally burn down Serge's home.
Jim's troubles begin while he is waiting in a bank drive-through, when an armed robber mistakes Jim's Suburban for his getaway vehicle and jumps in, threatening Jim and his infant daughter with a gun. Jim manages to overpower the robber, breaking his neck when a faulty airbag inflates in his face. Jim does not know that the robber was the youngest of five brothers, and the remaining four are released from prison on a technicality and begin looking for revenge. FDLE Agent Mahoney, obsessed with capturing Serge, convinces his boss to let him travel to Tampa, ostensibly to warn Jim.
When Jim returns to work, his consulting employer is acquired by a different company, which alters its corporate policy to make Jim the primary scapegoat for corporate layoffs. Jim is unable to adjust to his new role and is eventually fired.
Serge, despite his criminal lifestyle, develops a great liking and admiration for Jim, even considering proposing marriage to Sharon to emulate Jim's success as a family man. Jim likes Serge as well, but Martha senses something strange about Serge and orders him to stay away.
At least three subplots intertwine with and lead up to the novel's climax:
Events come to a head at the Davenports' Fourth of July costume party, which includes the four criminal McGraw brothers taking the party hostage and Serge and Mahoney reluctantly teaming up to save the guests. Jim, normally passive to a fault, is driven to defend his family by snatching a gun and shooting two of the brothers.
The novel ends with the principal characters being featured on an episode of the Bill Maher show, which Serge (on the run from the police and still pursuing the $5 million briefcase featured in Florida Roadkill ) calls into to express his sincere admiration for men with wives and children, declaring it a tougher job than anything Serge has had to cope with.
William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Magi", "The Duplicity of Hargraves", and "The Ransom of Red Chief", as well as the novel Cabbages and Kings. Porter's stories are known for their naturalist observations, witty narration, and surprise endings.
Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.
Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank-owned property, such as a train, armored car, or (historically) stagecoach. It is a federal crime in the United States.
The Stingray Shuffle is Tim Dorsey's fifth novel, published in 2003. It is the fifth novel to feature criminal Serge A. Storms, and also concludes the story arc, begun in the first novel, Florida Roadkill, about Serge's pursuit of a briefcase containing $5 million.
Timothy Alan Dorsey was an American novelist. He is known for a series starring Serge A. Storms, a mentally disturbed vigilante antihero who rampages across Florida enforcing his own moral code against a variety of low-life criminals.
Florida Roadkill is a black comedy crime novel by Tim Dorsey, the first in his series centered around the character Serge A. Storms. It was published in 1999 by William Morrow and Company, an imprint of HarperCollins.
Hammerhead Ranch Motel is a novel by Tim Dorsey published in 2000. It continues the story, started in Florida Roadkill, of blithe psychopath Serge A. Storms and his pursuit of five million dollars in cash hidden in the trunk of a car. The book is non-linear, with some scenes occurring at the same time chronologically but told out of order with later scenes.
Torpedo Juice is Tim Dorsey's seventh novel, published in 2005. As with Dorsey's previous works, the main character is amateur Florida historian and serial killer Serge A. Storms.
The United States Penitentiary, Coleman I and II are high-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Florida. It is part of the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. USP Coleman I was opened in 2001, and in 2004 Clark Construction completed a 555,000-square-foot (51,600 m2) additional component for USP Coleman II.
Martha Wayne is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the mother of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and wife of Dr. Thomas Wayne as well as the paternal grandmother of Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin. After she and her husband are murdered in a street robbery, her orphaned son is inspired to fight crime by adopting the vigilante identity of the Batman.
The Hunter (1962) is a crime thriller novel by American writer Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark. It is the first of the novels featuring career criminal Parker.
Undercover Cat is a novel by Gordon and Mildred Gordon, about a cat who assists the FBI in tracking down a pair of bank robbers. It was first published in 1963 by Doubleday.
Batman: Castle of the Bat is a DC Comics Elseworlds special published in 1994, written by Jack C. Harris with art by Bo Hampton as the artist and Tracy Hampton-Munsey as the letterer.
Matthew Bevan "Matt" Cox is an American former mortgage broker and admitted mortgage fraudster. Cox, also a true crime author, wrote an unpublished manuscript entitled The Associates in which the main character traveled the country to perpetrate a mortgage fraud scheme similar to the one Cox ran.
Atomic Lobster is the tenth novel by Tim Dorsey. It was released January 27, 2008. It follows overly zealous serial killer Serge A. Storms.
Nuclear Jellyfish is the eleventh novel by American author Tim Dorsey. It was released January 25, 2009.
Star Island is a 2010 novel by Carl Hiaasen, released on Tuesday, July 27, 2010.
Wilbur Underhill Jr., often called "Mad Dog" or the "Tri-State Terror", was an American criminal, burglar, bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was one of the most wanted bandits in Oklahoma during the 1920s and 1930s and co-led a gang with Harvey Bailey that included many fellow Cookson Hills outlaws including Jim Clark, Ed Davis and Robert "Big Bob" Brady.
Victor Licata was an American mass murderer who used an axe to kill his family in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, on October 16, 1933. The killings, which were reported by the media as the work of an "axe-murdering marijuana addict", were adduced as prima facie evidence that there was a link between recreational drugs, such as cannabis, and crime. This led to the killings being used in 1930s anti-drug campaigns against marijuana.
Rose of Cimarron is a 1952 American Western film produced by Edward L. Alperson for 20th Century Fox. Despite the title, it has nothing to do with Rose Dunn the actual "Rose of Cimarron". The film is a revenge Western with a twist: the protagonist is a woman raised by the Cherokee avenging her parents who were murdered by whites.