This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2024) |
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. [1] [2]
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.
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.
James Bolivar diGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is a fictional character and a series of comic science fiction novels written by Harry Harrison.
Kate Barker, better known as Ma Barker, was the mother of several American criminals who ran the Barker–Karpis Gang during the "public enemy era" when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the Midwestern United States gripped the American people and press. She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers.
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.
Orange Crush is Tim Dorsey's third novel, and the first not to star Serge A. Storms as the main character. It is a frequently dark spoof of the politics of Florida and the United States' involvement in the Balkans.
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.
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.
From Noon till Three is a 1976 American Western film released by United Artists. It stars Charles Bronson and his wife, Jill Ireland. It was written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy, based on his novel.
Hurricane Punch is a novel by Tim Dorsey published in 2007. It follows overly zealous serial killer Serge A. Storms, who is tracking hurricanes all over Florida.
Matthew Bevan "Matt" Cox is an American former mortgage broker and admitted mortgage fraudster and con man. 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.
Superman: Speeding Bullets is a DC Comics Elseworlds prestige format one-shot comic book published in 1993. It is written by J.M. DeMatteis and features the artwork of Eduardo Barreto. The comic book is based on the concept of an amalgamation of Superman and Batman.
Atomic Lobster is the tenth novel by Tim Dorsey. It was released in 2008. It follows overly zealous serial killer Serge A. Storms.
Ronald Joseph Trucchio, also known as "Ronnie One Arm" is an American mobster who rose to the position of caporegime in the Gambino crime family of New York City.
Nuclear Jellyfish is the eleventh novel by American author Tim Dorsey. It was released February 1, 2009.
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, also known as the Dream Slayer, 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.
Triggerfish Twist. New York: Morrow, 2002.