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Beat the Reaper: A Novel
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Beat the Reaper: A Novel
Unavailable
Beat the Reaper: A Novel
Audiobook6 hours

Beat the Reaper: A Novel

Written by Josh Bazell

Narrated by Robert Petkoff

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Meet Peter Brown, a young Manhattan emergency room doctor with an unusual past that is just about to catch up with him. His morning begins with the quick disarming of a would-be mugger, followed by a steamy elevator encounter with a sexy young pharmaceutical rep, topped off by a visit with a new patient - and from there Peter's day is going to get a whole lot worse and a whole lot weirder. Because that patient knows Peter from his other life, when he had a different name and a very different job. The only reason he's a doctor now is thanks to the Witness Protection Program-and even they can't protect him from the long reach of the New Jersey mob. Now he's got to do whatever it takes to keep his patient alive so he can buy some time...and beat the reaper.

BEAT THE REAPER is not just the only novel that will be compared to Quentin Tarantino's films, Grey's Anatomy, and Chuck Palahniuk-it's also the most original and entertaining debut thriller you'll read this year.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 7, 2009
ISBN9781600244339
Unavailable
Beat the Reaper: A Novel

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Reviews for Beat the Reaper

Rating: 3.881422845849802 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,012 ratings146 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is not for persons with weak stomachs. It is very graphic and tells a unique story about a man, Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna, who finds his grandparents' murdered bodies in their home and vows revenge on their deaths. Ironically, the killers were in the mafia and he becomes a hitman for the family that takes him in. Unfortunately, he pisses off his adoptive family and goes into the witness protection system and eventually becomes a doctor.An unusual story that when you get past the violence, is a real page turner.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Medical knowledge and pharmaceutical history 10/10, funny 9/10, terrible ending due to really silly conceit. I still recommend it, especially if you like medicine, history, and dark humor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had a really fun time reading this one. The writing was fast paced, witty and comical. Some parts of the story were way too over the top for me but I did find myself laughing out loud, especially through his footnotes. I received this book in my stocking this Christmas and finished it in a day. I would definitely recommend if you want an enjoyable and quick read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Okay, I love any novel with footnotes. But this one was especially lovable, in a pleasantly disturbing way.
    It's about a doctor who also used to be a mafia hit man, and about some things that happen to him one day--a day that starts like this: "So I'm on my way to work and I stop to watch a pigeon fight a rat in the snow, and some fuckhead tries to mug me!"
    It's also about various other things that happened in his life to get him to this point, and how it's kind of gross and horrifying to work in a hospital.
    And about the Holocaust, and sharks.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Incredible book. The pressure builds and builds to an incredible and absurd finish. Great authoritative writing. Good characters Complex villains. Subversive.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    So, I had the misfortune of listening to the end of this book while I happened to be making a dinner that involved ground meat and ricotta cheese. I won't go into any detail, other than to say it's a slightly stomach churning combination. My timing may have been bad, but the book itself was FUN. And hey - at least I wasn't eating my dinner yet.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I liked this as an audiobook. The narrator was great and his voices were right on. I also enjoyed the style of the writing--probably more so because I was listening to it.

    3.5 stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow what a book. I only picked this one up for the Pulp Fiction book club and I never even looked at what it was about. Boy was I in for a surprise.

    I started it tentatively as it kicks off with a doctor who seems rather handy in a fight and knows things a normal doctor wouldn't. From there it just ramps up and up and up. Part medical comedy, part gangster action this book floored me and I love every second of it. It feels like someone crossed Scrubs with The Sopranos. And it was smart. All the procedures and anecdotes are real. It's the first time in an action book I've had to stop and Google or Wikipedia things. It was great.

    I can't wait to get the sequel and see where things go next. This was a really enjoyable, fast paced, intelligent action book and once you pick it up you won't put it down til you're finished.

    One thing though. I'm not the most squeamish of people but there is a scene at the end of the book that really had me wincing. You've been warned.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I tried Beat the Reaper because it was different than much of what I read. It was not to my taste, though certain episodes were mildly funny.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you're in the mood for gonzo fiction, you can just stop right here.

    Bazell's edgy, brutally (and I mean brutally) funny novel will have you laughing in spite of any delicate upbringing with which you've been upbrought. Laughing when you aren't cringing, of course.

