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Wild Thing: A Novel
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Wild Thing: A Novel
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Wild Thing: A Novel
Audiobook8 hours

Wild Thing: A Novel

Written by Josh Bazell

Narrated by Robert Petkoff and Stephanie Wolfe

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

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.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 8, 2012
ISBN9781611139846
Unavailable
Wild Thing: A Novel

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Reviews for Wild Thing

Rating: 3.4765100644295295 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

149 ratings20 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Witty, funny, highly footnoted, and a fresh take on cryptozoology. I have not read Bazell's first novel, but that didn't at all harm my enjoyment of this book. Lionel Azimuth's journey to find a mysterious lake monster takes all sorts of clever twists and turns, complete with plenty of strange characters. I will say that I don't think Bazell understands women very well, or at least can't write them in any realistic way, but if you ignore that and just read for the kooky small town and cryptozoological antics, this is a quick, enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What an odd follow-up to Bazell's sensational 2009 debut novel, Beat the Reaper.Much of the edgy dialogue and action I expect from Bazell still delivers, and you gotta love the footnotes, but the tonal direction seems off. Our tough-guy protagonist, Pietro Brwna (now with the alias Lionel Azimuth), travels to northern Minnesota to investigate a series of bizarre deaths caused by what is thought to be a Loch Ness-type monster living in a remote lake. I'll admit when I first read this plot synopsis I thought it was a joke. It's like Pietro's story took a timeout from evading the mob in order to solve an X-Files mystery.Fortunately, the book holds together and by the end we're left with the promise that our hero's woes are far from over.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I don't know what happened but so many of my favorite authors, but they seem to be putting out nothing but crap. To any author out there reading this, if I want to know what your political views are I will ask for them, otherwise, unless the book is a called "my opinions on politics" leave your politics out of your books. The most recent books by Tim Dorsey, Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, and James Lee Burke, have proven to be unreadable. This book is so bad I don't even know where to begin. I don't mind rants made up of 4 letter words and extremely graphic dialogue if it is there for a reason, in this book it seems to be added for shock value. I couldn't read past about page 110. I can't believe crap like this continues to get published. I hate the creative additions of footnotes, sources and appendix. This is nonfiction! This reminded me of the latest efforts by the author's I listed above, and that horrible boring waste of time, book that won the Pulitzer "A Visit from the Goon Squad"I think from now on I will limit buying any new books until someone I trust has read it or lends me a copy. I used to read 100 books a year but these days if you find 1 good one a month you are lucky!!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Pietro Brnwa, currently cruise ship doctor and formerly a mob hit-man, has been hired by a reclusive billionaire for an unusual mission: accompany the billionaire's paleontologist on a mission to see whether a Loch Ness Monster type creature is hiding in a Minnesota Lake. And then things get weird.Fast-paced and plot heavy, this is a sequel to Bazell's "Beat the Reaper," which I really enjoyed. While it definitely kept me interested (and amused) I found it a little harder to suspend disbelief this time (particularly when a prominent real-life politician shows up). However, I am in love with Bazell's footnotes - and end notes! Dorky heaven for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    MY THOUGHTSABSOLUTELY LOVED ITThe 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a stunner of a book. It grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't set me down until the last pages. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, to believe it or not half the time. Josh Bazell is an amazing wizard of the imaginary, and he has a thing or two to say about the world around us and those who are pulling the strings...along with the string theory, I might add. This is a nest-of-eggs book that uncovers a plethora of interesting things. I found it compulsively readable.First of all, do you believe in monsters in lakes in Minnesota? Or, that we could be cannibals in the streets within the next 30 years because of the oil crisis? What about global warming and whether we can now do anything about it? What's happening to our old, small towns and neighborhoods across the heartlands of America? Who's running the world, anyway???This novel is fraught with dialog by a cynical and craggy-minded former mofia hitman. He is fun and freaky. I loved him.This is a perfectly enjoyable read this Spring!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bazell has a lot to live up to after his debut novel, Beat the Reaper. As a whole, Wild Thing doesn't achieve the clever mix of mafia and medicine, mostly because the plot involves little of either. Dr. Pietro Brnwa is still wanted by the mob and in WITSEC but he inexplicably ends up on a mission to prove whether or not a deadly creature lives in the lake of a failed Minnesota town. He and sexy paleontologist Violet Hurst have been hired by an eccentric billionaire, presumably to determine whether or not the monster is the vehicle for a scam run by one of the locals. The plot makes little sense but Bazell's humor and crisp writing style are intact, though the footnotes often run amok. Parts of this profanity-rich novel are hilarious but the political underpinnings tend to drag it down. 36 pages of "Sources" at the end, providing reference material for just about every scientific claim and political reference, prove just how much Bazell restrains his extraordinary knowledge in writing this fictional romp. Still, Wild Thing is a mixed bag and, while credit should be given to Bazell for taking his character in a different direction, let's hope he finds a better story and fewer distractions next time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book picks up some time after the events of Blazell's first book, "Beat The Reaper", with the former mob hitman turned doctor via the witness protection program (though he's escaped that too) who is now calling himself Dr. Lionel Azimuth. He is getting by working as a cruise ship doctor these days. At least until he is summoned to meet with a notoriously reclusive billionaire (called Rec Bill throughout the whole novel). He is offered a huge amount of money to go check out what could be some sort of monster (think Loch Ness) in the waters of White Lake along with a paleontologist. That is the closest thing to a coherent storyline this novel has--the fun in reading it is in the random conversations between characters and the often hysterically funny (and frequent) footnotes that run throughout the book. The language is harsh, the humor often sexual and vulgar, and there is no small amount of violence involved. But it is an amusing walk on the weird side, reminding me in some ways of Tom Robbins actually, though with more Jersey mobster flair.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    All the turns and twists but preachy. Tom Brown or Lional Azimuth, as he is now known, is lying low on a cruise ship when his pal Marmoset embroiles him in an adventure that involves 'a paleoentologist- (like is Jurassic Park)', a legendary lake monster, Rec Bill (short for Reclusive Billionaire), a dying town, meth dealers, lots of guns and I can't say more because it will just give it all away.
    The prose is witty, (listen out for the bit about U bends), and pithy, with lots of swear words that sound not at all gratuitous.
    Unlike the first book, this one has a tendency to meander a bit, and gets preachy but remains entertaining enough until you get to that final chapter which is pretty much a lecture.
    I happen to like it, but there are points when it feels like the author just wants to floor the reader with research. Some readers may find this annoying. This is a very opinionated book. Some readers may find this annoying too.
    All in all though it's a great yarn.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Like with his first novel, I went in to this one blind and was blown away. Having no expectations or foreknowledge made every twist that much more exciting. An easily readable style combined with entertaining factual digressions and a wry sense of humor similar to that found in the best writings on the website 'Cracked', I am eagerly awaiting more from Bazell.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Political rant at the end of the book adds nothing to the story and diminishes it in my view. Bazell must have been scared by the Koch brothers as an infant.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A modern day Loch Ness tale, as only Josh Bazell could tell it! Dr. Pietro Brnwa is back, and badder than ever! The story is good, and the footnotes are even better! I love the conservative political bashing, and the inclusion of Sarah Palin on the excursion! And I really enjoyed the extensive "sources" section in the back! Can't wait for the next one!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Wild Thing, by author and physician Josh Bazell, is a sequel to his thrilling debut Beat The Reaper, which introduced former mob hitman Pietro Brwna as he tried to make up for his crimes by working as a doctor. Beat The Reaper was essentially Brwna's origin story, and spent much of its time flashing back over his life up to that point. It was simultaneously an intensely personal story and a breakneck thriller full of black-as-night gallows humor. For example, in one particularly nerve-wracking scene, Brwna uses one of his own bones as a weapon. As soon as I finished reading it, I wanted more, but I also couldn't quite picture where the story might go next. Beat The Reaper would be a hard act to follow for any author, and I'm glad that Bazell took up the challenge even if I don't think the results quite hit the mark.

    We catch up with Brwna on a cruise ship three years after the events of the first book. Now he is going by the name Lionel Azimuth and pulling rotting teeth for crew members as part of his catch-all position as ship's doctor. Brwna hates life on the boat, so when his old mentor hooks him up with a job working for a reclusive billionaire (referred to only as Rec Bill), he jumps at the chance. At least, he does until he finds out that the job involves going to Minnesota and hunting for a mythological lake monster as part of what may or may not be a scam or criminal operation. Softening the blow is the fact that his companion for the trip will be Violet Hearst, a paleontologist who is both a knockout beauty and a firm believer in the inevitable apocalypse due to ecological catastrophes. Much to Brwna's surprise, Rec Bill is willing to pony up a steep payment for his cooperation in the trip, and soon enough he gives in despite his misgivings and Violet are on their way.

    A lot of Wild Thing's reviews focus on the fact that the subject matter is so different from the first book that it feels strange that it has the same main character. However, I don't agree with the argument that this doesn't feel like a Pietro Brwna book; I think Bazell just does as good a job with Brwna's voice and sense of humor in Wild Thing, and I couldn't picture any other character taking the lead. I love the character, and definitely laughed out loud more than once. I also don't necessarily think that the cryptozoological angle doesn't fit with a story about Brwna, although I could see how hints of possible fantastic elements might raise the hackles of people who like things to stay "realistic".

    What I do think is that Bazell actually wrote himself into a corner with Beat The Reaper. As good as it was, how do you write another book about the same character when you've a) revealed his entire backstory and b) established that he can't keep working in a big public hospital? Any kind of follow-up would have to shake things up. I think the real reason people say that Wild Thing doesn't feel like a Pietro Brwna book is that it isn't actually about him as a person. Beat The Reaper was entirely focused on Brwna's fall and redemption. All of the action and tension in the first book originated from events in his life both past and present, which meant that the stakes were exceedingly high and very personal.

    In Wild Thing, the personal connections are more tenuous, although they are still present to some degree. Brwna has a fear of open water and sharks because the only woman he ever loved was killed in a shark tank, and he also has a fear of intimacy for much the same reason. Naturally, being in close quarters with a beautiful woman as they search for a lake monster means that some of his issues are going to come to the forefront. However, the stakes never feel very high in Wild Thing - either they find the lake monster or they don't, and Brwna can probably get on with his life either way. Maybe he goes back to the cruise ship, maybe he makes enough money to take care of his problem with mobsters trying to kill him. Compare that to Beat The Reaper, where Brwna is fighting for his life and for personal redemption all while trying to save patient's lives and barely sleeping, and it just doesn't sound quite as compelling.

    However, my biggest problem with Wild Thing is that the plot basically unravels near the end of the book. A lot of time is spent building up to the camping trip and search for the monster, but when it finally gets to that point, the monster's reveal is over and done with in no time flat, and it feels very anticlimactic. It doesn't help that the camping trip feels vague and unmotivated once the characters are actually in the middle of the wilderness; after so much time spent discussing the dangers of the trip, very little time is actually spent on the trip itself.

    There are also several characters introduced early on that never end up amounting to much. A fundamentalist couple show up at the lodge before the camping trip only to have a one-sided argument about religion with Violet Hearst before storming off-stage and never returning in any meaningful fashion. A Las Vegas magician is mentioned and then subsequently forgotten about until the end of the book as an offhand explanation for a plot point. Bazell misses a great opportunity to have these characters interact with each other and Brwna on the trip, and it's a damn shame.

    It's frustrating that the book ends up basically trailing off at the end, because until that point I was definitely enjoying it. I actually liked it more when I first finished it than I did after thinking about it for a few minutes, which is always particularly disappointing. To me it's a sign of a great writer who perhaps bit off more than he could chew; once I was no longer distracted by his fantastic main character, the holes in the plot were far too easy to see.

