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Anonymous Rex #1-2
Anonymous Rex / Casual Rex
Anonymous Rexwill soon be atelevision movie event on the Sci-Fi channel starring Isaac Hayes and Faye Dunaway! Premieres Saturday, November 13th. For more information visit the official Sci-Fi Channel website... Anonymous Vincent Rubio, a Los Angeles private investigator, is down on his He's out of work. His car's been repossessed. His partner has died under mysterious circumstances. And his tail just won't stay put. Vincent is a dinosaur—a Velociraptor, to be precise. It seems the dinosaurs faked their extinction 65 million years ago and still roam the earth, disguised in convincing latex costumes that help them blend perfectly into human society. A heightened sense of smell allows the dinos to detect one another—Vincent's got an odor like a tasty Cuban cigar! When Vincent is called to investigate a two-bit case of arson at a hip dino nightclub, he discovers something much more sinister, which lures him back to New York City—the scene of his partner's death and a dangerous nexus of dinosaur and human intermingling. Will Vincent solve the mystery of his partner's death? Will a gorgeous blond chanteuse discover his true identity, jeopardizing both their lives? Will Vincent be able to conquer his dangerous addiction to basil, or will he wind up in Herbaholics Anonymous? Will he find true love, or resort to crumpled issues of Stegolicious?. Somewhere between Jurassic Park and L.A. Confidential lies Eric Garcia's Anonymous Rex , one of the smartest, wittiest, and most entertaining debuts this side of the Ice Age. Casual Rex : In 1999, Eric Garcia made his mark with one of the most striking mystery debuts of the year, Anonymous Rex , hailed as a dino-mite detective yarn by People , inventive and imaginative by USA Today , and a fresh and antic comic thriller by The Seattle Times . Now, with Casual Rex , the sharpest dinosaur-detective in Los Angeles is back, funnier and grittier than ever, for the next tale in this acclaimed series. Vincent Rubio is a private eye, working the angles in Los Angeles with his partner, Ernie. They've got the usual problems bills, bum cases, woman troubles. But being dinosaurs is not a problem, as long as their latex disguises fit properly. Not all dinosaurs agree. Some have joined a mysterious back-to-basics movement led by a beautiful and beguiling Velociraptor to help dinosaurs find themselves, let their tails hang out, and roam about as they really are. When a member of this cult dies under suspicious circumstances, Vincent and Ernie must investigate, while simultaneously handling the case of the missing Mussolini the theft of a rare and priceless prosthetic penis treasured in the dinosaur community. With Casual Rex , Eric Garcia takes readers even more deeply into this warped underworld and succeeds in making it all believable. The result is a novel that is as hilarious and entertaining as it is original.
565 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Eric Garcia
45books74followersEric Garcia grew up in Miami, Florida, and attended Cornell University and the University of Southern California, where he majored in creative writing and film. He lives outside Los Angeles with his wife, daughter, and dachshund. He is also developing a series for the Sci Fi channel based on the Rex novels.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 11, 2018
I understand why the publishers have placed Casual Rex before Anonymous Rex in this compilation volume, it is a prequel. However, for those like myself, who haven't read either before, this is not the best order. Most of the ground rules for this setting are laid out in the first book, that I was finding it somewhat confusing. So, I stopped reading Casual Rex and started on Anonymous Rex, which I have now finished.
This is clearly not a book meant to be taken too seriously. Garcia is well-versed in P.I. fiction and this shows with the occasional homage to film noir and the novels of Chandler and similar authors. And if you do take it seriously, you will get annoyed - there are a lot of things in here that don't make sense from a scientific point-of-view. So this is definitely speculative fiction rather than science fiction.
Overall, it was enjoyable, but not so much that I'll be reading Casual Rex straight away. I'll get to it eventually.
So, it was a few years before I felt inspired to go back and read the second book in this combo pack but I have now done that. I think it's better than Anonymous Rex, but not by a great deal. It has more of a sci-fi feel and concentrates more on the characters being dinosaurs than the first book, which had a feeling of being a PI novel where the characters just happened to be dinos. Still, a reasonably enjoyable read, although I felt the ending was a bit weak.
This is clearly not a book meant to be taken too seriously. Garcia is well-versed in P.I. fiction and this shows with the occasional homage to film noir and the novels of Chandler and similar authors. And if you do take it seriously, you will get annoyed - there are a lot of things in here that don't make sense from a scientific point-of-view. So this is definitely speculative fiction rather than science fiction.
Overall, it was enjoyable, but not so much that I'll be reading Casual Rex straight away. I'll get to it eventually.
So, it was a few years before I felt inspired to go back and read the second book in this combo pack but I have now done that. I think it's better than Anonymous Rex, but not by a great deal. It has more of a sci-fi feel and concentrates more on the characters being dinosaurs than the first book, which had a feeling of being a PI novel where the characters just happened to be dinos. Still, a reasonably enjoyable read, although I felt the ending was a bit weak.
January 17, 2017
I almost quit reading this at the start because I didn't think that a story about a private detective that was a dinosaur disguised as a human would be anything but funky. It turned out that the author was able to not only write such a story (two novels in one in this book), but make it entertaining. Amazing.
July 4, 2017
Eric Garcia's Casual Rex & Anonymous Rex duology takes an extremely absurd concept and runs with it. The books follows a PI who is a raptor in disguise, and is really one of a multitude of dinosaurs that masquerade as humans in every day life, thanks to a series of complex gear they wear to disguise their body. This concept, coupled with the noir genre, makes these books imaginative and hilarious.
Interestingly, the duology presents Anonymous Rex first, which while preceding Casual Rex, was actually written after the other work. Anonymous Rex is a much lighter work, more comedy and the plot really never takes on a grim tone. Casual Rex begins darkly, with Vincent Rubio mourning over his lost friend and his life in shambles, and that novel follows many more of the noir conventions. Still, both works do an entertaining job exploring what life would be like if there were dinosaurs in disguise, from a cult of dinosaurs who want to retake the world from humans and regain their ancestry to science attempting to bridge the gap between human and dinosaur.
At the end of the day, the novels are absurd and the works relish that. The novels go into great detail how the dinosaur protagonists wear these costumes that allow them to masquerade as humans, complete with humorous buckles, zippers and contraptions that make them seemingly indistinguishable from humanity. It's laughable, and Garcia plays up that with all these other crazy things the dinosaurs do that humans never notice. How humans never found out about this farce is amazing, though the fact the dinosaurs kill and humans who know their secret on sight does solve that problem.
Anyhow, the combined novels are crazy entertaining and imaginative. I don't imagine I'll go out of my way to pick up the third book, but if I find it I'll definitely read it as well.
Interestingly, the duology presents Anonymous Rex first, which while preceding Casual Rex, was actually written after the other work. Anonymous Rex is a much lighter work, more comedy and the plot really never takes on a grim tone. Casual Rex begins darkly, with Vincent Rubio mourning over his lost friend and his life in shambles, and that novel follows many more of the noir conventions. Still, both works do an entertaining job exploring what life would be like if there were dinosaurs in disguise, from a cult of dinosaurs who want to retake the world from humans and regain their ancestry to science attempting to bridge the gap between human and dinosaur.
At the end of the day, the novels are absurd and the works relish that. The novels go into great detail how the dinosaur protagonists wear these costumes that allow them to masquerade as humans, complete with humorous buckles, zippers and contraptions that make them seemingly indistinguishable from humanity. It's laughable, and Garcia plays up that with all these other crazy things the dinosaurs do that humans never notice. How humans never found out about this farce is amazing, though the fact the dinosaurs kill and humans who know their secret on sight does solve that problem.
Anyhow, the combined novels are crazy entertaining and imaginative. I don't imagine I'll go out of my way to pick up the third book, but if I find it I'll definitely read it as well.
July 7, 2021
Couldn't get through it. Sorry. First 100 pages were mildly amusing but the joke got long winded and boring. More of a short story or novella concept.
August 16, 2023
Fun casual read! It was a nice reprieve from life chaos at the time, and I would recommend it to dino and satire lovers alike!
March 13, 2011
First off, I find it rather odd that this edition has Casual Rex placed before Anonymous Rex; while it's true that Casual is set a few years prior to Anonymous, Anonymous was the first of the two to be published (Casual is actually a prequel). That's not saying that both of them don't stand on their own (because they do), and that it's not perfectly fine to read Casual before Anonymous (I did), but I still find it a bit odd.
Anyway. These books are quite bizarre. But in a good way. Garcia has managed to create something truly original here, and he pulls it off fairly well (what would one compare it to anyway?). There's a nice film noir feel to the story, and the star is a classic fast witted and snarky P.I. (who quite likes the idea of a trench coat and who just happens to be a Raptor in disguise).
The characters are all likable, especially the secondary ones, though Gracia seems to be in the bad habit of killing them off rather mercilessly; I might have made a mistake by reading Casual Rex before Anonymous Rex, because I quite fell in love with Ernie and wanted to read more about him, only to have him wind up dead before Anonymous even starts. The same goes for Dan, though he manages to hang on at least two thirds into Casual.
The plotlines are rather ludicrous (a sect in Casual and cross-species genetic engineering in Anonymous), though the whole franchise could fall under that heading, so it's not really a complaint - if you're willing to suspend your disbelief long enough to accept dinosaurs wearing human suits and walking amongst us, then secret sects and dino/human babies are a walk in the park.
A few things bothered me, story wise: First off, there doesn't seem to be any real connection between Casual and Anonymous. I can understand if major events in Casual (like the whole life altering Progressive moment Vincent experienced) doesn't affect characters in Anonymous, seeing as the former wasn't written at the time of the latter's publication, but I think other, smaller stuff, should have had an impact. Vincent's car, for example, which seems to have been downgraded between the two books, even though I got the distinct impression that it was supposed to have been the same make and model; or the way Vincent's disgust of humans is so much stronger in Anonymous than in the prequel; or the matter concerning Ernie's race - he spends all of Casual being a Carnotaur (page 53), but in Anonymous Vincent describes him as a Raptor (page 351) (the same happens with Sutherland, who goes from an Ankylosaur (page 56) to a Triceratops (page 100), within less than 50 pages).
The endings are quite unsatisfactory as well. Garcia manages to tie all the plot strings up nicely, but none of the bad guys are ever brought to justice - they either die (killed while trying to get away or by their own hands, in sacrifice for the greater good), escape or are pardoned - which can be frustrating for a reader as it lacks that feeling of closure.
Other than that it was an... interesting read. I enjoyed it while it lasted, though I'm pretty sure I won't go out of my way to hunt down Hot and Sweaty Rex - I'm really too fond of Ernie to read another novel without him in it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2015
Εκπληκτικής μπουρδολογίας τάχαμου-νουάρ, τάχαμου-ΕΙ, τάχαμου-εφ νουβέλα, που είχε δύο (2) ολόκληρα σίκουελ περισσότερα από όσα χρειαζόταν. Έβαλα σπόιλερ ταγκ, μην και το δει κανείς απότομα και του αποκολληθεί ο αμφιβληστροειδής.
Πάμε.
Ο Βίνσεντ Ρούμπιο είναι ξεπεσμένος ντετέκτιβ στο Λος Άντζελες. Έχει πρόβλημα με ναρκωτικά και οικονομικά κι ο συνεργάτης του έχει σκοτωθεί κι ακόμη δεν το έχει ξεπεράσει. Η μόνη διαφορά με τους εκάστοτε Μάρλοου είναι ότι ο Βίνσεντ είναι Βελοσιράπτορας. Κι όταν λέω Βελοσιράπτορας, εννοώ ακριβώς αυτό που θα βγει όταν γκουγκλάρετε τη λέξη. Velociraptor. Και στα αγγλικά.
