Beat the Reaper: A Novel
by Josh Bazell
List Price:
Our Price: $4.30
You Save: $10.69 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Josh BazellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-14
ISBN: 0316032212
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Beat the Reaper: A Novel
Book Review: "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the Grim Reaper." Robert Alton Harris
Summary: 4 Stars
This entertaining novel tells of Pietro Brnwa, a former hit man with the mob. Now he has entered the witness protection program and was placed in medical school. As the story opens, he is an intern in internal medicine aat Manhattan Catholic, a notoriously bad, New York hospital.
His history involves finding his grandparents murdered when he was age fourteen. Later, he told a friend, the only thing he wanted was to find the killers and repay them for their crime.
He learns who killed them and takes cares of business and finds that he's good at it. He continues as a hit man but with a moral code. He won't kill women or innocents.
Eventually, he meets the girl of his dreams, Magdalena, and is attempting to leave the life he was in when something goes wrong.
Interspersed with Pietro's history, we observe the present where he is Dr. Peter Brown and working at the hospital where he has the misfortune of meeting one of his old mob acquaintences. This man, Eddie Squillante, tells Peter that if Peter lets him die of the cancer that's put him in the hospital, information on Peter's location will go to the mob upon his death.
The author has stated that one of his influences is Raymond Chandler. We see the hard boiled character and crisp dialogue that Chandler was known for, i.e. in "Playback" Marlowe's neighbor overhears a private conversation. She tells him, "I'm you next door neighbor. I was having a nap and voices woke me...I was intrigued."
Marlowe's response. "Go somewhere else and be intrigued."
When I began "Beat the Reaper" I wasn't sure what to expect but found that Josh Bazell writes a wale of a story. Some parts are a bit extreme as when Peter's old friend and now enemy, brings him to the shark tank in Coney Island to seek revenge. However, the story had a kick which was pleasurable.
The plot was original and Peter Brown is a unique character, although I hope I'm never in a hosptial as one of his patients.
Well done.
Genre Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Genre Fiction Books
Children of the Stormby Elizabeth Peters
WmMorrow; Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops:
Innocenceby Kathleen Tessaro
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2006-05-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Little Altars Everywhere: A Novelby Rebecca Wells
HarperTorch; Published: 2003-02-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
Breakheart Passby Alistair Maclean
Harpercollinspublishers; Published: 1994-05-01; Paperback; Book
Here Be Dragonsby Sharon Kay Penman
Holt, Rinhart and Winston; Published: 1985-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $356.38
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Devil's Star: A Harry Hole Novelby Jo Nesbo
Harper Perennial; Published: 2011-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops:
Garnethillby Denise Mina
Back Bay Books; Published: 2007-09-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.24
Price in other shops:
The Manual of Detectionby Jedediah Berry
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2010-01-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.12
Price in other shops:
Hell and Gone (Charlie Hardie)by Duane Swierczynski
Mulholland Books; Published: 2011-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
Lowboy: A Novelby John Wray
Picador; Published: 2010-02-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.72
Price in other shops:
Beat the Reaper: A Novelby Josh Bazell
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2009-01-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death: A Novelby Charlie Huston
Ballantine Books; Published: 2009-12-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.78
Price in other shops:
Fun and Gamesby Duane Swierczynski
Mulholland Books; Published: 2011-06-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops:
The Rook: A Novelby Daniel O'Malley
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2012-01-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.92
Price in other shops:
Wild Thing: A Novelby Josh Bazell
Reagan Arthur Books; Published: 2012-02-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.49
Price in other shops: