In Garcia's third irresistible Rex novel (after 2001's Casual Rex
), dinosaur PI Vincent Rubio is manipulated into working for one of the main families of dinosaur organized crime. The assignment takes him to Miami, where he collides with another dino mafia family, this one headed by a childhood friend. The story line is familiar—an uneasy working agreement is broken, with much bloodshed, when one family plants an informer inside the other organization—but strongly told. Two aspects distinguish this series. One is the outrageous premise that dinosaurs aren't really extinct, but instead move freely about our world, wearing intricate disguises that make them indistinguishable from humans. You can't stop smiling, even through scenes of murder and torture. The other is the brilliant dinosaur allegories that skewer modern society, from Tupperware parties, rules for recycling and wrinkle cream to gun violence, alcoholism, drug addiction and unrelenting racial antagonism. Funny, poignant, dramatic, satiric, brutal and tender, the dinosaur world is a marvelous place to visit. This is sure to appeal to anyone with a fine sense of the absurd who appreciates good writing. (Mar. 9)
FYI:
Garcia's non-dinosaur crime novel
, Matchstick Men (2002), was made into a movie starring Nicholas Cage. He's developing a TV series for the SciFi channel based on the first Rex book
, Anonymous Rex (2000).
