Customer Reviews

Anonymous Rex

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Forget everything you know about dinosaurs. Not only did they not become extinct 65 million years ago, they currently make up about 5% of the "human" population. Rather than stomp all of us humans out of existence eons ago, they decided just to live in our world secretly, donning complex human guises and protecting their continued existence exceedingly carefully. You'd be amazed at just how many celebrities and power brokers are actually dinosaurs in disguise. All they want is to keep their secret, find the time and opportunity to really be themselves every now and again, and maybe get a good buzz on with basil or certain other herbs if and when the urge strikes. They live by two golden rules: never let a human learn their secret (and kill any who do) and never, ever, ever engage in interspecies relations with a human.

With Anonymous Rex, author Eric Garcia first brought this strange new world to life, garnering critical acclaim and a cult following for his efforts. He is a brilliantly wicked author, packing loads of comedy into noir-ish tales of dinosaur private investigator Vincent Rubio. Poor Vince has had a rough nine months. It all started when his partner Ernie was run over by a taxi in New York; Vince went a little nuts after that, broke a lot of rules and at least one nose during his investigation of the accident, and got himself declared dinosaur non grata in both New York and back home in Los Angeles. He is in an emotional and financial tailspin now, nursing a major basil addiction and basically trying to find a reason to keep on keeping on. With little left to his name, he finally gets a case thrown his way, an insurance job investigating a fire at a local dino club. As luck would have it, the club owner had important contacts in New York, and before you can say Velociraptor, Vince is back in the Big Apple conducting interviews for a case that may well have some relation to his old partner's death.

This thing gets pretty involved, as a simple case of possible arson soon leads Vince into a conspiracy of dinosaur-sized proportions involving human-dinosaur genetic experimentation (not to mention human-dinosaur relations of a much more personal nature). That is a serious no-no in the Dinosaur Council's notebooks. Slowly but surely, Vince starts assembling the pieces of the puzzle, but progress doesn't come without setbacks - a couple of attempts on his life, some inconvenient deaths of informants and friends, a serious lack of funds, and even a dangerous relationship with a singularly appealing human female. Danger is Vince's middle name, however, and in time he breaks out of his emotional funk, manages to stay away from basil long enough to clear his head, and relentlessly pursues a solution to a surprisingly complex mystery.

The book is written in first person, in the classic style of ye olde detective mysteries from the golden age of Dashiell Hammett and Sam Spade. And make no mistake - aside from the unique dinosaur angle and the constant showcase of sarcastic wit and genuinely funny writing, Garcia knows how to construct and tell a good mystery. Anonymous Rex is a thoroughly engaging read from start to finish. There's an edge to this story, a fair share of surprises along the way, and all sorts of social commentary you can read into things or simply ignore. If you've been yearning for something different, Vincent Rubio, P.I., is on the case, and the game's afoot.

What can you say about a book that has a dinosaur for a hero/narrator? And the dinosaur lives in present day Los Angeles, disguised as a human, trying to earn his living as a private detective? And, further more, he is part of a whole dinosaur sub-culture that exists side-by-side with the unknowing human culture? Well, I call it very, very clever and funny!

Our hero is dinosaur Vincent Rubio (VelociRaptor,get it?) a private eye whose partner has died (shades of Miles Archer), and whose business is headed straight for the toilet with various bill collectors knocking at the door. The insurance company Vincent works for from time to time gives him an arson case to investigate that, naturally, ends up being tied to the mysterious death of his partner. The story moves from Los Angeles to New York City to back again, all the while giving the reader typical detective story action, and untypical insight into Garcia's alternative world where the dinosaurs did not die out millions of years before the appearance of man on the scene. The reptiles have their own culture and society, have made their own accomodation to the present by going about in elaborate disguises (some of the funniest moments of the book occur when Vincent's current disguise goes haywire and threatens to expose him in more ways than one!), and keep strictly apart from the dominate human culture, which they view with contempt.

