Casual Rex: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Eric Garcia (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are any number of ways to approach Hollywood Boulevard, but for pure shock value, the key is to strike at the heart of the beast, right where the cheese factor is the highest: the intersection of Hollywood and Highland Avenue. That's Limburger, baby, with a side of extra stink.

With this kind of snappy commentary, Vincent Rubio may seem like your average hard-boiled, cold-blooded Los Angeles PI. But as Eric Garcia's legions of fans already know from Anonymous Rex, Vincent is anything but average--though he is cold-blooded. Garcia's conceit, so cleverly fashioned that it seems oddly natural, is that dinosaurs never really became extinct and that your next-door neighbor might just be a T. rex in a latex costume. It's a twist that allows Garcia to poke fun at our human quirks ("Ankylosaurs have difficulty expressing emotion visually. Think Al Gore."), but it doesn't detract in the slightest from his well-paced, drolly comic noir.

In Casual Rex, a prequel to the first novel, Vincent, a velociraptor, gets conned into helping out his partner Ernie's ex-wife Louise. Ernie still can't resist Louise's "lilac and warm oatmeal" pheromone signature and crocodile tears (almost literally, since Louise is "one of those unfortunate dinosaurs for whom the lachrymal glands are still overproductive, even after millions of years of evolution worked this kink out of the rest of our systems"). When she comes to the agency with a story of her younger brother Rupert's involvement in a dino cult, the pair quickly find themselves masquerading as cult members, or Progressives. The Progressives are intent on reclaiming their dinosaur ancestry, or as they put it, "becoming 100% Dinosaur Natural."

The smooth talk and the stunning beauty of cult leader Circe, whose velociraptor pores emit a dizzying scent of rosemary, fennel, and thyme (all powerful dino intoxicants), fascinates even skeptical Vincent. But it quickly becomes apparent that something dangerous is simmering beneath the surface of the cult. The only question is whether Vincent and Ernie will figure out what's going on before they become 100% Dinosaur Dead.

Garcia's first novel became something of a cult item in its own right. Fans will be happy to know that Casual Rex delivers the goods again; it's funny enough to render the sophomore jinx extinct. --Kelly Flynn

From Publishers Weekly
Vincent Rubio is your typical PI: He's single, drives a Lincoln, has trouble saying no to a good-looking woman and occasionally takes photos of unfaithful husbands with their mistresses for extra cash. The only things separating him from other hard-boiled private eyes are his tail, claws and reptilian hide. In this prequel to the popular Anonymous Rex, Garcia spins another comical scenario involving Vincent and a host of other dinosaurs who never became extinct and have integrated themselves into modern society by covering up with human-looking latex costumes. Once readers get over the initial oddness of the idea, a somewhat normal detective story materializes: Vincent and his partner, Ernie, are hired by Ernie's ex-wife (herself a T. Rex) to rescue her brother Rupert from a cult group he's become involved in. As they immerse themselves in Rupert's recovery, Vincent and Ernie learn more about the cult, a sort of heritage club for dinosaurs who call themselves the Progressives. Further investigation uncovers some shady doings, and the two detectives throw themselves headlong into an inquiry involving the Progressives and other young dinos who've been lured in like Rupert. Meanwhile, in a nutty side story, the dino-shamuses agree to help their landlord get back a certain human body part of his that his girlfriend stole. Garcia keeps the jokes coming, bordering on overwriting but coming out on top to present a tale that's slightly cornball, at times hilarious and unquestionably original--though not as original as the first novel and exuding a faint air of shtick. Agent, Barbara Zitwer. (Mar. )Forecast: Fans of Garcia's first novel will enthusiastically gravitate to this follow-up, and the author's X-Files take on the classic detective tale will appeal to both mystery and SF readers. Here's a series with dino-sized legs.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1st edition (March 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679463070
• ISBN-13: 978-0679463078
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,864,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 2 in The Rex Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dino Noir - Part 2, June 1, 2002

By	Bruce Crocker "agnostictrickster" (Whittier, California United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Casual Rex (Paperback)

Vincent Rubio is a velociraptor and private investigator working in Los Angeles. If that sentence doesn't sound a bit off to you, then you should read Casual Rex by Eric Garcia. Casual Rex is the second book about Vincent Rubio, P.I., but takes place before the story told in the first book, Anonymous Rex. Vincent and his partner Ernie take on the Progressives, a church/cult that sounds a lot like a religion based in Hollywood, California that attracts some very famous people crossed with the Church Universal and Triumphant. Figuring out this alternative world where dinosaurs didn't go extinct and disguise themselves as humans isn't difficult. Even though Casual Rex and Anonymous Rex have been marketed mainly as mysteries, I think SF fans and dino fans will find a lot to like Mr. Garcia's weird world. I enjoyed Casual Rex even more than Anonymous Rex and look forward to Hot And Sweaty Rex when it comes out. I read paperback copies of both books so that I could preserve my first printing hardbacks in mint condition. I'm betting that Mr. Garcia's early books in the Rex series will be highly collectible, not that my opinion is worth all that much. About my book collecting habit...don't ask, don't ask.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Prequel's Finally Better, November 3, 2004

By	Mr. Mischief (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casual Rex (Paperback)

After just picking up Anonymous Rex because the cover caught my eye, I was surprised to find out how witty and well written it is, despite the fact that sci-fi novels really never seem to be good readin'. As you could imagine, I just had to pick up the next one (or in this case, the one before it). This book is truly the work of an articulate marvel. The innuendos and hardened, realistic characters make them seem like everyday joes (pfft, please), in an everyday world (I restate my previous comment). Follow your nose (more than one pun intended, catch them?) to your nearest bookstore to get this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Garcia is the best dino-noir writer ever!!, April 17, 2001

By	Jelly Troll Morton (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Casual Rex has as interesting a set of characters as The Maltese Pterodactyl, has a plot as intricately woven as the storyline of The Big Extinction, and is as gritty as I the Jurrasic. It's even a better read than Anonymous Rex, which I also rate at five stars.

My one problem with the book was that there were three places in the book where the author was inconsistent in his use of dinosaur species. It bothered me, but when I mention these sort of nits to most people they look at me funny. Oh, well, I guess that's my problem. Us Iguanadons are like that...