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Available
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Publication
New York : Little, Brown, 2009.
Description
Fiction. Thriller. HTML:Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he's the last person you want to see in your hospital room. Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown's new patient, with three months to live and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might-just might-be the same person ... Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours-and somehow beat the reaper. Spattered in adrenaline-fueled action and bone-saw-sharp dialogue, BEAT THE REAPER is a debut thriller so utterly original you won't be able to guess what happens next, and so shockingly entertaining you won't be able to put it down.… (more)
Media reviews
This may be the most imaginative, albeit the most violent and profanity-laden, debuts of the new year.
Beat the Reaper is definitely not a book to pick
up if you happen to be recuperating in a hospital,
but if you're stuck in an airport with a long flight delay, it's just what the doctor ordered.
Beat the Reaper is a skillful performance, and the proof lies in our willingness to swallow it whole. If at first we allow Mr. Bazell to hoodwink us because he’s so good, the true test comes later—when we forget we’ve been had.
And Bazell is really funny, mostly in a fast-flying, smart-alecky way, but with enough rim-shot silliness - as when Peter explains mobster Joey Camaro's nickname, "supposedly because he was constantly bitching." Peter is the crazy-looking guy at the back of the bus whom you kind of want to buy a
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beer. He's the person you both do and don't want on your side, kept around. He's the pigeon trying to beat the rat. And so is his story. Show Less
Bazell has sutured together Alan Alda's Capt. Hawkeye and James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano, and so long as he keeps everything operating fast enough, it's too much fun and too much gore to take your eyes off the page.
In the end I decided that, as with the footnotes, Bazell had more than earned my indulgence as a reader. If there’s a better recommendation for a story than that, I don’t know what it is.
Josh Bazell landed a lucrative publishing deal for his first novel shortly after graduating from medical school. To say that he's better at writing than most writers would be at practicing medicine is to understate Bazell's talent, but it's too good a line to pass up. Beat the Reaper, his highly
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anticipated debut, may be a bit short on art, but it's long on page-turning action and laughs. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member msf59
Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at a Manhattan hospital. He is a good doctor but the brutal assembly-line of sick and wounded, is starting to grind him down, turning him into an addled pill-popping mess.
One day, while making his rounds, a patient seems to recognize him as a terrifying Mafia hitman,
This is wickedly funny, smart as hell and sharp as a razor. Do not attempt to eat or drink, while reading, unless you are up for cleaning up afterwards.
It’s a dazzling debut and I cannot wait to see where this author takes me next.
One day, while making his rounds, a patient seems to recognize him as a terrifying Mafia hitman,
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known as the Bearclaw. Is Dr. Brown really, Pietro Brwna, tucked away in the Federal Witness Protection program? Or is this another rattled patient? I’m not telling, but I implore you to jump in and find out for yourself.This is wickedly funny, smart as hell and sharp as a razor. Do not attempt to eat or drink, while reading, unless you are up for cleaning up afterwards.
It’s a dazzling debut and I cannot wait to see where this author takes me next.
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LibraryThing member Georg.Miggel
In my view this is a crossing of three of my favorite novels, Everything Is Illuminated, The Godfather and The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital, compound by Tarantino’s screenplay writer. In other words: a hard-boiled mafia story set in a modern American
I always waited for the opportunity to write the following sentence, but in this case it’s true: The best part of this book are the footnotes.
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hospital with a backstory set in an East-European schtetl during Hitler’s war. Since Tarantino has his fingers in the game you have to read very carefully: The speed of the writing is contagious and if you don’t pay attention you are lost after only a few deceptive bends. Although the ingredients are perfect it does not work as well as you would expect. Puzo would have given the characters their own personality, Shem would have cut the leg off and Safran-Foer would have told the KZ-story in a more believable way. And Tarantino would have declined to direct this movie. I always waited for the opportunity to write the following sentence, but in this case it’s true: The best part of this book are the footnotes.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell is a wildly funny mashup of a medical and gangser thriller. Peter Brown is an overworked medical resident trying to get through his day at the worst hospital in Manhattan. Between keeping his medical students in line, overseeing the care of patients, covering up the
He entered the witness protection program and is hiding in plain sight as a trauma physician. His former accomplice threatens to rat him out if he doesn’t save his life. The day that follows is both thrilling and hilarious as it includes the doctor making a clever diagnosis, chasing down a runaway wheelchair patient and getting accidentally stuck with a needle full of infected pus. We are also treated to Brown’s backstory which includes plenty of gun and knife play as well as a harrowing encounter with a shark tank.
