Rating: 
Summary: Reserve the Rubber Room
Review: After reading all three of Dorsey's books in a six-day period, I am firmly convinced that the Florida State Mental Hospital in Chattahoochee is missing a patient (and his name is NOT Serge!). This is the ultimate story of an election gone awry, which surpasses what actually happened in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, but only by Dorsey's whacked imagination making it come to life. This book made me laugh out loud so many times, my mother began wondering about my sanity! If you are a Florida resident, the history lessons about our state are well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Wacky and fun...
Review: Another wacky Dorsey novel centered around Florida politics. The main character is a do-nothing assistant governor in Florida until he gets sent over to Bosnia and mistakenly sees action. His entire unit is killed, and he changes into someone who cares. When he comes back, he ends up as governor when the main guy dies in a plane crash. He then starts into his reelection bid, but is ignoring his handlers and doing things his way.
Rating:
Summary: Wacky and fun...
Review: Another wacky Dorsey novel centered around Florida politics. The main character is a do-nothing assistant governor in Florida until he gets sent over to Bosnia and mistakenly sees action. His entire unit is killed, and he changes into someone who cares. When he comes back, he ends up as governor when the main guy dies in a plane crash. He then starts into his reelection bid, but is ignoring his handlers and doing things his way.
Rating:
Summary: Orange Crush is Tim Dorsey's best book yet
Review: Being a Florida native I had always searched for books that capture the true essence of Florida: the residents, the visitors, the violence, the history. When I read Tim Dorsey's Florida Roadkill I thought: Finally, someone is writing about the Florida that I grew up in and know. The Florida where we invented the Home Invasion Robbery and were proud of it. The Florida where even my paperboy carries a pager, a cell phone and a Glock. I went on to read Hammerhead Ranch Motel and loved it. Once again Tim Dorsey was able to capture Florida with all of its colorful characters and the you-have-to-read-it-to-believe-it crime combined with his amazing sense of humor. Add to the mix Serge Storms; sociopath and Florida history buff. To quote Serge "We're a twenty-four hour, dead-bolted, hair on the back of your neck, free continental breakfast deathwish vacation of a lifetime, not from concentrate..." I dont want to give away too much about his first two books except to say that if you are reading them for the first time you are in for an amazing experience. Serge rocks! Orange Crush delivers the same humor, mayhem, and true to life image of Florida. Tim Dorsey gives his book a notable and wonderful backdrop: a Florida gubernatorial race. Being a politcal junkie I had always thought enough was not written about Florida politics. With Orange Crush Tim Dorsey takes us behind the scenes of a Florida guberntorial race with all of its intricacies, corruption, humor, and of course Serge Storms who pops up in the least likely place. As I read Orange Crush I laughed out loud so many times that my roommate kept coming into my room to find out what was so funny. I would read the passage to him out loud and think to myself Orange Crush is truly Tim Dorsey's funniest and coolest book to date.
Rating: 
Summary: Dave Barry meets Quentin Tarantino meets hyper-activity
Review: Dorsey writes the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster, a writers version of those new gravity and physics defying roller coasters where you strap yourself in, hang on tight and wonder "what the heck did I do this for??!?!" as you spin your lunch back out at 4 gees, and then you run right back to line up for more. This is fun, pure and simple and nothing else. Very little redeeming social value, it won't teach you anything you can use in life or business or camping. It will entertain you almost to stroke levels. Hugely. His books have the manic, non-stop pace of Nascar, the local Florida color of Carl Hiasson, and the kind of laughs that Jerry Lewis inexplicably gives the French. This is the 3rd or 4th Dorsey book I've read this summer, and I liked it the best. They are all very similar in style, tone, what have you. Like the others this one starts in the present, and then backs up a year or two to explain how 4 or 5 bizarre plotlines ultimately braid together. If you liked the movie Pulp Fiction, you'll like these books. They are definitely lighter than PF, but both combine the same blends of violence and humor. But much, much heavier on the humor in a Dorsey. One of the other reviews complained that there was not enough character development. This ain't Jane Austin. It is still well-written. Orange Crush actually has the most character development of any of the Dorsey's I've read. We watch Marlon Conrad, the spoiled rich privileged son of a Florida political power broker grow from a puppet Lt. Gov. to a Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Smith goes to Tallahassee-type. We see Serge make an impact on politics and soft tissue. We see Marlon's competitor for Governor stuff pigs in a blanket into his cheeks and pocket. We laugh. We wear stunned expressions. We buy the next book. Read it and laugh!