Πάρτε μια βαθιά ανάσα. Άλλη μία. Ξεθόλωσαν τα μάτια; Εντάξει; Θα αντέξετε το παρακάτω;
Διότι οι δεινόσαυροι (λέει) δεν έχουν εξαφανιστεί, αλλά πριν από τρία εκατομμύρια χρόνια (λέει) αποφάσισαν να κρατήσουν μυστική την ύπαρξή τους από τα δίπολα ζωντόβολα (λέεεεει). Και γι' αυτό τώρα ζουν ανάμεσά μας, σε ένα ποσοστό επί του γενικού πληθυσμού 5% κι επί του αμερικανικού πληθυσμού 12-15%. Μασκαρεμένοι κάτω από πλαστικές στολές και γάντια.
Δεν πιστεύω να θέλετε ν' ακούσετε παρακάτω;
Ότι οι δεινόσαυροι δεν μπορούν να μεταβολίσουν το αλκοόλ ή τα αλκαλοειδή και κάνουν κεφάλι με βασιλικό, μαντζουράνα και ρίγανη; Ότι δεν τίθεται θέμα διασταύρωσης (!) με τους homo αλλά τελικά ο Βίνσεντ τα φτιάχνει με μια ανθρωπίνα (!!) που του προκύπτει τελικά δεινοσαυρίνα (!!!) και που στο τέλος καταφέρνει να κάνει, μέσω ανίερων πειραμάτων παιδί (πόσα θαυμαστικά να χωρέσουν πια...!) με έναν άνθρωπο που το παίζει δεινόσαυρος; (λυπούμεθα, αλλά το θαυμαστικό μόλις παραιτήθηκε και βρίσκεται καθ' οδόν για Κανάριες Νήσους, για west and welaxation at wast.)
Δεν έχω άλλες ερωτήσεις για τον μάρτυρα, κύριοι δικασταί. Διότι μάρτυρας υπήρξα όσο το διάβαζα. Τουλάχιστον είχε μια στρωτή ροή, μια κάποια συνέπεια στη γραφή και στην πλοκή του και χαρακτήρες στα όρια του αρχετυπικού. Ευτυχώς λέω, ευτυχώς.
Και λίγα πιο επεξηγηματικά. Πολλά πράγματα, ακριβώς επειδή δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση να βρει τρόπο να τα δικαιολογήσει, ο Γκαρσία τα αφήνει στον αέρα. Σα να σου κλείνει το μάτι, γουίνκ-γουίνκ, "ξέρω ότι αυτό που λέω δε στέκει, αλλά άμα έστεκε δε θα ήταν πολύ κουλ τα πράγματα, ε, ε, ε;"
Κι από την άλλη, θα μπορούσε να είναι κάτι σαν το Μπλάκσαντ, αλλά δεν είναι, γιατί οι δεινόσαυροι βρίσκονται κρυφά ανάμεσά μας. Ενώ στο Μπλάκσαντ είναι μια κλασσική κλασσικότατη ιστορία με ανθρωπόμορφα ζώα.
Και όχι, δεν είναι χιουμοριστικό σαν το Ντερκ Τζέντλυ, ούτε και σατιρίζει κάτι. Αντίθετα, ο ήρωας, αν αποστασιοποιηθείς από τα δεινοσαυρικά, είναι ένα ζάκι που μασουλάει συνεχώς τη δόση του. Ειδικά στις πρώτες σελίδες δεν κάνει τίποτε άλλο, συνεχώς ασχολείται με τη ντρόγκα. Το ότι η ντρόγκα αυτή είναι ξέρω ΄γω βασιλικός και ρίγανη δεν κάνουν την υπόθεση λιγότερο creeopy.
Πάμε.
Ο Βίνσεντ Ρούμπιο είναι ξεπεσμένος ντετέκτιβ στο Λος Άντζελες. Έχει πρόβλημα με ναρκωτικά και οικονομικά κι ο συνεργάτης του έχει σκοτωθεί κι ακόμη δεν το έχει ξεπεράσει. Η μόνη διαφορά με τους εκάστοτε Μάρλοου είναι ότι ο Βίνσεντ είναι Βελοσιράπτορας. Κι όταν λέω Βελοσιράπτορας, εννοώ ακριβώς αυτό που θα βγει όταν γκουγκλάρετε τη λέξη. Velociraptor. Και στα αγγλικά.