    However, the end of the book very clearly sets up a sequel that could end up bringing the focus back to Brwna's life; rather than continuing to live in hiding, Brwna decides to go on the offensive and strike back against the mob and his former employer. I'm definitely looking forward to it despite my misgivings about this book. Everything I liked about Wild Thing tells me that Bazell is a great author to watch. The problems I had may just be the symptoms of the dreaded sophomore slump that seems to affect so many great artists.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    (This review contains major spoilers.)Wild Thing is such a pale shadow of Beat the Reaper that it reads like fan fiction based on Beat the Reaper. Beat the Reaper presents a scenario that, while outlandish, seems plausible, if you accept that the protagonist is a very talented killer with a slow-moving conscience who is smart enough to be an adequate doctor. Versus Wild Thing, where you have to accept hucksters who are smart enough to get at least three super rich people and Sarah Palin to sign up for a tour to find a mythical sea monster, but stupid enough that their plan for getting paid is to feed everybody LSD and show them a fake plastic monster; a billionaire willing to spend $2 million to see if the woman the billionaire likes will sleep with the protagonist while on a hunt for a mythical sea monster; Azimuth's cover being blown by a Las Vegas magician who is travelling with Sarah Palin; and the entire mob hit team being massacred by a bunch of boys who were making meth in the kitchen of the restaurant where the mobsters happen to stop for a bite to eat.OK, when I write out the plot points like that, the story seems not so bad, like it's intended to be pure camp, sort of like Raising Arizona -- but the problem is, it doesn't read like that. It's not actually funny or campy when you are reading it. It's like a script for Austin Powers played by Daniel Craig. I'm seriously wondering if Bazell was playing a game where he was trying to see how ridiculous he could make his storyline and still get paid by the publisher.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pietro Brnwa, a former hit man, is now practicing medicine as Dr. Lionel Azimuth. When he fails to get fired from his gig as a cruise ship doctor, he accepts a job from a reclusive billionaire (Rec Bill) to go on an expedition to find a lake monster in Minnesota. He's hired for his combination of body guard skills (to protect Rec Bill's lovely paleontologist) and his skepticism (if Azimuth can prove the monster is a hoax, Rec Bill saves $2 million). His medical knowledge also comes in handy because, naturally, people get hurt in a variety of bloody and appalling ways.While this is the second book about Pietro Brnwa, in a lot of ways this is not a sequel to Beat the Reaper. Wild Thing continues with Pietro's darkly funny, acerbic, violent narrative style. However, Wild Thing is more linear and reads more like a thriller because the expedition drives the plot.Additionally, there's an element of political satire. There are debates about evolution, rants about global warming, and a caricature of a famous Republican. I don't necessarily agree with all of Bazell's political views, but there's so much going on that they don't really detract from the plot. A famous politician is no more out of place on a monster hunt than the Vegas magician, pop sensation, and Chinese tycoon who are also along for the ride. I saw the satire of the surprise political guest kind of like the gore and gratuitous sexual references: so over the top and ridiculous that they're no longer offensive.Bazell obviously had fun writing Wild Thing (this is a book about a quest to find a ferocious water monster and it starts with "'Ishmael -- Call me' is all the telegram says."). I had a lot of fun reading it, too.Kindle Note: Love the footnotes -- they're an integral part of the book. HATE them on the Kindle. It's awkward and takes a lot of time away from reading. I'd recommend buying the hard copy.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Why pick up this book when there are a dozen or so books that left unfinished.I'm going on a plane. And this book is light and would be a fast read. I finished one third just on the plane alone. For a start, you like this guy who are not only a doctor, know how to play with his weapon (guns) but act like a total real guy (if you like the sensitive, horny and shy, free to be a jerk but act like a geek type). I like him. He has a boner for Violet. I like Violet who is a science geek chick that got drunk all the time. So, what is the plot. The plot is just to put this guy with Violet, and a bunch of weirdo in suits together on a monster hunt. As the story didn't review much about the monster, or possible homicide of some teenagers some years ago, there is not much deduction or detective stuff going on. In about a hundred page or so, I would find out if there was ever been a monster, and if there are a serial killer out in the lake. That's where the killing was done, at a lake.So give me a week and I'll finish writing this review. A week has passed. Spoiler alert.There is something there, and there are some stupid persons doing stupid and dangerous stuff. Which really doesn't matter as the main characters and the readers now know what's going on.The ending has a subplot. Who the hell put subplot at the last 50 pages. Still, not a bad read if you