Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
25th out of 257 books
—
567 voters
Beat the Reaper (Peter Brown #1)
by
Josh Bazell
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...more
Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear...more
Hardcover, 310 pages
Published
January 7th 2009
by Little, Brown and Company
(first published 2008)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Anybody who thinks the U.S. doesn't need health care reform should read this book. Since the author was a medical intern and the details about patient care seem horribly realistic, I think I'd rather read a Surgery For Dummies book and attempt my own future operations with a bottle of Jack Daniels, a carpet knife, duct tape and some rusty pliers rather than risk being admitted to a hospital after reading this.
Peter Brown is a harried resident trying to get through another miserable day at a larg...more
Peter Brown is a harried resident trying to get through another miserable day at a larg...more
I’m a Charlie Huston honk. There, I admitted it. Like the first step out of twelve, I recognize my problem. And I feel unburdened. Free almost. I’m a Huston-holic. A junkie for Charlie’s magical mushroom prose. And like every good Huston-holic, I’m always searching for writers with a similar style. Writers that’ll grab me by the throat, worrying me like a dog.
Enter Josh Bazell.
A combination of Huston and Chuck Palahniuk, Bazell stuns with his debut novel Beat the Reaper, a brutal and humorous m...more
Enter Josh Bazell.
A combination of Huston and Chuck Palahniuk, Bazell stuns with his debut novel Beat the Reaper, a brutal and humorous m...more
Hey fuckhead,
Yep, you, the one with the track marks running down both arms trying to slide off into oblivion, with the tilted head and the faraway expression, staring at the sun like it’s some four-headed monster ready to steal your dreams, twitching for your next fix like some random dog left out in the rain too long, with a stutter-stepping walk and attitude, veering off from the rest of the universe like a bad dream; you might want to sit this one out, otherwise you might have more than just...more
Yep, you, the one with the track marks running down both arms trying to slide off into oblivion, with the tilted head and the faraway expression, staring at the sun like it’s some four-headed monster ready to steal your dreams, twitching for your next fix like some random dog left out in the rain too long, with a stutter-stepping walk and attitude, veering off from the rest of the universe like a bad dream; you might want to sit this one out, otherwise you might have more than just...more
May 03, 2012
Michael
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Michael by:
Carmel
Shelves:
thriller,
mystery,
crime,
humour,
book-club-others,
organized-crime,
assassins,
neo-noir,
2000s
I was recommended this book last year, and while it looks interesting, I kept putting this book off. I’m not sure why I did, as this book was so much fun to read. Think mob book (in the style of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch) meets Scrubs but with a much darker sense of humour. Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell tells the story of Peter Brown, an intern for Manhattan’s worst hospital. Dr. Brown is in the Federal Witness Protection Program having previously been a mob hitman named Piet...more
I finally received a copy of this book 5 weeks after the Pulp Fiction group chose it as their monthly read. Go AusPost! But it was an ugly copy that felt like it had been photocopied, including a glossy print for the flimsy cover. Must do better work at publishing actual books people.
About two thirds of the way through my interest was waning and I decided to check out the 1 Star reviews to see if others were having the same problem I was having with it - the flashbacks were slow and largely unin...more
About two thirds of the way through my interest was waning and I decided to check out the 1 Star reviews to see if others were having the same problem I was having with it - the flashbacks were slow and largely unin...more
Aug 12, 2009
Bonnie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Bonnie by:
Mike Reynolds
Shelves:
reviewed-books,
action-thriller
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
You read the plot summary (former mob hitman, in WitSec and now practicing medicine, runs into his former cronies and must escape their revenge) and you don't wince, or sigh, or yawn--and I'm not sure this is for you. 'Cause that summary reads like a recipe for some high-concept Hollywood bullshit, all flash-cut-editing like Michael Bay, no sense whatsoever in its execution or (you'd think) in any element of its production. And you may come into the novel hoping for that kind of tough-guy lunkhe...more
lately my book reviewing reminds me of that old snl skit where the guy reviews porn: 'interested, interested, really interested, then i lost all interest.'
i don't know if it's me or not.
this book started off with a bang. the tone of the narrator was a little obnoxious -- although isn't that a requirement for crime fiction? and why is that? it's' tired.
but that aside, the writer is entertaining and informative (truly some of the greatest hospital anecdotes i've ever read -- you almost wish he w...more
i don't know if it's me or not.
this book started off with a bang. the tone of the narrator was a little obnoxious -- although isn't that a requirement for crime fiction? and why is that? it's' tired.
but that aside, the writer is entertaining and informative (truly some of the greatest hospital anecdotes i've ever read -- you almost wish he w...more
ok, here's the thing... at first i didn't think i was going to like this book that much. it seems a bit pretentious, especially the opening few paragraphs. its obvious they were meant to grab you and throw you into a world. and it works, only maybe you're not so sure its a world you care to explore. but here's the thing: i just kept reading and reading. it was engaging enough to keep me up all night just to see where things were going to go. its a bit like an episode of 'er' with flashbacks to '...more
Jan 28, 2009
Nick
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who like things that are awesome
Recommended to Nick by:
ba
This book is A-MAY-ZING. Straight up. Please read this.
