He and his wife Martha are initially excited by the move and the beauty of their new neighborhood on Triggerfish Lane, but the reality proves to be disturbing: the Davenports' neighbors are a strange bunch of eccentrics, and crime is much worse than they had thought.

These neighbors eventually include brutal-but-charismatic criminal Serge Storms, spiteful cocaine-addicted stripper Sharon Rhodes, and drug addict Seymour "Coleman" Bunsen, who move into the rental home across from the Davenports after Sharon and Coleman's brainless antics accidentally burn down Serge's home.

Jim manages to overpower the robber, breaking his neck when a faulty airbag inflates in his face.

FDLE Agent Mahoney, obsessed with capturing Serge, convinces his boss to let him travel to Tampa, ostensibly to warn Jim.

The novel ends with the principal characters being featured on an episode of the Bill Maher show, which Serge (on the run from the police and still pursuing the $5 million briefcase featured in Florida Roadkill) calls into to express his sincere admiration for men with wives and children, declaring it a tougher job than anything Serge has had to cope with.