Rating:
Summary: Politics as Usual, Florida Style
Review: Florida Lieutenant Governor Marlon Conrad, a political nobody, has been picked by the Florida powerbrokers to be the next governor, but he's happier playing computer games than handling the state's business. That doesn't matter, the powerbrokers tell him, because in Florida policy is decided by "Big Oil, Big Sugar and Big Rental Car." All Marlon has to do is wait for the sitting governor to finish his term and let his handlers do the rest. There is, however, one tiny obstacle, Marlon had never registered with the Selective Service. So he joins the National Guard, that way he'd look patriotic and could be inactive. However he gets called up and sent to the Balkans, sees action and all of a sudden becomes a real man of the people. No longer content to be a tool of the Florida powerbrokers, Marlon takes off on a campaign across the state in an RV dubbed Orange Crush. His political opponent, the gourmandizing Speaker of the House Gomer Tatum, has also found new political life, thanks to his working class girlfriend. So the election becomes a rough and tumble contest. It is almost impossible for me to tell you just how funny this five star book is. Not only did I laugh through the pages, I'm still laughing. Reviewed by Katie Osborne
Rating:
Summary: A blast of Florida!
Review: I agree withy the previous reviewer about the similarity of the govorner characters. Aside from that this is a great read, and what you would expect from Mr. Dorsey! Those of you who are fans will be delighted, and those of you new to this author don't be afraisd to jump on in! One recomendation: I have to plug a little known adventure/thriller I just finished: "A Tourist in the Yucatan" fun read especially if you have been there or are planning a trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Boy! Do I realize how much I enjoy Hiassen!!!
Review: I enjoyed Tim Dorsey's first two novels, especially Florida Roadkill (which is what Orange Crush should be classified as). Dorsey seems to have thrown this together without any real direction to the story. His attempts at humor mostly fall flat. The characters are so absurd that it becomes tiring reading in a very short time. Marlon Conrad, the governor who has "seen the error of his ways" sounds an awful lot like he was stolen from numerous Hiaasen novels. Serge Storms, the key character in the first two novels is totally wasted in Orange Crush as Dorsey tries to make him respectable. The rest of the characters are quickly forgetable and not very funny.This was the third book in the series that I had autographed by the author, if they don't get any better than this it will be my last. Save your money on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Over the Top Takes on a New Meaning with this Book
Review: I liked Tim Dorsey's previous efforts and I am a Carl Hiassen fan, but this book is so outrageous that it brings satire and dark comedy to a new, and not that welcome level. I realize that other reviews in here are 5 starring this book, one after one and I appear to be a lone voice of dissent from those that I have seen. One is tempted to think that Mr. Dorsey was an Al Gore supporter who has decided to take out his vitriol on the State of Florida with this book. In this tale, none of the characters, not one damn one, has any redeeming social value. Not even the "hero", Governor Marlon Conrad. It is amuzing in many respects, but as a series of one liners and in some of the characters that it draws, not as a well woven tale. Some have said that in his early novels, Dorsey was simply copying the style of Carl Hiassen and a few others. No one will make that comparison again. So if you are one of those who believes you lost your right to vote in the last Presidential election and that Al Gore "waz robbed", you will probably enjoy this book. However, excessively heavy handed satire is not my cup of tea and unless it is yours, I suggest you take a pass on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A personal view.
Review: I look at these reviews as a way to help those who have not had the chance to read the book decide if spending a few bucks should go toward one book or another. Thus it becomes a question of what someone might like to read. I am fond of tropical mystery stories and crime novels ( my hometown set records for snowfall over the last two years). I even like some of the "Florida crazy" work of Hiassen, but Dorsey is a bit beyond me. He reminds me of the guy in high-school who carried a joke on throughout the entire day. Some fellows loved it and laughed until they cried. I often thought, "Yea, that's a laugh, but now we have things to do." Dorsey's novels operate according to this same premise, and the characters, plots and events are farce. If you like over the top, (and are not politically offended) you'll love this one but if you are like some friends who see no humor in contemporary cartoons, then you might want something different. Rereading this, I see how generic it is, but I have not yet found a Dorsey novel which breaks the pattern. Your choice.
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