Fast, original and darkly funny, I found Beat the Reaper an absolute blast. This book will not appeal to everyone as it is very violent and quite improbable but for those who like dark and twisted stories as much as I, this is a great read.
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medical mistakes he routinely comes across, and trying to keep communications open between himself and other medical workers, the last thing he needed was to recognize a patient as a mobster. You see, in another life Peter Brown was a mob hit-man known as Bearclaw Brown.He entered the witness protection program and is hiding in plain sight as a trauma physician. His former accomplice threatens to rat him out if he doesn’t save his life. The day that follows is both thrilling and hilarious as it includes the doctor making a clever diagnosis, chasing down a runaway wheelchair patient and getting accidentally stuck with a needle full of infected pus. We are also treated to Brown’s backstory which includes plenty of gun and knife play as well as a harrowing encounter with a shark tank.
Fast, original and darkly funny, I found Beat the Reaper an absolute blast. This book will not appeal to everyone as it is very violent and quite improbable but for those who like dark and twisted stories as much as I, this is a great read.
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LibraryThing member The_Hibernator
This is a book about a former ganster/now medical doctor whose peaceful life in the witness protection program comes crashing down at his feet. This wasn't really my type of book. It had some rather graphic violence and a lot of language. I found it amusing at first, but then the medical commentary
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got tiresome (it wasn't really necessary). I think anyone who enjoys a good gangster book would like it, though. Show Less
LibraryThing member felius
"Beat The Reaper" by Josh Bazel is what I imagine you'd get if Quentin Tarantino had written House M.D. Loved it!
LibraryThing member BeckyJG
Josh Bazell, the author of Beat the Reaper, is a medical resident at UC San Francisco. His hero, Peter Brown, nee Pietro Brnwa, aka the Bearclaw, is also a medical resident, at the fictional Manhattan Catholic Hospital. There, one would hope, the similarities end.
Pete Brown is not a very good
As Beat the Reaper opens, Pete is beating up and disarming a would-be mugger who has interrupted the rat vs. pigeon fight he's stopped to watch on his way to work. No, really. The first person narrative plunges us immediately into the action, which follows present events and flashes back to fill in the rest of the story, which is a doozy.
We learn that Pete was raised by his grandparents, holocaust survivors who were murdered when he was 14. His quest to learn why these mild, good people were murdered causes him to insinuate himself into a world which, while it's completely alien to his upbringing, he takes to as naturally as breathing.
He commits his first killing--a revenge killing--before he reaches his majority, and his first paid hit not long after that. He's in WITSEC (the Federal Witness Protection Program) by 22. He's lost the love of his life and killed his best friend before 25.
Pete's voice is smart-alecky. He's a self-deprecating know-it-all, whose narrative is complete with footnotes which are both informative and hilarious. The action is non-stop and very violent, and the novel works both as a stand alone or, potentially, as the first in a series.
Pete Brown is not a very good
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doctor--he downs many pills, of various sorts, as if they were candy; he very loosely interprets the credo "First do no harm," putting his own personal emphasis on the word "first" while sometimes ignoring "do no harm;" and then there's his past as an off-the-books hitman for the mafia. But that's not to say that he doesn't know some shit...if only he could get his own shit together.As Beat the Reaper opens, Pete is beating up and disarming a would-be mugger who has interrupted the rat vs. pigeon fight he's stopped to watch on his way to work. No, really. The first person narrative plunges us immediately into the action, which follows present events and flashes back to fill in the rest of the story, which is a doozy.
We learn that Pete was raised by his grandparents, holocaust survivors who were murdered when he was 14. His quest to learn why these mild, good people were murdered causes him to insinuate himself into a world which, while it's completely alien to his upbringing, he takes to as naturally as breathing.
He commits his first killing--a revenge killing--before he reaches his majority, and his first paid hit not long after that. He's in WITSEC (the Federal Witness Protection Program) by 22. He's lost the love of his life and killed his best friend before 25.
Pete's voice is smart-alecky. He's a self-deprecating know-it-all, whose narrative is complete with footnotes which are both informative and hilarious. The action is non-stop and very violent, and the novel works both as a stand alone or, potentially, as the first in a series.