Πάρτε μια βαθιά ανάσα. Άλλη μία. Ξεθόλωσαν τα μάτια; Εντάξει; Θα αντέξετε το παρακάτω;
Διότι οι δεινόσαυροι (λέει) δεν έχουν εξαφανιστεί, αλλά πριν από τρία εκατομμύρια χρόνια (λέει) αποφάσισαν να κρατήσουν μυστική την ύπαρξή τους από τα δίπολα ζωντόβολα (λέεεεει). Και γι' αυτό τώρα ζουν ανάμεσά μας, σε ένα ποσοστό επί του γενικού πληθυσμού 5% κι επί του αμερικανικού πληθυσμού 12-15%. Μασκαρεμένοι κάτω από πλαστικές στολές και γάντια.
Δεν πιστεύω να θέλετε ν' ακούσετε παρακάτω;
Ότι οι δεινόσαυροι δεν μπορούν να μεταβολίσουν το αλκοόλ ή τα αλκαλοειδή και κάνουν κεφάλι με βασιλικό, μαντζουράνα και ρίγανη; Ότι δεν τίθεται θέμα διασταύρωσης (!) με τους homo αλλά τελικά ο Βίνσεντ τα φτιάχνει με μια ανθρωπίνα (!!) που του προκύπτει τελικά δεινοσαυρίνα (!!!) και που στο τέλος καταφέρνει να κάνει, μέσω ανίερων πειραμάτων παιδί (πόσα θαυμαστικά να χωρέσουν πια...!) με έναν άνθρωπο που το παίζει δεινόσαυρος; (λυπούμεθα, αλλά το θαυμαστικό μόλις παραιτήθηκε και βρίσκεται καθ' οδόν για Κανάριες Νήσους, για west and welaxation at wast.)
Δεν έχω άλλες ερωτήσεις για τον μάρτυρα, κύριοι δικασταί. Διότι μάρτυρας υπήρξα όσο το διάβαζα. Τουλάχιστον είχε μια στρωτή ροή, μια κάποια συνέπεια στη γραφή και στην πλοκή του και χαρακτήρες στα όρια του αρχετυπικού. Ευτυχώς λέω, ευτυχώς.
Και λίγα πιο επεξηγηματικά. Πολλά πράγματα, ακριβώς επειδή δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση να βρει τρόπο να τα δικαιολογήσει, ο Γκαρσία τα αφήνει στον αέρα. Σα να σου κλείνει το μάτι, γουίνκ-γουίνκ, "ξέρω ότι αυτό που λέω δε στέκει, αλλά άμα έστεκε δε θα ήταν πολύ κουλ τα πράγματα, ε, ε, ε;"
Κι από την άλλη, θα μπορούσε να είναι κάτι σαν το Μπλάκσαντ, αλλά δεν είναι, γιατί οι δεινόσαυροι βρίσκονται κρυφά ανάμεσά μας. Ενώ στο Μπλάκσαντ είναι μια κλασσική κλασσικότατη ιστορία με ανθρωπόμορφα ζώα.
Και όχι, δεν είναι χιουμοριστικό σαν το Ντερκ Τζέντλυ, ούτε και σατιρίζει κάτι. Αντίθετα, ο ήρωας, αν αποστασιοποιηθείς από τα δεινοσαυρικά, είναι ένα ζάκι που μασουλάει συνεχώς τη δόση του. Ειδικά στις πρώτες σελίδες δεν κάνει τίποτε άλλο, συνεχώς ασχολείται με τη ντρόγκα. Το ότι η ντρόγκα αυτή είναι ξέρω ΄γω βασιλικός και ρίγανη δεν κάνουν την υπόθεση λιγότερο creeopy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2011
Eric Garcia has created a world that, bar none, is one of the most novel I have had the fortune to step into during all the years I have been reading. The premise of his noir-ish detective stories, told - of course - first-person by Vincent Rubio, is that all dinosaurs did NOT become extinct 65 million years ago; in fact, 16 species survived, mutated and now live among us, disguised as humans (apparently with the use of lots of high-stress girdles, buckles and epoxy). Garcia presents this so matter-of-factly that while reading, you just go with it - maybe once you have put the book down and are thinking about it, you might go "hey, waitaminute," but while reading the book he makes it seem eminently plausible.
