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3 months ago
Just finished reading… Wild Thing
“Wild Thing” is Josh Bazell’s follow-up to his excellent debut novel “Beat the Reaper”. It’s a sequel because it features the same main character, but the situation, supporting cast, and even genre are totally different. Where “Beat the Reaper” was a story of gangsters and the witness protection program set against the backdrop of the medical world, “Wild Thing” is about a monster hunt in Minnesota.
While I applaud Bazell for taking such a dramatic left turn, I would have preferred if he’d just started over with a new lead rather than shoehorning this one into the story. His backstory and the events of “Beat the Reaper” really only come into play in the book’s epilogue, which itself feels tacked on and ends abruptly (presumably to be resolved in the next book), so there’s no real advantage to using him.
As a stand alone story, “Wild Thing” is good but not great. A reclusive billionaire sends a pair of investigators to small town Minnesota to see if a local lake monster legend is a hoax or genuine. The investigation is interesting, and the quirky characters they encounter along the way are entertaining enough, but the resolution is a bit rushed and the payoff isn’t completely satisfying.
Bazell has a great writing style, and as in “Beat the Reaper” he peppers everything with hilarious footnotes. Although I wasn’t blown away by “Wild Thing”, I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes the story next.
Feel free to ask me a question!
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