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LibraryThing member shawnd
This novel is a moderately paced mix of life on an acute care Internal Medicine wing of a hospital and the saga of a mob hit man trying to reform his life. Surprisingly, the devil-may-care doctor and the mob hit man are the same person. Bringing these two domains together is like reading a mashup
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of scripts from Fox's American television series 'House' and the movie Goodfellas. Frequently gruesome and filled with crude language, it's never short on realism. And it's peppered with some mafia realisms that can be intriguing and fresh, even in the face of the glut of mafia content out there. Aside from the fact that the protagonist would likely never had gone through medical school and become the doctor he is, most everything can be imagined to have, plausibly, sort of, have happened. It's worth imagining, if just to hear the first person voice--and occasional breaking of the fourth wall--of the lead character, steeped in 'cool'. Show Less
LibraryThing member maggie1944
I was somewhat captivated by this pseudo-autobiography of a physician with a mafia history. The author did a good job constructing a plot which moved a long and held the reader in suspense, wanting to turn the next page. However, and for this me this was a big exception, he also included medical,
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as well as violent, ugly details which for my taste went way beyond what was necessary to make the book "work". I imagine he was actually trying to be funny and he did catch me with a giggle or two; most of the time it was ugly and unbelievable and unnecessary. I would not lend this book to a friend. Show Less
LibraryThing member hippypaul
If you can image a cross between The Fat Man in House of God, Max the silent from the Burke novels, and Nurse Jackie then you will love this novel. It is almost frightening how close to truth the medical portrayals in this novel are. Having spent a few years in a large teaching hospital as an RN
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many of the people that Dr. Bazell remind me of some of my worst memories of bad nurses, dangerous doctors and people who care for the sick with the aid of stimulants and depressants. Show Less
LibraryThing member mabrown2
"Beat the Reaper" is as humorous and witty as it is harsh and shocking. I often found myself laughing out loud and immediately cringing afterwards. Dr. Peter Brown (formerly Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwa) is a compelling character full of flaws and brutal honesty and author Bazell manages to interject a
The story itself goes back and forth between Brown's current situation (former hitman working in a hospital and getting spotted by a member of the mob who alerts his buddies to his whereabouts) and his past (all of the major events in his life that led him to where he is now). The back story is actually more detailed and more interesting than his current, and while I liked most of the book, I thought the alternating back and forth ultimately hurt the ending. I won't give anything away, but I felt the ending was a bit unsatisfying. After all of that build-up it was over quite quickly and we were left without much explanation or detail about what happened. And then it's all over. A lot of questions were left unanswered though they weren't major questions central to the story.
Still, everything leading up to the ending was great. There were a few times when I felt Bazell went a little overboard with the shock-factor but still, it all came together and worked for me. The humor is consistent throughout the whole novel and is really what makes this novel stand out so much. I highly recommend it, just be prepared to be a bit uncomfortable at times.
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lot of medical jargon in interesting and often hilarious ways. The story itself goes back and forth between Brown's current situation (former hitman working in a hospital and getting spotted by a member of the mob who alerts his buddies to his whereabouts) and his past (all of the major events in his life that led him to where he is now). The back story is actually more detailed and more interesting than his current, and while I liked most of the book, I thought the alternating back and forth ultimately hurt the ending. I won't give anything away, but I felt the ending was a bit unsatisfying. After all of that build-up it was over quite quickly and we were left without much explanation or detail about what happened. And then it's all over. A lot of questions were left unanswered though they weren't major questions central to the story.
Still, everything leading up to the ending was great. There were a few times when I felt Bazell went a little overboard with the shock-factor but still, it all came together and worked for me. The humor is consistent throughout the whole novel and is really what makes this novel stand out so much. I highly recommend it, just be prepared to be a bit uncomfortable at times.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
A former mobster now works as a doctor in a Manhattan hospital. He's in the witness protection program, but a patient recognizes him, putting him once again, in danger. The violence/sex descriptions are pretty graphic, but it's entertaining if you can ignore the language. There are definitely some
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gross parts. It's a fast-paced thriller that takes you from the streets of New York to the death camps in Poland. It's also peppered with medical trivia that I loved. Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the ride. Show Less
LibraryThing member santhony
I found this relatively short novel to be immensely entertaining. It features a former mafia associate who has entered the witness protection program and become a medical doctor. It follows one day in his current life and numerous flashbacks to his youth and days with the mob.
As I said, I thought
After finishing the book, it occurred to me that it would be pretty stupid for the witness protection program to locate a former New York mafia member as a physician in a Brooklyn hospital. Not exactly the kind of protection I’d be looking for. In any event, a 4-6 hour read that will keep you highly entertained.