    Physician/former mob hitman/botched WITSEC participant Peter Brown has a problem. People want him dead. He wishes pretty desperately not to be, and how he balances the need to heal some folks with a need to seriously violate the Hippocratic oath for others makes for a awfully interesting way to spend a few hours.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Don't read this book if: you shut your eyes during the gorey parts of Nip/Tuck; if you only watched the family-friendly, censored version of Sex and the City five years after the original aired; if Jaws gave you nightmares; or if you think Chuck Palahniuk is a disgusting, depraved a*hole; if the first word beginning with "f" and ending with "uck" that comes to mind is "firetruck." I'm serious.As someone who always wins a game of trivial pursuit, finds footnotes entertaining and illuminating, not a nuisance, and enjoys people watching, I really liked this book. It exceeded my expectations for airplane/vacation reading (in fact it left me with nothing to read for most of the trip because I tore through it so quickly).Yes, there are footnotes. Read them. As Bazell says at the end of the book, his primary objective was to entertain, and then inform. They really add to the book. You'll find yourself turning your hand over and staring at your wrist in no time (see footnote, page 4)Yes, there is sex, violence, and foul language. Hit men characters (or even most doctors I know, for that matter) don't talk like priests. The gore is almost over-the-top-repulsive at times: your mouth will be agape, you'll squirm in your seat, and question whether or not you can keep reading. But you will. It's like a roller coaster -- the adrenaline rush at the end is just worth it. The common criticism that this book is "too gorey" is actually a plus if you think about it because it means he writes in such a clear way that you can actually visualize what's happening.No, there isn't much "plot" per se. This isn't a detective thriller. The suspense, unlike that of the Millennium Trilogy, for example, does not come from hidden pasts and dark secrets (though there are plenty of those), but rather from the voice and the main character himself. He's just too fascinating to stop reading about.4.5 stars: exceeded my expectations for airplane reading, great book from a new author, was thoroughly entertained, can't wait for the next installment, and it stuck with me. However, while it's not meant to be realistic, some of the outlandish scenes are a little unwieldy at times and the writing could be tightened up in some of the longer passages.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I expected to love this book. As it turns out, I was not nearly as enamored with it as most readers seem to have been. I enjoyed the opening couple of chapters. The narrative starts out with an edge of dark humor. It's fast-paced. The story and the main character felt unique.Then we're jolted out of the present and, from there through to the end, the story vacillates between flashbacks and present day. The constant back and forth gave it a disjointed feel. A lot of sections felt like they were more about the author showing off his knowledge than about building a captivating plot. And some of the things that happen along the way seemed ridiculous to me.I have to mention the footnotes. I hated them. Unless a novel contains foreign words and phrases, I don't think fiction should ever need footnotes. I read a lot of nonfiction, which is where I expect to find them. In this book, the barrage of footnotes (sometimes every page and often long paragraphs) was just distracting. The information in the footnotes was unnecessary. I couldn't decide if the author felt the need to show off more of his knowledge, or if he thinks his readers aren't smart enough to understand the context of his references within the text. Either way, I found them annoying and stopped reading them about a third of the way through.In all, it's a quick easy read that, for me, had an equal measure of good and bad.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Best book I've read in years! Awesomely funny neo-noir pulp fiction. The narrator's sardonic first-person commentary is darkly humorous without overtly trying to be. Also gives a frightening look into the dark underbelly of hospitals and medical care. I've read it three times. Highly recommend it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A former hitman for the mob uses his time in the witness protection program to become a doctor, but his past comes back to haunt him.It includes an unforgettable scene in an aquarium shark tank and a scene where our hero used his knowledge of anatomy to craft an unusual weapon. A short book and a fast read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is probably the first non-school fiction that I've ever read that has footnotes. The footnotes are sometimes informative and always humorous. Just like the rest of the book, may I add. The book is split between the past and the present. I thought it was a little weird that it alternated, but it turned out to work well, especially in the beginning, when I was more interested in Pietro's action filled past, as opposed to his seemingly half-a$$ed attempt at being a doctor.A warning to the squeamish (or not so, because I was quite disturbed as well), there is one VERY disturbing scene in this book. It should not deter you from reading this book, however, just a word of caution.