REVIEW: Wild Thing by Josh Bazell @littlebrown

 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.

About the Author

Josh Bazell is the author of the national bestseller Beat the Reaper and holds a BA in writing from Brown University and an MD from Columbia. He lives in New York.

Details Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books; 1 edition (February 8, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0316032190 ISBN-13: 978-0316032193 SOURCE: PUBLISHER MY THOUGHTS ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT The protagonist of Beat the Reaper is back but there is little else in common with the first book, except that Pietro Brnwa is back with a new name, Lionel Azimuth.  As part of a witness protection program, he is now a cruise ship doctor which is a pretty horrifying condition to hear him tell. He is still in hiding from the mafia but now a reclusive billionaire (known as Rec Bill in the book), has hired him to accompany his staff paleontologist in search of a Loch Ness type monster.  Pietro - Peter- Lionel travels to remote Minnesota with Violet on the trip of a lifetime, which could easily end there.   So when the two of them head off to a lake to search for a reported monster creature, the characters there are just as frightening as any monster.  A group of Vietnam vets make up the leaders of the expedition. I hadn't realize how pervasive methamphetimines are until you read how the whole town's economy is based on the drug.  If you know the story behind Nessie and the town that invented the serpent, you have a good inkling about the plot.  Oh, and throw in Palin as a character, and you have the political send up of the year.  There is a lot of cussing, violence and sex, so beware.  I don't think the whole thing could come together without those elements though.   I adore completely bizarre stories and this one is above and beyond normal  If you read the Dexter series, you have an inkling of what Peter is all about.  He kills and he can save lives and his quick wit and intelligence is shown through out the book.  The footnotes alone are worth the price of admission.  Much like, Lisa Lutz and her Spellman series, there is a wackiness that pervades especially in the use of footnotes.  The appendix quite honestly frighted me with the global warning dire predictions but mostly because he speaks the truth.  If you enjoy Elmore Leonard, Jeff Lindsay, Christopher Moore, Lisa Lutz, then you will love this one as well since it pretty much is a mix of these authors.