It's hilarious and wildly disturbing all at the same time. Bazell is like the Chuck Palahniuk for sane people.
This will just be easier if I quote Ron Charles.
I wan...more
It's hilarious and wildly disturbing all at the same time. Bazell is like the Chuck Palahniuk for sane people.
This will just be easier if I quote Ron Charles.
"Beat the Reaper is a hypochondriac's nightmare but a reader's dream. Josh Bazell concocted this comic thriller while working as a medical resident at the University of California, San Francisco, and if anything he describes here is true, we should all become Christian Scientists."
I wan...more
Peter Brown is not your normal Manhattan ER doctor. When it comes to skeletons in the closest, he has tons. One of those skeletons he forced him to enter into the Witness Protection Program. Peter has been fighting with his demons for years. Peter was ready to start his day out like any other morning…with a walk in the park but there he gets mugged, than he receives an invite by a sexy pharmaceutical nurse for some TLC, and finally as if Peter’s day couldn’t get any worse, he new patient has tie...more
Great mix of medical thriller and mob revenge tale. Main character is a foul-mouthed and very funny former hit man who's hiding out as a doctor in a run-down hospital. If his former boss/mentor finds him, it means he's probably dead. I was hooked immediately and especially liked his hilarious and ironic footnotes.
Utterly ridiculous, gratuitously violent, highly improbable, totally engrossing, lightening-paced. Why don't more people write like this?
Jan 05, 2009
Tattered Cover Book Store
added it
This is the #1 pick on the IndieNext List for January 2009, which is why it caught my attention (that and the obnoxiously bright cover it has!). The best description I can come up with for this book is if the series "The Sopranos" and the series "Scrubs" had a child, and made Quentin Tarantino and Amy Sedaris it's godparents, this would be the baby. The main character is a former Mob hitman who is in the witness protection program, finishing up his medical training (his way of making up for all...more
Peter Brown is a doctor at Manhattan Catholic Hospital with a horrible secret in his past. He is part of the Federal Witness Protection Program. Raised by his grandparents, Pietro Brwna, as he was known as at that time, comes home to find them brutally murdered. Having nowhere else to go, he attends an exclusive prep school and becomes friends with Adam Locano, the son of a Mafia lawyer. The Locanos treat him like family and eventually, Peter becomes a member of the Mafia.
Things go fine for a wh...more
Things go fine for a wh...more
Jul 07, 2008
Sara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone over 18 years of age, Action-Thriller Fans, Open-Minded Readers, Medical Fiction Fans
Recommended to Sara by:
I picked it up at Book Expo America
Coming off The Given Day, I was not expecting much from this. For one thing, it's a debut novel and for another, there's very little that could compete, quality-wise, with The Given Day. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel.
The novel is centered around Dr. Peter Brown, a young medical resident with a hidden past that catches up with him one day when he encounters a patient who knew him from his previous life as a mob hitman. Dr. Brown's identity revealed, he set...more
The novel is centered around Dr. Peter Brown, a young medical resident with a hidden past that catches up with him one day when he encounters a patient who knew him from his previous life as a mob hitman. Dr. Brown's identity revealed, he set...more
This book is truly incredible, considering I am actually taking time to write a review should tell you how awesome this book is. I think the part that really gets me is that he wrote it during in internship at a California hospital, where is he is a doctor. I mean come on! He must have the happiest parents in the world. I am openly going to admit that this man makes me feel bad about myself.
As for the book, it is well formed, well paced, and almost impossible to put down. Dealing with the past a...more
As for the book, it is well formed, well paced, and almost impossible to put down. Dealing with the past a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Mного тъп превод на заглавието на български ("Анатомията на Питър" wtf?!). Иначе преводът е на Богдан Русев и е много добър, а книгата е забавна и много увлекателна, въпреки многото кръв и убийства :)
What a fun read! This real-life intern's novel about a "good-guy" ex-mafia-hitman turned MD intern by way of a witness protection program is witty, tightly plotted, exciting and outrageously funny, and seems to teach one a lot about anatomy and physiology along the way -- though there is a disclaimer about that at the end of the book. Read the first few pages on the Amazon "Look Inside" feature and you'll be hooked -- I was!
