Atomic Lobster
Tim Dorsey
book reviews:
· general fiction
· chick lit/romance
· sci-fi/fantasy
· graphic novels
· nonfiction
· audio books

Click here for the curledup.com RSS Feed

· author interviews
· children's books @
   curledupkids.com
· DVD reviews @
   curledupdvd.com

newsletter
win books
buy online
links

home

for authors
& publishers


for reviewers

click here to learn more




Buy *Atomic Lobster* by Tim Dorsey online

Atomic Lobster
Tim Dorsey
Harper
Paperback
400 pages
December 2008
rated 2 1/2 of 5 possible stars

buy this book now or browse millions of other great products at amazon.com
previous reviewnext review

Formulae can be a good thing - sometimes. Babies drink them, scientists concoct them, and moviemakers repeat them. And authors follow them. But following them too closely leads to uninspired writing.

Dorsey, working here on his tenth novel, found a blueprint and has used it from the beginning. Ever since he introduced loveable psychopath Serge Storms and his perpetually stoned sidekick, Coleman, in Florida Roadkill and Hammerhead Ranch Motel and his other early novels, the author from Florida has rarely strayed off his literary path. The books are inevitably set in/around Florida, they always involve multiple characters either chasing after something or someone - usually each other - and there is always a sense of fun and caution thrown to the wind. It is the electric and chaotic Sturm und Drang of Hunter S. Thompson mixed with the detective zaniness of Carl Hiaasen. And, for many books, that combo worked.

But it is not effective here and has really been losing momentum over the course of Dorsey's last couple outings.

Everything is so predictable, not a desired element in a book borrowing from the detective genre. Serge no longer shocks - even when he is force-feeding a fire hydrant down someone's mouth - and Coleman has taken every drug and swallowed every type of alcohol ever distilled.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is a difficult and dangerous gambit. No one is saying that Tim needs to start writing Westerns, but he does need to find some alternate literary avenues. Hopefully he will because the talent is there - now the desire must follow.



Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Steven Rosen, 2008

Also by Tim Dorsey:

buy *Atomic Lobster* online
click here for more info
Click here to learn more about this month's sponsor!


fiction · sf/f · comic books · nonfiction · audio
newsletter · free book contest · buy books online
review index · links · · authors & publishers
reviewers

site by ELBO Computing Resources, Inc.