Feb 8, 2012

Opening sentences: Pineapple Grenade by Tim Dorsey

Title: Pineapple Grenade: A Novel
William Morrow (Jan. 24, 2012), Hardcover, 352 pages
Rating: 3/5

Opening sentences in a novel can set the tone and help readers decide about the book.

"A prosthetic leg with a Willie Nelson bumper sticker washed ashore on the beach, which meant it was Florida.

Then it got weird.

Homicide detectives would soon be stumped by the discovery of the so-called Hollow Man. Empty torso with no external wounds, like all his organs had been magically scooped out. Little progress was made in the case until a TV station began calling him the Jack-O'-Lantern Man, which immediaely doubled the number of nicknames.

But right now, the victim had yet to be found. In fact, he was still breathing." (prologue)

From the 15th in the Serge Storms Mystery Series.

Comments: A very strange homicide situation and even stranger main characters. My first reaction was - Florida is another country! Car hijackings and robberies of unwitting tourists off the highway leading from the Miami airport , for instance. An old news item, I thought. Is this really still going on, or is this part of the fiction of this mystery novel?  In any case, the writing and characters did not grab me. I had a hard time getting into the book. But his other books have made the author a New York Times bestselling author.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book.

6 comments:

  1. I'm not a big fan of mystery/thrillers. I can understand having a hard time getting into a book. Sometimes stepping outside your favorite genres is hard.

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  2. This book reminds me of a book called Tourist Season from Carl Hiassien that I read many years ago. It also was set in Florida, and there was weird wackiness regarding a murder and the strange people surrounding it. I liked that book a lot, and think that I would also like this one. Great review today! I am sorry this one didn't totally work for you though!

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  3. Mrs. Q and Z: Weird plots don't really bother me in thrillers/mysteries. I just didn't care for the writing style in this book and the attempts at humor fell flat for me. Too bad! I will try his other books and see.

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  4. I have never read Dorsey, but I have read some of Elmore Leonard's books that sound similar to this. Sorry it wasn't a good read for you, hope if you try him again it's better.

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  5. I've never read any books by this author, but living in Florida, I can assure you its not all bad here! lol But you gotta love those first few lines!

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  6. I was supposed to go to see this author at a book signing on the 27th, but my husband was in the hospital. I haven't read any of his books yet, but living in Florida, I plan to.

    Sorry you didn't like it!

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