BEAT THE REAPER
Josh Bazell/William Heinemann, £12.99.
JOSH BAZELL justifies the hype surrounding his debut novel to formulate a clever, imaginative piece tracking 24 hours in the life of the likeable Peter Brown.
A young Manhattan hospital intern, Peter begins his day by disarming a would-be mugger, with the relevance of that incident and the scenes that follow indicating a character with an unusual past.
A previous life catches up with him when he unexpectedly meets an ageing patient with whom he shares a dark secret. The story then jumps back in time to Brown’s life as Pietro Brnwa, and reveals the very reasons for his new identity.
His day of medical drudgery gathers pace, driven by fast-paced narrative and some neat plot twists that engage the reader’s interest to the final page.
JAMES CLEARY