As I said, I thought
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the writing was riveting and the imagery outstanding. Some of the text features graphic violence, stomach turning gore and explicit sex. Those things don’t bother me (in fact I enjoy them), but some might be turned off by the extremes to which the author goes.After finishing the book, it occurred to me that it would be pretty stupid for the witness protection program to locate a former New York mafia member as a physician in a Brooklyn hospital. Not exactly the kind of protection I’d be looking for. In any event, a 4-6 hour read that will keep you highly entertained.
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LibraryThing member WillaCather
Reads like a TV show rather than a book. The only way I can imagine that the last scene could actually happen is that the main character was on so many drugs. Hope I never get cared for by those doctor/residents.
LibraryThing member ThoughtsofJoyLibrary
Okay . . . the title did not draw me to this book, but "Witness Protection Program" and "He's got 24 hours to beat the reaper." is what made my curiosity peak. I knew some of it would be questionable due to the Mob reference, but the medical aspect was intriguing and I thoroughly enjoy a good
Well, in the long run, the crude behavior of the main character was not appreciated at all. I don't recall anything he said or did being funny, and in a general sense, he wasn't even a nice guy. However, the medical information (along with some footnotes for us laymen) held my attention and the look into a hospital through doctor's eyes was interesting. Unfortunately, the medical aspect turned ridiculous, so blah to that. And, last but not least, there was a chase, but I thought it was outlandish.
I knew I was taking a chance with this one, but I did want to finish it. Despite the above, the actual writing was good, but maybe it's just more of a man's book. I don't know. I do know it wasn't for me. (2.5/5)
Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
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chase, so I decided to give it a try.Well, in the long run, the crude behavior of the main character was not appreciated at all. I don't recall anything he said or did being funny, and in a general sense, he wasn't even a nice guy. However, the medical information (along with some footnotes for us laymen) held my attention and the look into a hospital through doctor's eyes was interesting. Unfortunately, the medical aspect turned ridiculous, so blah to that. And, last but not least, there was a chase, but I thought it was outlandish.
I knew I was taking a chance with this one, but I did want to finish it. Despite the above, the actual writing was good, but maybe it's just more of a man's book. I don't know. I do know it wasn't for me. (2.5/5)
Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
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LibraryThing member JechtShot
Beat the Reaper chronicles the life and times of a mobster turned doctor thanks to the witness protection program. I loved this book from page one and could not put it down. The pacing was excellent. The characters were likable. The writing is witty and intelligent. I highly recommend this book to
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anyone looking for a quick fun read (provided you are not too squeamish). Kudos to Josh Bazell and I look forward to the next novel! Show Less
LibraryThing member Kittybee
I didn't hate it but didn't love it either. Beat the Reaper was an early reviewer book and wasn't something that I normally would pick out. Although I had some issues with it, I did end up reading it in one night and did enjoy certain aspects of it, but I can't say I would seek out other books by
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the author. Show Less
LibraryThing member judithrs
Beat the Reaper. Josh Bazell.2009. The author is a Jewish physician who also has a degree in English Lit. This far-fetched plot involves an intern who is in the witness protection program. When a mobster who has been admitted to the hospital discovers who the doctor is, chaos follows. There are
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graphic descriptions of illnesses and violence and much strong language. And his comments on the state of medical care in the U.S. are frightening, and he is wrong about his comments about the Vatican during WWII. This book will not suit everyone but I enjoyed it. It reminded me an older comedic/tragic novel that took place in a hospital, House of God. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
This is a fun book. Its ex-mobster meets a hospital - Here, we get Peter Brown who is an intern at a hospital in New York. The day starts badly - with an attempted mugging. It than goes from bad to worst when one of his patients is a one of his ex-mob co-workers. Of course, the ex-mobster is dying
Its not high literature, but it is fun. Peter Brown really does want to heal his patients - but for the most part, he is uninterested and working in the worst hospital in the city doesn't make for an easy job. But - this book is graphic. Full of medical lingo to describe all sorts of things you don't want to know anything about. At times - it is excessive. On top of it, the story of how Peter (or Pietro, as he is called) becomes a member of the mob - is told. This is also an interesting story, but less slapstick than the hospital portion.
Its a good read - fun, exciting, a good beach read.