like this type of story.Spoiler alert off.The best bit about the book is the style and the writing. I just like the way he wrote the story. There are a lot of writers out there who have great idea on a story but could write well to save their own lives. (While dissing these writers, I'm one of those who really couldn't write well to save my own life. Which lead the question of why I am writing book reviews.)Never mind. I could imagine he would come up with something new next time. The writer give us a good look at the research he has done and the story that inspired him to write this one. I like the research and I like story that stick to reality (with except of sci-fi and fantasy, of course.) If the story require the writer to distinguish the cause of death based on bite marks, then the writer better do his work on what bite marks look like with different species. The scientific side of the research make me trust him more. Also, I still have to look up the injection he used to counter the effect of LSD. Good one. OK. Enough said. Enjoy the book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wild Thing was a fun read. Mildly amusing and entertaining, it was not as good as Bazell's first book. I got a chance to meet him at a book reading in San Francisco. A very interesting guy. He does like to display his knowledge and he creates fun characters. He should get rid of the footnotes because they are just a distraction. If you want a to read something that is not literary fiction but is good mindless fun, then read this, but certainly read "Beat the Reaper" first because it is a better book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    [Insert Troggs joke here]Despite my best intentions, I didn’t get around to reading Beat the Reaper until a couple of weeks before the sequel was released. What a refreshing read! Within pages, I became a die-hard Bazell fan.The follow-up, Wild Thing, is not quite as strong as the debut in some ways, but is stronger in others. Pietro is going by a new name and working a new job when Dr. Marmoset gives him a lead on an unusual short-term assignment for a character identified only as Rec Bill, short for “Reclusive Billionaire”. And, in the way of reclusive billionaires, this is one doozy of an assignment. It takes Pietro into the wilds of Minnesota in the company of an attractive paleontologist.I don’t want to describe the plot in detail because it was all so over the top that I’d hate to spoil even a bit of it. I will mention one thing. About half-way through, a real life person enters the story as a major secondary character. And the depiction of that individual is so incendiary and hysterical that I’m wondering if Dr. Bazell will be sued or simply killed. As far as I’m concerned, this sub-plot is worth the price of admission, but I can guarantee that not all readers will agree with me. It’s also worth noting that if you find sentiments like, “Don’t vote Republican, for f---‘s sake” to be objectionable, consider yourself forewarned that the novel gets political. Oh, and you probably know by now that Pietro’s language is not so wholesome. It is clear that Dr. Bazell is a true polymath, and he appears to be plenty brilliant. The endnotes of the novel comprise a full 15% of the book’s length. The author is prepared to document his research and sources for even the most inconsequential elements of the text. And, yes, it’s interesting.So, what’s weaker? Honestly, I’m having a hard time putting my finger on it. Beat the Reaper was pretty over the top, but this one is considerably more so. Bring your willing suspension of disbelief. Also, the structure of this novel is more straightforward and linear, and consequently slightly less interesting.What’s the same? The fact that this tale is completely character-driven, and Pietro Brwna continues to fascinate. His voice is unique, and I’m fairly certain I’ll be willing to follow his exploits for the foreseeable future. There are several other interesting characters introduced in this novel, including the one referenced above, but it’s hard to compete with Pietro’s dynamism.What’s better? Well, this novel has more overt humor than the last book did. Not everyone will consider it better, but it worked for me. And the book has an unusual and complex plot that will keep readers guessing what the heck is going on, and what’s going to happen next. As for me, I think it’s obvious that I plan to stick around to see what’s going to happen next.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Wild Thing: A Novel by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown, and Company, 2012. 388 pp) Originally Posted at wherepenmeetspaper.blogspot.comJosh Bazell has a B.A. in writing from Brown University and an M.D. from Colombia University. His first book is an international bestseller entitled Beat the Reaper, which has been published in thirty-two languages, and was one of Time’s ten best novels of 2009. Hit-man Turned Doctor/Investigator In 2009, author Josh Bazell introduced the world to Pietro Brnwa/Peter Brown/Dr. Lionel Azimuth, a mafia hit-man/doctor/bodyguard in his widely acclaimed novel, Beat the Reaper. When I opened it, I don’t know what I expected, but definitely not what I picked up. It was a thriller, with some amazing commentary and comedy interlaced within. So I picked up Wild Thing, the next novel starring Peter Brown. It has received positive and negative reviews for various reasons, but I think the reasons