CASUAL REX by Eric Garcia - ADVANCE READING COPY BOOK
See all titles by Eric Garcia.
Private investigator Vincent Rubio is a busy guy. He spends his days
shopping for his designer wardrobe, hanging out in the latest herb bar,
and chasing cases with his inveterate sidekick, Ernie. He's dedicated,
he's debonair -- and he's a dinosaur.
In Anonymous Rex
Garcia created an innovative and almost believable world where
dinosaurs still live among us, cleverly disguised in human costumes. Casual Rex continues the escapades of Rubio, a Velociraptor
with a penchant for basil and beautiful women, in an adventure that
will take him from the decadence of Hollywood to the primordial
landscape of Hawaii.
It all starts out as a simple missing-persons case. Ernie, a Carnotaur
whose human guise is that of a hopelessly unfashionable middle-aged
man, is contacted by his ex-wife, who is concerned for the welfare of
her brother, Rupert. He's involved in a cult called the Progressives,
whose goal is to enlighten the dinos of the world by putting them in
touch with their ancestral selves. Posing as potential members, Vincent
and Ernie infiltrate a posh Progressive party in the Hollywood Hills in
an attempt to locate Rupert and hopefully deprogram him. Unfortunately,
their mission fails, and Vincent and Ernie find themselves pitted
against an ancient force that is beyond anything they've ever
encountered before.
Caught in a web of intrigue, Vincent falls under the spell of the nubile leader of the Progressives, a fellow Velociraptor
named Circe. Urging him to shed his human guise, she warns him of the
dangers of becoming too human and regales him with tales of the
magnificence of their ancestors. One thing leads to another, and
Vincent and Ernie find themselves signed up for a "Back to Nature"
convention on a private Hawaiian island.
Once in Hawaii, Vincent and Ernie spend their days dining on
food that appeals to true dinosaurs -- namely live chickens and raw
pork -- and learning to run properly au naturale. Their nights,
however, are spent investigating the inner sanctum of the Progressives.
As they begin to uncover one secret after another, the duo discovers
that the cult has a lot more in mind than returning modern-day dinos to
their natural state.
In a truly hilarious climax that involves fire, fake fossils,
and a cadre of perfectly coiffed cross-dressing dinosaurs, Vincent and
Ernie battle the nefarious leaders of the Progressives and -- with a
little help -- save the day. Eric Garcia has once again crafted an
awesomely funny dinosaur yarn that will have readers eagerly awaiting
further adventures of Vincent Rubio, private investigator and dinosaur
extraordinaire.