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of a horrible disease which will most likely kill the mobster on the operating table. Add in a man with a strange disease - and you get a bunch of hospital screw ups that make this book a very dark comedy.Its not high literature, but it is fun. Peter Brown really does want to heal his patients - but for the most part, he is uninterested and working in the worst hospital in the city doesn't make for an easy job. But - this book is graphic. Full of medical lingo to describe all sorts of things you don't want to know anything about. At times - it is excessive. On top of it, the story of how Peter (or Pietro, as he is called) becomes a member of the mob - is told. This is also an interesting story, but less slapstick than the hospital portion.
Its a good read - fun, exciting, a good beach read.
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LibraryThing member trav
This is a faaaaaaast read. And I don't just mean that it's short or easy writing. I mean the pace doesn't let up, even with the flip flopping between flashbacks and the storyline.
The premise is that an ex-mob hitman is trying to make a go of it as a doctor, when he's recognized one day while on
It's full of the gratuitous violence and sex that modern crime/mob books have. But it all seems tempered, just a tad, when you're reading through the eyes of a medically trained hitman. It's one thing to put a hurting on someone, it's a whole other thing to do it while giving pithy commentary, piling on footnotes and explaining the science of why the body does what it does. I for one enjoyed all the footnotes.
This is the quintessential summer reading novel. Nothing more. Great fun. As ewwwww as the final showdown in the freezer is, the scary part is thinking that half his footnotes may actually be right and that doctors may all really be that hopped up.
The premise is that an ex-mob hitman is trying to make a go of it as a doctor, when he's recognized one day while on
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rounds by an old mob acquaintance. This, of course, throws his drug-laden brain into overdrive. So we're thrown into his day as he deals with the mob, the past, modern medicine, and interns.It's full of the gratuitous violence and sex that modern crime/mob books have. But it all seems tempered, just a tad, when you're reading through the eyes of a medically trained hitman. It's one thing to put a hurting on someone, it's a whole other thing to do it while giving pithy commentary, piling on footnotes and explaining the science of why the body does what it does. I for one enjoyed all the footnotes.
This is the quintessential summer reading novel. Nothing more. Great fun. As ewwwww as the final showdown in the freezer is, the scary part is thinking that half his footnotes may actually be right and that doctors may all really be that hopped up.
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LibraryThing member write_stuff
This was a mindless book that I listened to in the car. I found the whole story far-fetched and unbelievable, but maybe that's typical in this genre, which isn't one I usually read. Some parts were amusing and some of the medical aspects were interesting (although fabricated, I gather). It almost
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seemed like this was a book written in the hopes that it would become a movie. Not a story but more of a relaying of action. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookheaven
After reading this book, I felt like I should take a shower and scrub my soul. It is cynical, violent and if half of the things he writes about go on at our local hospitals, God help us all. I didn't completely enjoy this book because I am naturally a positive person. Pessimists will absolutely
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love it. The thriller portion was good and I did want to finish it to see what happened. It was well written but not a book I would recommend to anyone except those who enjoy pessimistic cynicism. Show Less
LibraryThing member bnbooklady
I listened to this on audio on a recent trip.
Beat the Reaper follows Peter Brown, a former mob hitman who is now in witness protection and has become a doctor, as he tries to avoid being caught by his former boss after one of his patients recognizes him from his previous line of work.
Chapters
Beat the Reaper follows Peter Brown, a former mob hitman who is now in witness protection and has become a doctor, as he tries to avoid being caught by his former boss after one of his patients recognizes him from his previous line of work.
Chapters
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alternate between Brown’s present story and flashbacks to his work with the mob and his personal history. His voice is dry and sarcastic, and his sense of humor is biting. We laughed out loud a few times, and this story was fun and entertaining, but hubby and I agreed that it wasn’t quite as good as we expected it to be. I think I would have enjoyed this more in book form, where I could have really appreciated the language and the structure of the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member bluewoad
Beat the Reaper tells the story of Dr Peter Brown, former mob hitman turned medical doctor. The novel recounts what starts out as a day in the life of a hospital resident – lots of sleeplessness and even more work – until Dr Brown walks into a patient's room, only to discover the patient knows
Interspersed between the chapters telling the above are chapters giving the reader Bearclaw's background and why he is in a witness protection program to begin with. By novel's end, we know why Bearclaw is running for his life.
