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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
this is the best book I've read all year. it's hilarious, interesting, and wacky all at the same time. plus anyone who has ever been an intern will be able to empathize with the feeling of surrealism pervasive in this book.
Even better than Wild Thing, which was the follow-up. Love the style, the story, the sheer fun of it all.
I'll repeat some of what I said for his other book, Wild Thing.
Muscular, powerful prose that's fun, smart, tough, and entertaining. Reminds me favorably of Don Winslow's Savages (now out as a movie). If somebody directs this as a movie, it better be Tarantino, who can handle this type of smash-em school of writing.
A Josh Bazell book is like staggering out of a rough bar fight with stab wounds, drowning the pain with Vicodin and tequila, then escaping on a rollercoaster with a homicidal madman, an exotic dancer, a professor, and an angry badger-- with only two bullets left in your gun as the coaster goes into a long, dark tunnel.
You have no idea what to expect, other than one hell of a wild ride.
Great stuff, not for the faint of heart, or the easily confused. Ya gotta be quick on the uptake for this stuff.
I'll repeat some of what I said for his other book, Wild Thing.
Muscular, powerful prose that's fun, smart, tough, and entertaining. Reminds me favorably of Don Winslow's Savages (now out as a movie). If somebody directs this as a movie, it better be Tarantino, who can handle this type of smash-em school of writing.
A Josh Bazell book is like staggering out of a rough bar fight with stab wounds, drowning the pain with Vicodin and tequila, then escaping on a rollercoaster with a homicidal madman, an exotic dancer, a professor, and an angry badger-- with only two bullets left in your gun as the coaster goes into a long, dark tunnel.
You have no idea what to expect, other than one hell of a wild ride.
Great stuff, not for the faint of heart, or the easily confused. Ya gotta be quick on the uptake for this stuff.
no no no no no. what started off as a clever story from the perspective of a former mafia hitman now working as a doctor went totally off the rails into ridiculousness, with the main character inexplicably developing near-superpowers in both assassination and medicine. there is a (ridiculous) scene where a bad man (ridiculously) tries to kill people in a shark pit. and the final battle was so revolting and implausible and just silly that it made me angry. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Mafia hitman turns government informant & becomes a doctor. His past comes back to haunt him when he treats a bad guy from his past. Rather crude & violent, but a good & fast paced story. The medical descriptions made me a tad squeamish.
I was underwhelmed by this book. I'm not in the habit of reading the back cover of books/inside book flaps when I feel I've heard enough word of mouth for a book, so I thought I had a grasp on what this book was about...but I was wrong. I thought I was going to be reading a Dead Like Me-esque book, but there was no fantasy involved. Had I known that beforehand, I think I would have enjoyed the read more.
Peter Brown is a doctor-in-training, and he's also a former hit man. The story is told from his later life perspective, working in a hospital, with flashbacks to his life in the mob, including how he became involved and how he got out. This sets up the series nicely, but wasn't my favorite for a first novel with a recurring character. Though I'll most likely give the second book a go, if I can borrow it from the library or a friend.
Peter Brown is a doctor-in-training, and he's also a former hit man. The story is told from his later life perspective, working in a hospital, with flashbacks to his life in the mob, including how he became involved and how he got out. This sets up the series nicely, but wasn't my favorite for a first novel with a recurring character. Though I'll most likely give the second book a go, if I can borrow it from the library or a friend.
Action-packed, like a Tarantino movie. Not for the squeamish, but likeable characters slightly more emotional than a Jason Statham character.
The review I wrote for LitKicks:
The story of Pietro Brnwa/Peter Brown, a former mob hitman who became a doctor, Josh Bazell’s debut novel, Beat the Reaper, is lightning-fast, funny, and clever as hell (I had a debate with myself when I started reading about whether or not the book was too clever for its own good, but after 20 or so pages I told myself to shut up and enjoy the ride).
And I did enjoy it. I liked it so much, in fact, that I had to stay up late reading, telling myself, “just one more chapter,” but then that chapter led to the next and to the next, and I guess I should just say it was good that I didn’t have to be anywhere early in the morning.
Told in alternating sections of flashbacks to the protagonist’s past and his present where he tries to work out how he can beat the reaper, the book’s tone, as set by its world-weary narrator, is often cynical, and its humor is pitch-black, which makes the moments of tenderness all the more surprising and effective. I could go on and on, but I don’t see the point of that, so I’ll just give it to you straight: if you’re looking for a relentless good time of a read, and you don’t mind books laced with profanity and violence (including one astoundingly gross page-and-a-half passage that made me talk back to the book, saying "Oh no no no ouch ouch no," before adding "Well, that is pretty resourceful"), then I recommend you give this book a chance. You may even find yourself rooting for a cold-blooded killer.
The story of Pietro Brnwa/Peter Brown, a former mob hitman who became a doctor, Josh Bazell’s debut novel, Beat the Reaper, is lightning-fast, funny, and clever as hell (I had a debate with myself when I started reading about whether or not the book was too clever for its own good, but after 20 or so pages I told myself to shut up and enjoy the ride).
And I did enjoy it. I liked it so much, in fact, that I had to stay up late reading, telling myself, “just one more chapter,” but then that chapter led to the next and to the next, and I guess I should just say it was good that I didn’t have to be anywhere early in the morning.
Told in alternating sections of flashbacks to the protagonist’s past and his present where he tries to work out how he can beat the reaper, the book’s tone, as set by its world-weary narrator, is often cynical, and its humor is pitch-black, which makes the moments of tenderness all the more surprising and effective. I could go on and on, but I don’t see the point of that, so I’ll just give it to you straight: if you’re looking for a relentless good time of a read, and you don’t mind books laced with profanity and violence (including one astoundingly gross page-and-a-half passage that made me talk back to the book, saying "Oh no no no ouch ouch no," before adding "Well, that is pretty resourceful"), then I recommend you give this book a chance. You may even find yourself rooting for a cold-blooded killer.
I know this book has gotten a lot of hype and I have to say I think it deserved every bit.
This book was fast paced, in the way that people say action movies are fast paced, an absolute page turner.
Somehow the author has you invested in the ethically questionable main character within the first 2 paragraphs and from there on it's just a rollercoaster. Enjoy!
This book was fast paced, in the way that people say action movies are fast paced, an absolute page turner.
Somehow the author has you invested in the ethically questionable main character within the first 2 paragraphs and from there on it's just a rollercoaster. Enjoy!
Fast-paced with an anti-hero-ish protagonist that takes about 12 seconds to like. If I were prone to give out 5 stars like so much candy, I'd do it here. As it stands, I'm not, but I would give it 4.5. Maybe 4.36.
warning: many readers will find parts of this book offensive and repulsive (in a "Pulp Fiction" kind of way, but much more over-the-top).