jguinn2474's review against another edition
Absolutely insane, hilarious, and fantastically entertaining. Don't skip the Appendix and Sources at the end or the footnotes along the way.
mschlat's review against another edition
5.0
Yeah, I'd happily read four to five more books in this series if they existed. You can look at my review of [b:Beat the Reaper|3173125|Beat the Reaper (Peter Brown #1)|Josh Bazell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1316092271s/3173125.jpg|3205574] for much of what I love about Bazell's writing, but here's some notes on this volume in particular...
1) The plotting is tighter and the mysteries are better written than the first book. Where Beat The Reaper took a false turn or two, Wild Thing moves much more sure-footedly, with a reveal at the end that made sense and was still surprising.
2) Now that Bazell's has his protagonist's origin out of the way, he spends more time on other characters to good effect. There are interesting flashbacks to Vietnam and Tiananmen Square and a wonderful look at a sting operation that has almost nothing to do with Pietro Brnwa.
3) The footnotes have expanded to appendices. That is a good thing. In particular, we are quickly introduced to character Violet Hurst, a catastrophic paleontologist who opines that humanity has passed the point of no return survival-wise. And, after the story, there's an essay from Hurst where she (somewhat tongue in cheek) attempts to detail the exact time the point was passed. (Said essay references Iranian hostages, corporations as people, and the construction of the book of Genesis.) And THEN Bazell spends another 35 pages (with footnotes) discussing all the sources for the book along with all the sources for the Hurst essay. And it's wonderful. It's like reading the end of [a:Peter Watts|27167|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] books, but funny.
At this point, I'm fairly convinced that Bazell could have me spellbound with his grocery list if it had footnotes. I am seriously bummed there are no further books in the series.
1) The plotting is tighter and the mysteries are better written than the first book. Where Beat The Reaper took a false turn or two, Wild Thing moves much more sure-footedly, with a reveal at the end that made sense and was still surprising.
2) Now that Bazell's has his protagonist's origin out of the way, he spends more time on other characters to good effect. There are interesting flashbacks to Vietnam and Tiananmen Square and a wonderful look at a sting operation that has almost nothing to do with Pietro Brnwa.
3) The footnotes have expanded to appendices. That is a good thing. In particular, we are quickly introduced to character Violet Hurst, a catastrophic paleontologist who opines that humanity has passed the point of no return survival-wise. And, after the story, there's an essay from Hurst where she (somewhat tongue in cheek) attempts to detail the exact time the point was passed. (Said essay references Iranian hostages, corporations as people, and the construction of the book of Genesis.) And THEN Bazell spends another 35 pages (with footnotes) discussing all the sources for the book along with all the sources for the Hurst essay. And it's wonderful. It's like reading the end of [a:Peter Watts|27167|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] books, but funny.
At this point, I'm fairly convinced that Bazell could have me spellbound with his grocery list if it had footnotes. I am seriously bummed there are no further books in the series.
megmcardle's review against another edition
3.0
What a disappointment after the fabulous, creative, shiny-new feeling of Bazell's Beat the Reaper. This book smirks at you continuously, and is just not as clever as it wants to be. The premise is ludicrous (why? why would they need a mob-afflicted medical doctor on a sea monster hunt??) and the execution was clumsy. There was some humor, but it was just trying too hard.
nnnamiko's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
potatoaficionado's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Definitely didn't like it as much as the first one. Parts of the story are told from different perspectives, but the characters don't seem to have very different voices. I didn't love that decision.
Also, all of Pietro/Peter/Lionel's dialogue felt really flat, while his internal monologue and narration is much more interesting. The fact that this book had much more dialogue than the first made it much harder to get through.
Also, all of Pietro/Peter/Lionel's dialogue felt really flat, while his internal monologue and narration is much more interesting. The fact that this book had much more dialogue than the first made it much harder to get through.
caroparr's review against another edition
3.0
Liked the lightning-fast pace and quick thinking, but the plot was beyond contrived and ridiculous. Still, it didn't hold me back from finishing it. I actually liked the back matter where Bazell gets to rant about this and that.
fancybone's review against another edition
4.0
Not quite as fun as his first novel, but the pacing is much better. There's a certain repeating... motif with his books that's kind of annoying once you reach the end and realize what happened, but at the same time a lot of his characters make realistic decisions! Some of his stupid characters do stupid things, and some of his smart characters actually do smart things!
mlenre's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
oneesk's review against another edition
3.0
I quite like it. Worthy follow up, though not quite as insane as the first one.
annabella82's review against another edition
2.0
This novel was poorly written in comparison to Josh Bazell's first novel. This story wasn't very engaging and I found that the ending came too abruptly (plus it was a let down).
What once was an interesting character from the "Beat the Reaper" novel, has now become flat. The mix of characters presented just didn't seem to jive well.
I just found like there was this build up for nothing...you're just left with disappointment.
What once was an interesting character from the "Beat the Reaper" novel, has now become flat. The mix of characters presented just didn't seem to jive well.
I just found like there was this build up for nothing...you're just left with disappointment.