This fast paced, action packed and entirely unique book was one that I couldn't put down till I finished it. Peter Brown is an intern in a ghetto hospital in the Bronx. He is also in the Witness Protection Program. He used to be a hitman for the mob. He unapologeticly tells his tale, the good, the bad and the ugly. A fascinating book that I reccomend highly.
Feb 10, 2009
Jen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Keri J., Becky G. and anyone who can laugh outloud at some good sadism.
Recommended to Jen by:
Julie Johnson
Shelves:
five-star-reads
Bazell has a super dark sense of humor which one could probably guess just by reading the jacket of this book. I suppose if you were not a lover of the sarcasm you would not like this book. I loved it, devoured it!
I found myself laughing out loud at some of the internal discussions that Peter (the main character) had in his head and then thinking to myself 'that's not funny, that's actually terribly sadistic'. But I kept laughing.
As one would imagine in a novel where the main character used to...more
I found myself laughing out loud at some of the internal discussions that Peter (the main character) had in his head and then thinking to myself 'that's not funny, that's actually terribly sadistic'. But I kept laughing.
As one would imagine in a novel where the main character used to...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I could not believe how wonderful this book was... I was caught way off guard. I finished it in one sitting, which doesn't always get to happen. Pietro Brnwa, aka Peter Brown, aka "Bearclaw" has got to be one of the best narrators in recent literature. I have read many books that were good and could have been great, but I catch myself thinking the flow just wasn't there. Well not in Beat the Reaper, this book had so much flow you'd think Josh Bazell invented it. I loved it, absolutely, unquestio...more
When I ordered this book from the library on-line (love it!), I didn't realize it was a 7-day book. No way can I finish the book I was reading and read this in 7 days! Too much else to do. But once you start this book, you can't stop! Incredible action. You have to read it to believe it!
Rare that I give a book 5 stars, but this one earned it. A can't-put-it-down novel, it is filled with action, unforgetable moments, gore and fascinating "that can't be true?" footnotes. As another reader said, the ending is both grotesque and badass and will stay with you long after you put the book down.
Smart, funny, violent popcorn noir. I picked it up this afternoon and just kept reading, even while I cooked and ate dinner, and annoyed everyone around me until I had finished it. I kinda want to start at the beginning and read it straight through again.
I had a hard time putting the book down. The plot summary sounded a bit trite - a mob hitman now working as a doctor in witness protection and his old friends discover his whereabouts. However, I found that the story and the way it was told weren't trite at all. I enjoyed the way the author wrote this one, fast-paced and to the point with some interesting facts added in (I loved the footnotes!) It is a thriller with a touch of dark comedy thrown in. The shocking/random tidbits reminded a bit of...more
WOW. This is not one for the faint of heart.
It is a fast read and thank goodness the footnotes are a pleasure (unlike Infinite Jest, which I am still struggling with) The main character is an NYC DR. with quite a past and quite a lot going on in his life. Be warned, extreme circumstances, violence, language and like the author says, "as the FBI calls it, LCN". Can't wait for his next novel, I am a fan.
It is a fast read and thank goodness the footnotes are a pleasure (unlike Infinite Jest, which I am still struggling with) The main character is an NYC DR. with quite a past and quite a lot going on in his life. Be warned, extreme circumstances, violence, language and like the author says, "as the FBI calls it, LCN". Can't wait for his next novel, I am a fan.
LOVED IT! Linda and Annie, you have to read this, but don't expect to put it down once you start! I laughed out loud throughout the book at the author's rather cynical viewpoint of medicine. This guy can write and he is funny!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulp Fiction: May 2012 - Beat the Reaper | 32 | 56 | Mar 19, 2013 05:44pm | |
| crime vs compassion | 6 | 51 | Apr 13, 2012 09:28am |
Josh Bazell has a BA in writing from Brown University and a MD from Columbia University. He is currently a medical resident at the University of California, San Francisco, and is working on his second novel. He wrote "Beat the Reaper" during the end of medical school and the beginning of residency. Some of his favorite writers are James Ellroy, Ken Bruen, Michael Connelly and Peter Lovesey. He sta...more
More about Josh Bazell...
Share This Book
2 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Ah, youth. It's like heroin you've smoked instead of snorted. Gone so fast you can't believe you still have to pay for it.”
—
41 people liked it
“It's a weird curse, when you think about it. We're built for thought, and civilization, more than any other creature we've found. And all we really want to be is killers. ”
—
13 people liked it
More quotes…
Sep 24, 2012 06:15pm
Nov 15, 2012 11:39pm