Wild Thing
A Novel
-
-
3.9 • 61 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
It's hard to find work as a doctor when using your real name will get you killed. So hard that when a reclusive billionaire offers Dr. Peter Brown, aka Pietro Brnwa, a job accompanying a sexy but self-destructive paleontologist on the world's worst field assignment, Brown has no real choice but to say yes. Even if it means that an army of murderers, mobsters, and international drug dealers -- not to mention the occasional lake monster -- are about to have a serious Pietro Brnwa problem.
Facing new and old monsters alike, Dr. Brnwa's story continues in this darkly funny and lightning-paced follow up to Josh Bazell's bestselling debut.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Carl Hiaasen fans will relish Bazell's frenetic sequel to 2009's Beat the Reaper. Professor Marmoset, the guardian angel who got retired mob hit man Pietro Brnwa into the federal witness protection program, sends him to Portland, Ore., on a highly unusual mission. There a reclusive billionaire referred to only as "Rec Bill" asks Brnwa to represent him on a monster hunt in White Lake, Minn., reputed to be home to a ferocious beast unknown to science. Acting as the referee to determine whether the White Lake monster really exists will be "a very high ranking Member of the U.S. Federal Government." Brnwa hopes to use the large fee he'll be paid as a substitute for Rec Bill to figure out a way to get permanently clear of his former cohorts in crime, who have him in their sights. Bazell expertly blends action, farce, and political satire, and his wide-ranging imagination bodes well for the future of the series.
Customer Reviews
I liked it, but the formatting is crap
I really like Josh Bazell's two novels -- yes, he repeats himself a bit with this book, but it's as hilarious as the first one was, and the supplementary material at the back is scary, thought-provoking, and funny. Bazell probably writes these books just to show how much he knows…enh, who cares, that's a fine reason.
However.
One of Bazell's little tics is that he likes footnotes. LOTS of footnotes. And the publisher decided to format this book for iBooks and not take the footnotes into account at all. Not only could I not access the footnotes at first (hint: tap UNDER the asterisk), but you're then taken to a page FULL of footnotes…all of which are marked by a single asterisk. So you have NO idea which footnote goes with the asterisk you just tapped, and then you have to tap the right one to get back to where you were…
It made for a very frustrating reading experience (particularly with the back matter, where the supplementary notes and the footnotes resemble one another a lot and flipping between them was unpleasant).
So: B+ for the book (let's hope Josh doesn't go to a certain thematic well again, but…what the heck, even if he does, I'm in), and D for the formatting. Next time, I'm going to check out a sample from That Other Bookstore first.
Not as good as Beat The Reaper
This had an almost Scooby Doo “oh it was old Mr McQuillin all along” type thing. Very little of the Pietro banter that made the first one so great. Or the fast past action and dark hilarity that drove the first one so well. I hear there will be a third and I REALLY hope it will be back on the track as Reaper. Because that was excellent. This seem very disjointed and somehow made Pietro come off flat , not at all like the first. So hope for the next because Pietro Brwna is a character that could definitely keep a book series very interesting.
Wild Thing
I LOVE this author. Not only are Josh Bezell's books edge of your seat entertaining and laugh out loud funny, they are really well researched and explain better than anything I've read how politics, greed, and money so impact our world and our future.