Beat the Reaper was so successful are still very much present in his newest offering. It still is an amazingly humorous novel, with even more hilarious footnotes, and an intriguing storyline as well. Dr. Lionel Azimuth (our protagonist) is in the witness protection program due to his work with the mob as a hit-man, and the book is written as if it were his journal, with many witty asides to the reader. Now a doctor on a cruise ship, his life is both comfortable and easy. He’s not the most educated doctor in the world, as he was rejected by American universities, and was forced to get his medical degree from a university in Mexico.Azimuth is then called into a reclusive billionaire's employ. The wealthy man, Rec Bill, offers Azimuth an exorbitant amount of money to go searching along with a catastrophic paleontologist named Violet Hurst for a fabled lake monster (think Loch Ness) in the bottom of White Lake. “What Violet Hurst describes as a catastrophic paleontology is primarily the mix of sociology, anthropology, and ecology...sometimes called either environmental sociology or human ecology” (352-353).The White Lake MonsterThe theories behind this fabled monster of White Lake are numerous. Bazell organizes the novel into sections exploring the theories, from murder to hoax. As far as the theory of a hoax goes, there are a couple stories presented (presented in the succeeding quotations) that are a little hard to believe. “As Autumn starts to breaststroke back toward the south end of the lake, Benjy explodes out of the water in front of her, visible to mid-chest and vomiting a dark rope of blood that slaps her like something from a bucket. Then he gets yanked back under. He’s gone. The heat of his blood is gone too. It’s like Autumn imagined the whole thing. But Autumn knows she didn’t imagine it. That what she’s just seen is something terrible and permanent—and which might be about to happen to her. She turns and sprint-swims for the rocky beach at the base of the cliff. Full-out crawl, no breathing allowed. Swim or die” (5).Two children swimming in a lake get pulled under by some creature. The greater likelihood is that they were killed somehow. But, the people of White Lake are both tired of the stories, and scared of the creature. One to survive the attack is named Brisson, “Brisson wakes up with a strong urge to twitch his left leg. Breathes in air that’s pure hot rotten fish, and chokes. Looks down. His left leg, to mid-thigh, is in the mouth of a gigantic black snake stretching out of White Lake. The snake’s rocky head is shaped like a piece of pie, with its eyes on the sides of the wedge like on an eagle’s. The pupils are vertical slits. The snake’s teeth don’t look like snake teeth, though. They’re serrated triangles, with just their tips pressing into his flesh...The snake doesn’t let him go. It raises its body partly out of the water to gain leverage. It’s no snake. It’s got shoulders” (32).Because of all these stories, a local man named Reggie sets up a lengthy expedition where he takes rich people wanting to have a chance to see the monster on a tour. Violet and Lionel sign up for the tour, and an intriguing story of epic proportions ensues. Research and Footnotes Ultimately what makes the book interesting isn’t the plot itself, but rather the copious amounts of research (there’s a lengthy appendix and sources section at the end of the novel) and footnotes that go into the novel. Since the novel is written as a journal of Dr. Azimuth, the footnotes are many, and frankly hilarious. For those of us (like myself) that have trained ourselves to skip over the footnotes, I’d say the whole point of the novel is actually to read them. They’re more hilarious and entertaining than the plot itself. An example, “The singular of ‘triceps’ is ‘triceps,’ because ‘triceps’ means ‘three heads,’ referring to how the muscle splits at one end into oh, shit, I drifted off there. ‘Biceps’ and ‘quadriceps’ are similar” (76).Since the investigation of the lake monster is as close to a plot as the book gets, the whole point of the novel is really to get the humor in the footnotes section and laugh out loud at the randomness it provides. Beat the Reaper Wild Thing is a fantastic novel, but Lionel Azimuth/Pietro Brnwa isn’t actually in any danger in this novel. So, for me, the “thrill” is missing. I do really recommend this novel, as it’s hilarious and intriguing, and the investigation of a lake monster is fascinating. Its extremely vulgar language (I counted upwards of fourteen f-bombs on a single page) is a novelty, but it frankly lacks the finesse and thrill of its predecessor Beat the Reaper. I still thoroughly recommend the book, but I think you should pick up Bazell’s first novel before you get going on this one. Originally Posted at wherepenmeetspaper.blogspot.com
