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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Take Comfort, April 1, 2008
This review is from: First the Dead (Bug Man Series #3) (Hardcover)
Tim Downs has been off in the corner, quietly, but not safely, creating one of the best characters in modern suspense. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, has evolved from the Coke-bottle spectacles and reclusive nature of his first appearance into a more physical creature, using witty sarcasm as a natural defense, and putting his insect-loving ways to good use in the face of danger.
This time around (don't forget to read "Shoofly Pie" and "Chop Shop" right away, if you haven't already), the Bug Man finds himself in the swampy mess of New Orleans in the days before and after Hurricane Katrina. Working with DMORT, as a ragtag extension of FEMA, his job is to recover bodies and rescue the living. He's reminded that the living come first on the list of priorities, but that list is challenged by Polchak's discovery of corpses that seem to predate the natural disaster. Could someone be using the catastrophe to cover crimes from the recent past?
Downs does a fantastic job of giving backstory and personality to his lead character, while never slowing the forward progress of the story. He shows great respect for the citizens of New Orleans and those involved in her rebuilding efforts, while never softening his story. Even as the Bug Man works long hours to get to the truth, he is joined by J.T., a young survivor looking for his father, and by Beth, his psychiatrist friend. There is all kinds of room here for romantic development and emotional release for bottled-up Nick Polchak--and, in fact, I hoped Downs would give us a little more of it. On the other hand, this is what keeps the Bug Man so interesting, infuriating, and addictive. Dealing with the destruction of flood waters and breached levees, Polchak continues to keep his own heart dammed.
Last year, I was blown away by the raw beauty of James Lee Burke's "The Tin Roof Blowdown," another Katrina novel. Downs steps to the plate with his own writing, providing a vastly different look and feel that remains true and respectful as well. Some of my favorite Bug Man scenes ever are in this book (imagine a nighttime swim through a flooded house). Though Nick Polchak may still need a heart transplant, I take comfort in the fact he is in the hands of master novelist Tim Downs.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bugman is back! ...could be Tim Downs' strongest book yet., February 10, 2008
This review is from: First the Dead (Bug Man Series #3) (Hardcover)
Where were you on August 29th, 2005? If you're anything like the average American, you probably don't remember. We can barely recite what we ate for breakfast this morning, let alone what happened to us on a specific day years ago. But if you're a Gulf state resident, August 29th is a day you probably never will forget.
That late summer Monday was the day Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history ($81.2 billion) and the sixth strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, made landfall. Almost two thousand people lost their lives from its effects. But did they all die of natural causes? What if someone took advantage of a storm they knew would wreak havoc to dispose of their murdered victims? First The Dead proposes someone did just that--someone who didn't expect forensic entomologist Nick Polchak to volunteer with the DMORT response team.
Dubbed the "Bugman", Nick made his debut in Tim Downs' first novel Shoofly Pie. Readers grew to love the eccentric character with thick glasses who thought of himself more as an insect than a human, and Downs followed up with Chop Shop, the unofficial Book #2 in the series. He even gave Nick a cameo in his non-Bugman book Plague Maker. In First the Dead the Bugman is back in all his quirky glory. Downs has us immediately loving the guy all over again.
As Nick lends his hand in the rescue efforts it isn't long before he starts recovering dead bodies, much to his superiors' dismay. Their motto is "first the living", and it's very much against orders for Nick to bring the bodies in before the rescues are completed. Surprise, surprise--he does it anyway. After all, as a forensic entomologist it's his job to examine bugs, namely the maggots infesting human remains. Through the larvae of ordinary (and sometimes not so ordinary) flies he can accurately pinpoint a time of death, and often the location of the death. Some of the bodies he finds in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath obviously met their demise from the hurricane. Others cause Nick to speculate foul play. It's something else his superiors' don't want to hear.
The buggish details in this novel are not for the squeamish. Nick is fond of sharing the often grotesque particulars of his profession with his uninitiated acquaintances, and the descriptions could turn the stomachs of some readers. Others (myself included) will find the facts delightfully intriguing because they're disgusting. Who knew a body in water decomposes in six stages and doesn't float until it bloats in the second stage?
The banter between Nick and supporting character Dr. Beth Woodbridge, a psychiatrist who may or may not be attracted to Nick, is the highlight of the First the Dead reading experience. Some of the dead-pan one liners Nick delivers are hilarious. These lighter moments give us a reprieve between the darker scenes featuring the villain. More a suspense than a mystery, you might be able to guess the bad guy early on. But that could've been the way Downs planned it. By knowing, or at least suspecting, you're constantly worried for Nick and his companions.
As in his previous works, Downs has done his homework, and we experience his research on every page. Except for Chapter 4's somewhat dull DMORT briefing (even Nick was bored during the meeting), Downs weaves his facts and figures seamlessly into the narrative. Even that scene was probably intended to give us a glimpse into exactly what goes on during one of these gatherings.
In some ways First the Dead presents a softer and gentler Nick Polchak. Early on he becomes the impromptu guardian of a young boy searching for his missing father, and it's in these exchanges we realize perhaps, just maybe, Nick has a heart after all. The spiritual take-away is limited to Nick's sense of honor and duty (as in the previous Bugman novels), but there's nothing a Christian would find offensive. Violence is kept mostly off-stage, or at least not described for shock value. The goriest moments come from the bugs and clinical examination of bodies, not the murders.
For anyone who didn't realize the utter devastation Hurricane Katrina caused to not only New Orleans but also the surrounding area, First the Dead will be an eye-opener. It could be Tim Downs' strongest book yet. With a setting that hits close to home and loveable characters to root for, it'll keep you rapt.
--Reviewed by C.J. Darlington for TitleTrakk
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yeah, Bug Man's Actually Human, September 19, 2008
When you think of a novel that attempts to deal with a sensitive matter such as Hurricane Katrina, you either sink or swim. No other way around it. Either you put it together well, or you leave it alone! Tim Downs chose to take it on, and he pulled it off quite well. Especially concerning our favorite entomologist, Bug Man, Nick Polchak. So, how does he do that? Does he actually make smart-mouth Nick seem human for once? Yeah, you could say that! Ok, we've seen Nick's version of humanity once or twice but...NEVER MIND, JUST READ THE REVIEW AND READ THE BOOK!!
Welcome to the heart of a wet and murky, downright dirty and disgusting, New Orleans. You are in the heart of where the hurricane hit. Nick is part of DMORT Team, which basically means you might find some human remains somewhere along the line. But wait! Did that just say that Nick is part of a team? Yeah, Team Nick Polchak, at your service, and he's doing things HIS way! Yep, there's no "I" in "team," but there is an "I" in Nick. Two big eyes behind a big pair of glasses that seeks to find dead bodies, not the ones who are actually living. Nick smells a rat, a big stinky rat that's been around before Katrina did her stuff. And certain people out there don't want Nick going there, especially with dead bodies. And a certain gorgeous psychiatrist is going out of her way to look out for Nick's best interest, and that's a good thing. Are there unexpected surprises? Oh yeah. Are some of them actually good? You might say that some of these surprises are actually quite special.
Prepare yourself for a great "Bug Man" book, the third one in this crazy, wacked out series. Is there the question that Tim Downs might have overstepped his bounderies? I don't think so. He goes to great lengths to assure us that those involved in the rescue missions of Hurrican Katrina have the utmost respect. Those in authority in that mess deserve some praise for doing all they could.
A great job was done by Tim Downs. I think he'll stay on my list of authors that I really enjoy reading!
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