This omnibus presents the first two books in the series in chronological order, rather than publication date so "Casual Rex" is actually first up. Rubio's partner Watson's ex-wife comes to them for help - her brother is part of a strange cult and she wants them to get him out. So, they go out and infiltrate the cult, with equal measures of comic and horrific results. I won't go into any more details as to what happens here, or to any of the other events of the story so as to avoid ruining it for you, but this story is actually quite humorous in many places while having a darker core as well. "Anonymous Rex" is a slightly different matter - from what I could piece together, it takes place about 9 months after the end of the previous book (I believe the case referenced is the case that Watson was leaving to investigate at the end of that book); Watson has been killed - supposedly in a hit-and-run by a taxi in New York. Rubio has gone on a serious bender with the basil and is refusing to buy the story about what happened with Watson and as a result has just about burned all his bridges and lost most of his business. Things are looking really bleak when he gets thrown a bone by one of the big companies in town - which seems to lead right back to the case that Watson was investigating when he was killed. Although this story is a bit darker, it provides quite a number of laugh-out-loud moments as well, and both of the stories are also well-crafted mysteries at their base.
Take this trip inside the mind of a truly creative writer. You will NOT regret it!
This omnibus presents the first two books in the series in chronological order, rather than publication date so "Casual Rex" is actually first up. Rubio's partner Watson's ex-wife comes to them for help - her brother is part of a strange cult and she wants them to get him out. So, they go out and infiltrate the cult, with equal measures of comic and horrific results. I won't go into any more details as to what happens here, or to any of the other events of the story so as to avoid ruining it for you, but this story is actually quite humorous in many places while having a darker core as well. "Anonymous Rex" is a slightly different matter - from what I could piece together, it takes place about 9 months after the end of the previous book (I believe the case referenced is the case that Watson was leaving to investigate at the end of that book); Watson has been killed - supposedly in a hit-and-run by a taxi in New York. Rubio has gone on a serious bender with the basil and is refusing to buy the story about what happened with Watson and as a result has just about burned all his bridges and lost most of his business. Things are looking really bleak when he gets thrown a bone by one of the big companies in town - which seems to lead right back to the case that Watson was investigating when he was killed. Although this story is a bit darker, it provides quite a number of laugh-out-loud moments as well, and both of the stories are also well-crafted mysteries at their base.
Take this trip inside the mind of a truly creative writer. You will NOT regret it!
January 20, 2015
There are two complete novels in this book. Anonymous Rex and Casual Rex. Hard boiled detective stories, but the complication is that 30 percent of the population of the world are actually very effectively disguised dinosaurs who have been living among us since hominids first evolved. Anonymous is actually a prequel to Casual. The first book deals with a cult of dinosaurs who are into getting back in touch with their ancestral selves by going without their human guises and eating raw food. Members of the cult who are deprogrammed have a pattern of dying. The dinosaur detectives investigate.
The second book deals with miscegenation. A suspicious fire in a nightclub leading to the critical burning of the manager leads to a desperate dinosaur detective being hired to investigate. The investigation leads him to New York, where his partner died in circumstances that Vincent considers irregular.
The books are fun, but not great. Good airplane read.
The second book deals with miscegenation. A suspicious fire in a nightclub leading to the critical burning of the manager leads to a desperate dinosaur detective being hired to investigate. The investigation leads him to New York, where his partner died in circumstances that Vincent considers irregular.
The books are fun, but not great. Good airplane read.
February 5, 2012
I must admit, I struggled between 4 and 5 stars on this one.
