Absolute insanity. Some seriously laugh-out-loud moments and some utterly ridiculous. Two bad guys (one perpetually high/drunk) commit foul deeds on those who deserve it, like kidnapping a kidnapper in the act. They decide they want to become normal and move across the street from an old friend and his family, and try to emulate their Christmas. Meanwhile, the family has its own hilarious misadventures. ( )

This is a funny Christmas story featuring Serge Storms and his hilarious sidekick as they embrace the meaning of Christmas. ( )

Tim Dorsey novels are definitely strange, but I am a sucker for Serge, the lovable serial killer and his perpetually stoned sidekick, Coleman. Their adventures galavanting around Florida are always both entertaining and disturbing. I was curious how these two could factor into a Christmas story; well, it was the usual insanity and only tangentially tied to the holiday.

It's impossible to summarize the plot of a Serge and Coleman book, you just have to go with it. In this installment, Jim and Martha Davenport were back and once again the unwilling recipients of Serge's "help." (Serge believes himself eternally obligated to protect Jim for some reason that was detailed in an earlier book. It was so complicated that I can't remember exactly why, but I know it was funny.)

Various characters from the other novels pop up to hilarious effect. My favorite subplot was the one in which Serge took command of a classroom full of timid "assertiveness training" students who were afraid of their own shadow, and turned them into Rambo-like operatives in the service of his crazy schemes. I also loved the drunken Christmas conga line that Serge orchestrated, to the chagrin of an upscale neighborhood, featuring Coleman and the elderly ladies of the "G-Unit." ( )

More fun with Serge and Coleman. It was a bit light on the Florida history angle, but what do I know. I live in Washington State. ( )

Fun book. ( )