Dorsey’s ‘Pineapple Grenade’ deliciously entertaining
Fans of Tim Dorsey have been treated to some of the Florida novelist's best work in the past few months.
First, it was "When Elves Attack," a short Christmas-themed romp through the Tampa-area that had plenty of laughs, some scary moments and a few genuine, heart-tugging moments (I think).
In his latest novel, "Pineapple Grenade," Dorsey returns to the big adventures of lovable psychopath Serge A. Storms and his drug-addled sidekick, Coleman, that fans have come to expect and enjoy. And Dorsey doesn't disappoint.
The story gets off to a strange start: "A prosthetic leg with a Willie Nelson bumper sticker washed ashore on the beach, which meant it was Florida. Then it got weird."
Dorsey's novels are always weird. They're jam-packed full of Florida oddities, violent crime, sexual escapades, history lessons, madcap mayhem and more. "Pineapple Grenade," whose title is linked to old grenades and a former pineapple plantation in Key Largo, has less geographical zaniness and oddball antics than his previous stories.
But that's a good thing. Dorsey has settled down to write a sizzling spy story that involves a banana republic, an assassination attempt, gun runners, the Mafia, South Florida politics and, of course, plenty of head-turning action.
The plot reads like an episode of the hit 1980s TV show "Miami Vice," and that may have been Dorsey's intent, since he makes several references to the cutting-edge show. To those who have been there, the Miami area is a tropical world that is seemingly cut off from the rest of the U.S. It has a very diverse population, incredible beaches, a wicked crime rate, stifling humidity — and some terrible traffic.
"Miami drivers are a law unto their own," Serge says. "Quick on the gas and the horn. No separation between vehicles, every lane change a new adventure. The worst of both worlds: They race around as if they are really good, but they're really bad."
"Pineapple Grenade" begins with Serge and Coleman leaving their home base in the Tampa area and flying to Miami for the Summit of the Americas conference, where leaders from North, Central and South America are meeting. Serge wants to be a spy, and he plans to take surveillance photos of foreign consulates, among other things. He has a fascination with the Cuban Missile Crisis and wants to be part of history.
While in Miami, Serge and Coleman stumble on a plot to assassinate Fernando Guzman, the reform-minded president of Costa Gorda, a banana republic in the Caribbean. They start killing would-be assassins, not to the delight of Homeland Security and others. The duo bump into a beautiful Latin spy, Felicia Carmen ("all curves and hips and luscious lips ... long, curling jet-black hair, designed to make any man swallow his tongue and spit out deepest secrets"), and they soon get sucked into a hurricane of events, Dorsey-style.
"Pineapple Grenade" is Dorsey's first Miami-centric novel, and it's a sweet one. Somehow, Dorsey has managed to mix the glamorous and seedy sides to Miami into a cocktail that tastes delicious. Maybe Serge and Coleman can make Miami their second home — if they can avoid Crockett and Tubbs, that is.