This book contains both Causual Rex and Anonymous Rex. As I understand it, CR is a prequel published after AR but is presented first in this particular publication. I read CR first but I can see the pros and cons of reading them in either order. I did note some consistancy issues that were pretty obvious even to me. But at the end of the day it was so original and I liked Rubio so much that I am breaking out a rarely used 5 star rating. I'm surprised this book isn't rated higher in general. I was a little sad to finish it and even moreso to know that there is only one more adventure for the Dino detective. I will be searching out Hot And Sweaty Rex soon.
This book contains both Causual Rex and Anonymous Rex. As I understand it, CR is a prequel published after AR but is presented first in this particular publication. I read CR first but I can see the pros and cons of reading them in either order. I did note some consistancy issues that were pretty obvious even to me. But at the end of the day it was so original and I liked Rubio so much that I am breaking out a rarely used 5 star rating. I'm surprised this book isn't rated higher in general. I was a little sad to finish it and even moreso to know that there is only one more adventure for the Dino detective. I will be searching out Hot And Sweaty Rex soon.
May 1, 2007
I'm counting this as two books for my yearly tally. This particular volume is two novels in one. Both are noir-but-not-really mysteries involving an alternate universe where dinosaurs survived the mass extinction and now live dressed as humans among the rest of us. The lead character is a velocirapter PI. Both books have mysteries that are well-crafted and have surprising turns. I thoroughly enjoyed both, which is saying a lot considering I found the book for $5 on the bargain table at B&N.
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July 27, 2011Anonymous Rex is a bit serious. Casual Rex was a lot more fun for me. Though C.R. was the second book written, it's presented first in this omnibus because it's a pre-quel. They are both VERY creative and that's a big plus for me. The author uses his thesaurus to the fullest and the result is great imagery and descriptions, which I greatly admire. The drawback -- the P.I. genre isn't my favorite. Overall, I thought they were quite good, but I won't be continuing the series.
April 7, 2013
I read the blurb on the back and had to read it.
So this is a paint by numbers noir novel (really two novels in one volume in my version) that's saving grace is that dinosaurs never died out, they just disguise themselves as human and live among us even today. Garcia does a good job of really making the day to day of a disguised Dino interesting and funny which helps mask the otherwise bland and rehearsed plots. But that's the beauty of a good pulpy read.
So this is a paint by numbers noir novel (really two novels in one volume in my version) that's saving grace is that dinosaurs never died out, they just disguise themselves as human and live among us even today. Garcia does a good job of really making the day to day of a disguised Dino interesting and funny which helps mask the otherwise bland and rehearsed plots. But that's the beauty of a good pulpy read.
January 10, 2008
Just some fun, silly stories. There were a couple of points in the first one, Casual Rex, where the story got a little bogged down and dragged out unnecessarily. But a neat idea, well-executed, and great for anyone looking to read something entertaining and/or not real deep.
February 7, 2009
I have always meant to read these books just because they sounded so odd and funny. Once I saw this book, I just went for it and bought them all. It was a very entertaining book full of the humor that I really do appreciate. Way cool.
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January 20, 2009Not my usual style. Found it on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble. Hoping for the best
July 29, 2009
So far it's really VERY good!! A fun read
January 14, 2011
Both very good detective stories, with that dinasaur twist! Fun to read!
October 21, 2010
What if dinosaurs walked among us, disguised as humans? Supposed to be a witty take on noir detective novels (I think), I just couldn't dig it.
July 28, 2011
Such a creative concept that pulls the reader in and makes him or her look at those around them wondering...which of you is a dinosaur in disguise?
August 11, 2011
So much fun!! I did a lot of laughing. Takes a bit to wrap your mind around it, but once you do, it's such a great ride!
May 21, 2012
loved it can't wait to find/read the other one
November 1, 2014
Grest book....everyone should read this!!!!
December 16, 2016
Good read! This is a 2 story omnibus edition. Each story was a little slow to start, but once going (about 20-25 pages), quite enjoyable.
April 14, 2017
Fun and silly
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