The book is written in a style that will remind you in a vague way of the noir mysteries of the 1940s and 50s. Vincent Rubio is an appealing character: I finished this book wanting to read the sequel, and was delighted to find out that a new hardcover ("Hot and Sweaty Rex: A Dinosaur Mafia Mystery") had just been released. My only real criticism of the book is that there is not enough "background material" on how the dinosaurs "survived" and evolved into creatures that could develop technology. Not all readers need a backstory; those who do will be spending some of their time filling in the blanks from the information that Garcia gives us in bits and pieces. If you are willing to suspend your disbelief, the dinosaur mystery books will be a real treat for you.

If you're going to read Anonymous Rex then be prepared to not only suspend your disbelief, but to tie it to a chair,carry it to the basement. gag it and stab it to death with some kind of garden tool. Dinosaurs disguised as people? Give me a break. This isn't genre bending. It's absurd. The characters are not believeable and the plot routine at best. Save your money.

Saw this book at the bookstore, and once I read the inside of the jacket, I knew I had to buy it!! Here I am, a mere 5 hours after starting the book, completely finished. I had to know how it ended. At times, you almost forgot that it was anything other than an engaging murder mystery. The twists and turns of the plot are wonderful to behold, and the character development was phenomenal. If I have any complaints, it's that the concept of famous humans actually being something other than human is so, well, Men in Black. However, Garcia does not dwell on these revelations, so they are no more than a distraction. I am buying the follow up novel ASAP! If you are in the market for a fun read, and just happen to love the Discovery Channels build a dinosaur section, then this is the book for you!!

I just wanted to make a few comments on this book.

I read a lot of humorous books in this vein from Hiaasen, Chris Moore, Bill Fitzhugh, Tim Dorsey, and so on, but it would be hard to imagine a wilder premise than the one in Garcia's book. Dinosaurs didn't die at the end of the Cretaceous, as we thought, instead, they evolved into down-sized versions of their former selves and are now running around disgused in human drag, unbeknownst to us humans. The private eye main character himself is a dino, a raptor, if I recall, but anyway, a number of species have survived and are living among us.

There are other quirky aspects to the story as well. In every detective story there is usually some gorgeous bombshell the hard-bitten detective falls for. But in Garcia's book he falls for a human female, and some hot sheet music (between the sheets, that is) ensues. Inter-species affairs are strictly forbidden, since it could blow their cover, but he can't help himself.

There are more wild hijinks in this book I could tell you about, but as I just wanted to make a few comments, I'll let you discover them for yourself. Garcia has pulled off a little coup here by writing a very funny novel based on a wildly outrageous premise, and which he manages to pull off in style.

I've rarely had more fun reading a story! Garcia takes an absolutely out-the-window bizarre premise (1 out of every 20 humans is actually a dinosaur in disguise - yeah, RIGHT!), and writes it so well that it works! This is only made possible by his total faithfulness in one plane to the private dick genre, while doing alternate reality s.f. on another plane, AND messing wildly with science-run-amok horror on yet another. This is an amazing feat of writing!
Wryly humorous, thought-provoking, and steamy by turns, this tale (tail?) gets you right under this guy's (guise?) fake skin. Oh, so very well done, Mr. Garcia!

As expected, this book was the usual combination of detective yarn and... uh... dino flick? True, the 2 don't seem to combine well but that is where Garcia's book has its greatest success. Some of the elements are laugh out loud funny and to top it all off, its a pretty clever detective story. Certainly great summer reading. growl. You never know who to trust...

Eric Garcia has created an alternate universe of private eyes, dinosaurs and humans, where people are never quite what they seem and danger lurks around most corners. Clever and "fiercely" original, Garcia spins a highly unusual tale mixed with social commentary and satire. Highly recommended and four very big stars for originality. You will never look at a basil leaf the same.

This is a wonderful detective story, as well as a hillarious book! I loved it! Eric Garcia takes you into a world where anything can and will happen. He describes in an exellent way! This book is awsome, will keep you on the floor laughing, and provide an exellent detective story! I LOVED THIS BOOK! BUY IT, YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED!

Not your typical private dick. The story is not new, but the characters are like nothing seen before. The writing is excellent and the humor sly and enjoyable. The perfect antidote for the tired and overused plots and heroes of a lot of the new detective novels. Bring on the next chapter.