Casual Rex is Garcia's second "Rex" novel, but it is actually a prequel to Anonymous Rex, I found this out after reading Casual Rex. The book is written in first person, in the classic style of ye olde detective mysteries from the golden age of Dashiell Hammett and Sam Spade, with a twist of dino. Yes I said Dino, as in dinosaurs, they did not die out they adapted and are hiding among us. 16 species survived the meteors and use high tech suits to walk among us
Victor, aka Vincent Rubio, and his partner Ernie are your basic PIs -- snooping on roving spouses, hunting down petty thieves, etc. Their humdrum state of existence changes when Ernie's ex-wife asks them to find her brother and bring him home (forcibly, if necessary). It seems the poor kid has gotten all caught up in a dino cult called the Progressives. Most dinosaurs have accepted the fact that they have to go to great pains to pass themselves off as humans, but some yearn for the old lifestyle of complete dino freedom.
Vic and Ernie infiltrate the cult and get their man, but that's just the beginning of the story.
There's something really sinister going on here, and our detective heroes are determined to find out just what the Progressives are up to. Their mission eventually leads them to a back-to-nature retreat in the islands of Hawaii, where they learn even more than they bargained for about the cult.
The novel deals with such serious issues as drug abuse (ah, sweet basil), prostitution, cults, murder, kidnapping, and your proverbial world domination and genocide, as well as friendship, love, honor, gender confusion aka drag queens, and humanity (or whatever the dinosaur equivalent of that would be). The twists were good enough to keep me second guessing myself most of the time. Worth the read if you are a fan of either sci-fi or mysteries.
Victor, aka Vincent Rubio, and his partner Ernie are your basic PIs -- snooping on roving spouses, hunting down petty thieves, etc. Their humdrum state of existence changes when Ernie's ex-wife asks them to find her brother and bring him home (forcibly, if necessary). It seems the poor kid has gotten all caught up in a dino cult called the Progressives. Most dinosaurs have accepted the fact that they have to go to great pains to pass themselves off as humans, but some yearn for the old lifestyle of complete dino freedom.
Vic and Ernie infiltrate the cult and get their man, but that's just the beginning of the story.
There's something really sinister going on here, and our detective heroes are determined to find out just what the Progressives are up to. Their mission eventually leads them to a back-to-nature retreat in the islands of Hawaii, where they learn even more than they bargained for about the cult.
The novel deals with such serious issues as drug abuse (ah, sweet basil), prostitution, cults, murder, kidnapping, and your proverbial world domination and genocide, as well as friendship, love, honor, gender confusion aka drag queens, and humanity (or whatever the dinosaur equivalent of that would be). The twists were good enough to keep me second guessing myself most of the time. Worth the read if you are a fan of either sci-fi or mysteries.
