Beat the Reaper: A Novel
by Josh Bazell
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Book Reviews of Beat the Reaper: A Novel
Book Review: Gutter Trash
Summary: 1 Stars
Don't waste your time with this book. I picked it up at the airport because I forgot my iPod. I should have just re-read SkyMall for the 14th time instead. The main character is so obviously an attempt at the author to create a mastubatory image of who he wants to be...the ultimate Uber Jewish Doctor / Holocaust Urban Avenger / Martial Arts Expert / Don Juan. He's a hitman for the mafia (who only kills "bad" people - yeah right) but still maintains his hippocratic oath as a doctor? One scene in particular sums up the entire book...after just killing off a dozen or so mafia hit men, he manages to fight off sharks with his feet while holding his bound girlfriend above the waterline all the while making love with her as the remains of her dead brother float around them. Seriously? I guess all the trashy plot lines (including a whole pointless chapter about going to Poland to avenge his dead Auschwitz prisoner grandparents?) and lack of general direction is a plus for most people, cause I see it's on the best seller list. I guess that makes sense since "John and Kate plus Who The Heck Cares" is off the air. CGBook Review: Bright New Talent
Summary: 5 Stars
Told from the first person with an almost in-your-face sort of directness, Beat The Reaper delivers an adrenaline-buzzed web of action that keeps the reader locked-in from page one to the end against a backdrop of New York City and New Jersey. Gangsters with colorful names like Skinflick populate the story which in addition to hardcore mobster brawling contains a touching, romantic subplot. Pietro Bearclaw Brnwa has entered witness protection as Dr. Brown, hiding from his past and from hitmen out to destroy him. While he works at a New York Hospital that anyone would rather die than be admitted to, his past life comes to him in a series of flashbacks. His past as a mob assassin, however, does catch up with him in the hospital in scenes that would rival any war massacre for gore, drama, and action. The language of the book is not for the faint of heart. The book is a quick, adventurous and fun read.The Griffon Trilogy (Pt. I)Book Review: Fast and Furious
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! This is one wild and crazy novel! A wild and crazy novel with hysterically funny footnotes, to be precise. I've never read anything quite like this super-charged, brilliant mash-up of mob, medical and revenge thriller. You're traveling at full speed by the time you've finished the first page (on which our hero, Dr. Peter Brown, watches a rat fighting a pigeon in the snow on the way to work and then disarms a guy who's attacking him in the hope of scoring some drugs), and the pace never lets up until the outrageous final showdown (which to call extremely visceral would be kind of an understatement). In between, you learn more than you'd care to know about the never-ending nightmare of working in an understaffed hospital and the ruthlessness of the New Jersey mafia, encounter a beautiful Romanian viola player and the world's most incompetent surgeon, and find out how Peter Brown, formerly a hitman for the mob, came to be a doctor. I honestly can't remember when I've had that much fun with a novel!Book Review: Funny
Summary: 3 Stars
If you're interested in a quirky and funny debut novel, consider Josh Bazell's Beat the Reaper. Bazell is a medical resident, and wrote this messy, hectic and fast-paced novel in his spare (!) time. Thanks to his undergraduate training, the writing is superb. The protagonist he creates is a medical intern, one who used to be a hit man for the mob. Given that over-the-top character, you expect and receive a plot that's totally entertaining. Bazell adds footnotes regularly that add to the humor. At page 148 he notes, "We still draw the Reaper with a scythe. We should draw him driving a John Deere for Archer Daniels Midland." From that point on, the logo-like image that divides sections within a chapter changes from the grim reaper with a scythe to the reaper driving a tractor. Again, a funny touch. I read Beat the Reaper quickly, and look forward to Bazell's next spare-time offering.
Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
Book Review: Fresh, Entertaining, but..
Summary: 4 Stars
Here's what this book is not. It is not:
- A masterpiece
- Pulitzer material
- Art in written form
- Rated PG
Here's what it is. It is:
- Entertaining
- Fast paced
- Cleverly written
- Realistic
- Foul
Having described these things with short adjectives, it is important to point out that this book is a good book. Not a masterpiece and probably not something that will be remembered in 20 years, but it is worth reading. It is realistic in the dialogue, the plot, and the characters. It would probably make a good movie or even HBO series.
If you like the Sopranos, and can handle the foul language and graphic violence associated with it, and you like medical drama / action, then this book is for you. It is definitely entertaining and fast-paced, keeping the reader engaged.
Not recommended for anyone under 18.