Beat the Reaper: A Novel

Josh Bazell
Little, Brown and Company (2009)
ISBN 9780316032223
Reviewed by Danielle Feliciano for Reader Views (2/09)

 

“Beat the Reaper” is one of the rare books that I would give more than 5 stars to if I were allowed.  I took this book everywhere with me for two days, hoping to grab a few minutes to read.  I did not go to sleep because I could not put it down.  When the book was finished, I felt such a feeling of disappointment that it was over, that there were no more pages to be read and the story really was over.  It has been a long time since a book had me so gripped within its pages that the outside world ceased to exist.

“Beat the Reaper” tells the story of medical intern Dr. Peter Brown.  Dr. Brown narrates his own story, telling his present life as a doctor in the worst hospital in Manhattan, and at the same time weaves the story of his past as a mafia hit-man.  Brown’s voice in telling his story is wry and humorous, with no censure of what comes out of his mouth.  Reading this book is like being at a party, listening to one of the most interesting people you have ever met share their life story.  We learn how Peter was raised as “Pietro Brnwa” by his Polish Jew grandparents.  After their murders when he was fourteen, Peter was taken in by his best friend’s parents, the Locanos. Pietro quickly begins working toward exacting his revenge for the murder of his grandparents.  That is the first step to him becoming one of the most feared, and most successful, hit-men the mafia has ever had.
           
After his lifestyle catches up with him, Pietro becomes “Peter Brown” and embarks on a life in medicine as an attempt to atone for his past. By narrating between past and present, Dr. Brown very carefully leads the reader into his world and takes the reader for a suspenseful, wild ride as he rushes to stay alive now that his cover is blown.

It takes true talent to make a mafia hit-man into a sympathetic character.  It takes even more talent to tell the stories of hits and mafia lifestyle without letting that story stray so far into violence that it turns the reader off.  There is violence here, but it is told as a matter of fact, never in a gratuitous manner.  This story is in turns funny, violent, suspenseful and heartbreaking.  I don’t know who Josh Bazell is or where he came up with this story but I truly hope he has more waiting to come out.  “Beat the Reaper” absolutely blew my mind and it will be a long time before it is forgotten.

Make comment on weblog