Eric Garcia (1) (1972–)

Set in the near future, our protagonist is a repossession man for a company that sells artificial organs. Default on your new liver/stomach/lungs/kidneys/etc payments, he'll come and take your liver/stomach/lungs/kidneys/etc back. And he's not at all worried if you die during repossession, that's your problem, not his.

It's a great concept, and tightly written. The plot loops around, written in flashback by our biorepo man, and as the book progresses we find out more about his distant past show more and his recent past, and how he got to where he is now. It's very well done, apart from a slightly obvious ending (okay, it was only obvious to me in retrospect, others will probably pick up on it sooner).

Recommended if you like your humour black (so black even the white bits were black, to quote Eric Olthwaite) and you don't mind a lot of splattering blood. (He does repossess livers for a living.) While reading, I thought it might make a good movie, then read the afterword and it was written first as a short story, then as a book, then as a movie, then re-written as a book. (Phew!) And the movie is due to come out this year. It's a great story (caveats about blackness of humour and violence levels), so I'll be looking forward to the movie. show less

This book is a must-read for various reasons. For one, if you like the paranoia element in works by Philip K. Dick and Alfred Bester, then you will probably like this one as well. I would say it falls somewhat in the dystopian genre (the protagonist narrating in first person can be seen as a bit similar to Winston Smith), so if you like that, this work will appeal to you as well. Next, and this is a big reason why I tell this people to read this book: it is one hell of a commentary on why we show more need a good universal health care system that cares for everyone. This novel basically shows the worse case scenario for managed and for profit care systems. In a way, it does for health care and for financial extremism (think the recession is bad now, imagine it worse if those bankers so on are not regulated at all) what The Handmaid's Tale does for religious fundamentalism taking over the country. Plus, the book itself is a pretty good thrill ride.

This is a world where any organ or body part can be replaced...for a price. Can't afford it? No problem. The Credit Union will be happy to work with you on financing. However, can't pay the loan? They send their Bio-Repo men to get their assets back by any means necessary. You bleed to death during the repossession? Too bad. You should have read the fine print and paid your loan. Rate of the loan too high? Looks like usury? Hey, what's that when you get a new kidney or liver instead of having to die waiting for a transplant? Sure, this is a future dystopian scenario, but are we really that far away from it. What really keeps us from selling organs in an open market? We already do have artificial hearts? Who is to say those won't get better and better over time? And why not other organs? And as health care costs keep spiraling out of control to the point where only the ultra-rich can get it, how long before some entrepreneurs come along and offer financing? How much different is that from, say, a rent-to-own joint or any other shady loan operations now? The beauty and strength of this book is that the future it portrays is all too plausible. Therein lies the true terror of it.

I won't spoil the ending, but I did have mixed feelings about it, which is why I did not go for the 5 stars. But the ending will leave you thinking. And as I said, it is a pretty engaging book overall. Definitely recommend it. show less

You go a little late on your payments to the credit union and the Repo-Man shows up at your door. Only this one uses ether and scalpels and he’s legally obligated to call an ambulance at your discretion. You see, this credit unit funds artiforgs – artificial organs – and if you don’t pay up, you’re not embarrassed, you’re dead.

So, this might sound familiar to you. There was a movie made of it not too long ago with Jude Law as Remy, the Repo-Man (the character in the book is show more actually unnamed). I enjoyed the film which wasn’t a surprise since anything vaguely phildickian with themes of property, identity, and evil “mega” corporations will get me into a theater seat. But I enjoyed the book more, simply for the fact that we have more details, more background, things the film didn’t have time or budget for. Garcia explains that he had a hand in writing the script adaptation and while the two are similar, the ending is quite different. Quite different. The book’s ending was poetic and even though I saw it coming 50-pages off, it felt like the right thing to happen. But it wasn’t Hollywood and I understand why the film ended the way it did, too.

This is one of those stories that is told half in the present and half in the past, alternating until they catch up. Much like the titular mambo, I suppose, but this dance was over way too quickly for me. I’ll be back for another twirl with Garcia, just let me change into proper dance shoes! show less

Reading Anonymous Rex is like watching Killer Klowns from Outer Space...swallow the premise whole and you can cruise through an interesting story. Vincent Rubio is Sam Spade in lizard skin. Disguised as a human, as is 15% of the population, the velociraptor gumshoe is investigating the death of a dinosaur, only this one is rich and his death is tied to the suspicious death of Rubio's partner. The trail leads him from LA to New York on a job that might be related. The present descendants of show more the supposedly extinct dinosaurs are human size, and possess certain characteristics. T-rex, for example, is big, blustery, and dumb as a box of fossils. Obviously, velociraptors are bright and, luckily for Rubio, capable of putting up a good fight when they get into trouble...which happens a lot. Good story. show less