This was an okay read. The characters are fantastic, and I think that's the only reason I was able to get through it. I love the main character and the language of the book, but the plot seemed strange to me. There were a lot of jumps and twists that I didn't understand and much of which I feel like wasn't explained very well. I'm not sure what exactly happened in the novel, but it was amusing and fun nonetheless. 4.0 out of 5 stars Horrific. Funny. Totally irreverant., March 4, 2009This review is from: Pain Killers: A Novel (Hardcover)In a style similar to Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey, Stahl takes us on a roller coaster ride into San Quentin prison with ex cop Manny Rubert where he is working uncover to prove that one of the prisoners is indeed Josef Mengele, the supposed dead Nazi Angel of Death.A recovering polydrug addict, Manny (who is also Jewish) is pretending to lead a drug addiction recovery group that includes Mengele. Just why was he hired for this operation, and what do those in charge actually want him to do with the proof that Mengele lives? And what will they actually do with Mengele? Bring him to trial? Kill him in prison? What does Mengele deserve once he's revealed as the monster of the Holocaust? Was he a brilliant scientist or an evil instrument of death?These questions and the ensuing encounters with a score of bizarre characters take the reader on a trip through the past and into the present with a resounding jolt. The revelations of what Mengele did in the death camps are not particularly new, but the excuses and reasoning that he offers to his audience on a hair raising van excursion, are both shocking and repellant.I have never read a book quite like this and found it difficult to write a review of it. I can't honestly say I "liked" it, but wow, what an incredible tale this author weaves. The motley crew of associates and characters in the novel look like a circus freak show. The chapter titles read like a sociopathic menu - nothing is left untouched from drugs, sex and torture to animal -- human organ transplants and big pharma conspiracies. Each page brought a new astonishment - what imagination and what a deviant mind this ingeniously demented author has! The style made me zip through the pages, turning them to see what in the world would be offered up for my digestion on the next one.It was quite a book - took me from laugh out loud to the brink of nausea.If you like to step out of your comfort zone and be transported into the strangest prison book you've ever read - take a chance. I guarantee you'll spend most of your reading time with your mouth hanging open and your brain forming the word -- WHAT!?!?!?!?
Do You like book Pain Killers (2009)?
did not finish it....humorous book, but too much so....did not get a feel for the characters...
—Sammainss
unbelievably sick filthy and funny yet oddly sweet. a great great read
—msyahreza
Very strange premise. Not sure who i would reccomend it to.
—jesperks