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Note: Both JAF and JAB read the book, so we have included our separate evaluations after the review.Lev Grossman says here of Josh Bazell, "Reading him is like being able to monopolize the attention of the most interesting person at a party." So true! The guy is a polymath.As I see it, this second book of his is an example of the literary practice one might sophisticatedly label "smooshing": i.e., writing two books and combining them into one. In this Era of the Trilogy (otherwise known as: Gaah! It ends in a cliffhanger!), one would think I might be favorably disposed toward the opposite tendency, but alas, I think it just didn’t work as well as it should.On the one hand, Bazell wants to write "The Continuing Adventures of Dr. Pietro Brnwa," featuring the hero of his first book Beat the Reaper . On the other, he has a liberal/pro-science agenda he not only wants to push but seems compelled to push in light of the apathy and ignorance of large segments of the American public. (As a disclaimer I must note that I agree 5000% with every single issue he takes on, and I applaud how well he articulates the facts and takes apart the opponents. I even xeroxed quite a few pages to use as “hand-outs” to those who are the usual recipients of my own less erudite harangues.) But. Should this be such a huge part of Pietro’s story? I love Josh Bazell’s writing. [Disclosure: he bought me a soy latte at the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books, but I loved him before that.] But. I do not love his use of the “p” word for the female sex organ. In an informal e-mail survey of fellow female bloggers, there was no agreement on a substitute, except for the general sentiment that the more indirect (and less objectifying) the better. (As an example, we would prefer something vague but still obvious like “he put his hand between her legs.”) (My husband, who also loves the author [Disclosure: he shared the latte with me], defends Bazell on the grounds that “that’s how Mafia-type guys talk,” although he refuses to say how exactly he might know this.)More to the point, often this word is included when there is no plot-related reason why it should be, and I think that causes unnecessary alienation from his work. But, this is a digression.So what’s the book about already? Pietro Brhwa, former hit man for the mob and now on the run from them, currently works as Junior Physician on a cruise ship, where he is going by the name Lionel Azimuth. His old contact from the Federal Witness Protection Program calls him about a one-week job checking out rumors of a sea monster in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. The money is very good, and Azimuth agrees to take a vacation from the cruise. As a secondary objective, he is also supposed to protect a paleontologist going on the trip, sexy Violet Hurst, who is under the private employ of the billionaire who hired both of them. Violet serves a number of purposes in the story. One is that she gives Bazell numerous additional excuses to use the “p” word. She also gives Lionel numerous opportunities to talk about his ongoing “boner.” And as a scientist, she provides a ready-made excuse for Bazell to have a character expound on evolution, science versus religion, destruction of the climate and biosphere, and the political corruption enabling these deleterious outcomes. There is even a rather extensive Appendix, ostensibly written by Violet, that gives a timeline for some of the more outrageous acts of destructiveness that are delineated by Violet in the book. An equally extensive section on Resources follows.Discussion: Personally, I loved all the science stuff, and marked down several books from the Resource section that I want to read. But I think it watered down the thriller aspect of the book. One could argue that Bazell thought the climate arguments and political points were more important, and saw no better way to promulgate them than to wrap them up in a thriller. I could see his thinking that, but if I were his editor I would have pushed for two separate books. The way it stands, each part kind of waters down the other.Evaluation by JAF: I still love Josh Bazell’s style of writing. I love the footnotes interspersed in the text, I love the medical components (not enough in this book!), and I love his style. He’s bright and witty and talented. However, he should let me run his life and change a few things.Evaluation by JAB: I would not change the book. So what if it is an amalgam of a thriller and a political disquisition? Books don’t have to fit into easily classified genres. Besides, as a thriller, this one is only average at best. It needs Bazell’s quirky footnotes and asides to be entertaining. And how do I know how mobsters talk? One of my college classmates was a Patriarcha of the then notorious Rhode Island mafia family of that name. Also, my cousins lived next door to an Italian family that kept a gun in the glove compartment of their black sedan. And when it comes to “p” words, those guys would never refer to the pudenda as anything but a p---- unless it began with a “c.” Wild Thing is a page turner because it is laugh out loud funny. The story is pretty far-fetched and not very realistic, but who cares? Bazell’s retired-hit-man/physician in the federal witness protection program leaves more maimed and dead bodies in his wake than Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. His wry and mordant observations are what provide most of the entertainment. I too agree with most of his political observations. His fictional dispute between Violet and Mr. Fick, a religious fundamentalist, about the theory of evolution is efficient and well-argued (by Violet, the atheist, at any rate). Bazell is pushing a political (and religious) agenda, but he does it with humor. He would feel very comfortable on The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart. Our Consensus: JAB and JAF both agree this would make an excellent choice for a book club, what with all the religious and political assertions. We both enjoyed this book quite a bit.