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Edgy, darkly funny book about a former mob hit man working as an intern in a New York hospital. Switches back and forth between current timeframe and the events leading up to his placement in witness protection. This book has a gritty 'Pulp Fiction' feel to it. I liked it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Beat The Reaper" by Josh Bazel is what I imagine you'd get if Quentin Tarantino had written House M.D. Loved it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Looking forward to his next release. I loved this book. I pulled it off the shelf on a whim and was VERY pleasantly suprised with how much I enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So I'm on my way to work and I stop to watch a pigeon fight a rat in the snow, and some fuckhead tries to mug me! Naturally there's a gun. He comes up behind me and sticks it into the base of my skull. It's cold, and it actually feels sort of good, in an acupressure sort of way.So starts Peter Brown's very bad day. And Josh Bazell's very excellent novel.This is your average story. Fourteen year-old boy finds his grandparents murdered in the home they share in New Jersey. No arrests are made, boy then sleeps with police officer to get information on prime suspects, who turn out to be two guys who needed the kills to get "made". As in Mafia. The boy, Pietro Brwna, then gets into a private school where many children of the mob go. He gets close with one family, the Locanos. But they take him under their wing and boy likes being part of their family. Boy then becomes hit man for mob, later turns states evidence, joins the Witness Protection program, becomes Peter Brown, goes to medical school and becomes a doctor. All by the the age of twenty-eight. You know, the usual story.This book was awesome! Another great find thanks to twitter. This is Bazell's first novel and I read a review that described it as the Sopranos meets House. That isn't too far off. As the book starts, Peter is interning at a pretty horrible hospital in Manhattan, as it is unlikely he will run into any old mob guys there. But he does and Peter is about to have a very crazy day.Bazell alternates between Peter's current day now that a mafioso has shown up as a patient and seen Peter, and Peter's previous life in the mob. The story is funny, profane, graphic, and entertaining.Peter is a great character, who manages to be likable despite his violent past and coarse behavior. He is the anti-hero hero. He doesn't pull any punches in telling his story.This novel isn't for everyone, it might offend some with it's language and violence. But I loved it. It is off-beat and funny and you really should read it.my rating 4.5/5
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a fun book! Peter Brown is Jack Bauer (of the television show 24) with a sense of humor. The story moved at a delightful speed and it had a fair share of interesting twists and turns. I have a background in health care, so I really appreciated all the medical talk
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beat the Reaper had me from the very first page. It's one of the most gory, hilarious, crazily outrageous novels I've ever read, and I loved every insane minute of it. It alternates between fast paced action and dramatic character study, all the while maintaining suspense, making you eager to discover what terrible, ridiculous thing is going to happen next. The main character is a murdering, screwed up antihero, yet his story is brutally honest and heartbreaking. You can't help but root for the mob hitman turned doctor as you learn how his life went downhill and how he's now trying to make up for it. The hospital is the setting of numerous funny, disgusting incidents and its staff is so out-there it's scary. The book's most serious moments occur in the past such as the first meeting of the protagonist and his true love as well as an incredibly horrifying murder scene in a shark tank. The narrative is interspersed with medical and scientific discourse along with nuggets of history and philosophy, displaying impressive intelligence and wit. Underneath the cynical, sarcastic tone is a story about loss, human nature, and the hope of redemption. It takes you on a wild ride and then stays with you long after it's over. I highly recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The writing is smart, fast and super-charged with raw emotion! And that even feels like I'm understating. I listened to this book on audio CD and was hooked from the first paragraph - just hearing the story delivered by reader Robert Petkoff was an experience in itself. Protagonist Dr. Peter Brown is a supremely confident ex-mobster whose smooth handling of tense situations is a trait we all wish we had, but he's got a past that comes with a price. It's non-stop from the get-go as he labors to keep his patients and himself alive, AKA beat the reaper.There's a movie version with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to it slated for a 2012 release. I'm very much looking forward to that as well as reading Josh Bazell's next work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fast and furious tale that is unbelievably believable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Witty, hilarious, insane, surprising and rude are a few words I would use to describe this book. I think that the main character Bazell created just has a way of creaping into your heart through the use of foul language and mean charateristics.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I liked the story but found the book too violent and gritty for my taste.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    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.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Woo hoo!This was funny, exciting, entertaining, funny, thought provoking, and did I mention funny? I have no idea how realistic the scenes regarding the life of an intern are. I have no idea how realistic the medical aspects are. I have even less idea how accurate the portrayal of the mob is. I suspect that it pretty much is true but exaggerated. I didn't really care. At least, I don't care as long as I stay away from that hospital.There were two parallel storylines. In the "now", Peter is an intern at a highly understaffed hospital, dealing with emergencies, every day craziness, and someone who wants him dead. In the "past", we get his rather exciting background, how he got mixed up with the mafia, and why they now want him dead.The humor isn't for everyone. It tends toward the crude and disrespectful (to everyone and everything). I still enjoyed it, and I tend to be sensitive. It seemed appropriate to the situations, I think, rather than gratuitous.I was icked out by the medical details at a couple of points. Mostly I could skip over them, no big deal, but one scene near the end was important. Still, yuck!This book was a fast, funny roller coaster, and I really enjoyed it.