Overall, I found this novel only marginally enjoyable. The first chapter shows Bearclaw taking out a mugger (ending up with him being hospitalized) and also getting “extra benefits” from a pharmaceutical representative in an elevator. The moral ambiguity doesn't get much better, even though it seems that Bazell is trying to create a sympathetic character in Bearclaw. In short, this is a conflicted novel that wants to be both a moral exploration of mobsters (ala The Godfather) and an amoral thriller. It achieves neither in the end.
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him from his former life. The mobster fears that “Bearclaw” Brown is going to take his life to maintain his hidden identity and so the mobster makes some calls that will result in Bearclaw's identity being revealed upon the occasion of his (the mobster's) death. Of course, the mobster is dying, so Bearclaw has to work hard to keep him alive. Interspersed between the chapters telling the above are chapters giving the reader Bearclaw's background and why he is in a witness protection program to begin with. By novel's end, we know why Bearclaw is running for his life.
Overall, I found this novel only marginally enjoyable. The first chapter shows Bearclaw taking out a mugger (ending up with him being hospitalized) and also getting “extra benefits” from a pharmaceutical representative in an elevator. The moral ambiguity doesn't get much better, even though it seems that Bazell is trying to create a sympathetic character in Bearclaw. In short, this is a conflicted novel that wants to be both a moral exploration of mobsters (ala The Godfather) and an amoral thriller. It achieves neither in the end.
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LibraryThing member alexann
Peter Brown's life as an intern at the city's worst hospital is far from predictable. He gets all the most unsavory jobs--life is pretty terrible. But his other life was pretty terrible, too--he was a hitman for the mob (and a skilled one at that). His past life begins to get the best of him when
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he walks into a hospital room and realizes the patient knows him only as a hitman. The story of Peter and his alter ego, nicknamed Bearclaw, is a fast moving and violent one. Although highly entertaining in many parts, the two halves of Peter's life didn't mesh all that well for me. The complexity of the time line made it difficult to follow--was this incident part of his old life or his new one? When did he meet the girl of his dreams? Who is Professor Marmoset? Although individual chapters and scenes worked very well, overall the novel wasn't very cohesive. Loved the footnotes! Fun to read, but only three stars for me! Show Less
LibraryThing member Carlie
The book starts out with the main character, Pietro Brwna, getting mugged early in the morning on his way to Manhattan Catholic Hospital, where he works as a doctor. When the doctor takes down the mugger and confiscates his gun, you know something is up with this guy. It turns out that the doctor
The novel alternates between Brwna's current life at the hospital and his past. He began working for David Lacono, the father of his childhood best friend, Skinflick, to avenge the killers who murdered his grandparents. Quickly he began doing hits for Lacano regularly until Lacano convinced Brwna to take his son along on a mission. The mission ended badly and, eventually, the good relationship Brwna had with the Lacanos ended badly as well.
Today, Brwna is known as Dr. Peter Brown, and he has just encountered an old mob acquaintance, Squillante, who is being treated for a terminal condition at the hospital. Fearing for his life, Peter agrees to help save Squillante in exchange for his silence, but Peter has his doubts about the mobster's sincerity.
This book is a whirlwind, and Bazell hits all the marks for drugs, violence, sharks, girls, and the mob. His characters are sarcastic and witty, and the dialogue made me laugh out loud. It's the same old story, but Bazell gives it a refreshing little tongue-in-cheek love. A fun read.
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is under witness protection because the mafia wants him dead.The novel alternates between Brwna's current life at the hospital and his past. He began working for David Lacono, the father of his childhood best friend, Skinflick, to avenge the killers who murdered his grandparents. Quickly he began doing hits for Lacano regularly until Lacano convinced Brwna to take his son along on a mission. The mission ended badly and, eventually, the good relationship Brwna had with the Lacanos ended badly as well.
Today, Brwna is known as Dr. Peter Brown, and he has just encountered an old mob acquaintance, Squillante, who is being treated for a terminal condition at the hospital. Fearing for his life, Peter agrees to help save Squillante in exchange for his silence, but Peter has his doubts about the mobster's sincerity.
This book is a whirlwind, and Bazell hits all the marks for drugs, violence, sharks, girls, and the mob. His characters are sarcastic and witty, and the dialogue made me laugh out loud. It's the same old story, but Bazell gives it a refreshing little tongue-in-cheek love. A fun read.
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Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2010)
Barry Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2010)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist — 2010)
Deutscher Krimi Preis (2011)
Language
Original publication date
2008-09-07
ISBN
0316032220 / 9780316032223