Book Review: “No Sunscreen for the Dead” by Tim Dorsey.
I was at the library browsing for a “before bed” novel (something light, not too much to think about or get my head spinning before sleep). I saw a turquoise blue hardcover with a skull illustration on it. Perfect!
The story: (Spoilers)
The story follows Serge, a psychopathic tough-guy killer who is overly friendly and his sidekick, Coleman as they seek retribution for elderly Floridian’s who have been scammed by door-to-door salesmen. Serge tracks down multiple salesmen, murdering each in zany ways. Turns out a couple of the people in the retirement community have a spying past and now the Russians are trying to murder them. Can murderous Serge save the day?
Quick thoughts
The book was readable but everything about it felt thin and dashed off. It read like there was a publishing deadline that was nearing and the author and editor both just said “This is fine”.
The end was a real let down. The final show-down between Serge and 10 Russian hitmen made no sense. Somehow swans attacked and almost killed a guy…what?! Serge shot bottle rockets at them and the Russians were terrified…sure. And then none of the character’s storylines were wrapped up once the bad guys were defeated. Ok, the FBI showed up, I’ve gone past 300 pages, book’s over. Fin
Highlights
The middle had a couple story lines that were really intriguing, like one about a young loser being groomed into spying for Russia during the cold war. This is the only section of the book where I felt any kind of connection with a character. Dorsey seemed to have spent more time here, actually developing a character and a history.
Take-away
The plot was good enough to keep me reading. The main character, Serge, who apparently appears in many of Dorsey’s novels, was annoying. I must have missed some back-story in earlier novels, that made him an interesting, or even tolerable, character. His vibe was kind of stupid to be honest: super upbeat, positive, psychopath who kills people in needlessly elaborate ways — igniting bread flour dust in a hotel room to blow up a person? Sure, ok.
Craft notes
Endings and character! Even if I enjoyed a lot of the preceding story, if the ending feels empty, I feel like my time was wasted. What is this plot pulling me toward if not a satisfying ending?
And characters matter. I know I don’t have to like a character but I have to at least feel something about them in order to care enough about the story they are driving.