Wild Thing
by Josh Bazell, Robert Petkoff (Narrator)
Series: Dr. Peter Brown, #2Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs and 40 mins
Hachette Audio, 2012
Read: May 5 – 10, 2017
If you don’t think of this as a sequel to Beat the Reaper, this is a tolerable thriller. If you think of this as a sequel to Beat the Reaper, it’s a tragedy.
The plot was okay, the but outside of that, it’s unnecessarily preachy — the screeds about global climate change and evolution/religion were a big turn-off. They were too long (frequently distracting from the point), and were directed at straw-man opponents. Speaking of straw-men, I’m not a fan of Sarah Palin, really. But she (or anyone else) shouldn’t be treated like this — it’s okay if an author has a problem with her politics or religious views and expresses it in fiction. But to invent nutty religious views and put ’em in her mouth that’s just wrong and off-putting.
There are some good action scenes, and I enjoyed the paleontologist that Peter was hired to travel with (not enough to remember her name, mind you . . . ), and there’s no denying that Bazell can spin a story. So I’m not saying it’s a bad book. It just doesn’t belong in the same conversation as its predecessor.
I’ve got absolutely no complaints about Petkoff’s work — he does everything he can with the material.
Save your time — re-read or re-listen to Beat the Reaper — or try Shane Kuhn or Hart Hanson. This isn’t worth it.
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