By
Vanessa Francis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Grade: C-
'Casual Rex' quirky, but falls short of high-class writing
It's obvious author Eric Garcia has watched one too many episodes of the now-defunct ABC series "Dinosaur." Or perhaps he somehow bought into the whole recreated dino-DNA idea as it was portrayed in the movie "Jurassic Park."
At the core of Eric Garcia's second novel, "Casual Rex," lay a slew of pre-historic dinosaurs which appear to be living and functioning members of Los Angeles' modern society. These "dinors" are able to communicate with words, catch the common cold, pay their bills and even order Chinese take-out.
The twist in the plot is that these "dinos" are disguised by latex masks and appear to be mere mortals (although, somehow, it seems the common man notices neither their scaly skin nor 7-foot stature).
The narrative thrust of the novel is that a malicious cult of fellow dinos, known as the Progressives, are advocating the species return to its wildlife habits and stop pretending to be human, and therefore they must be destroyed. The cult's home base happens to be a mansion just down the street from Hef and the bunnies in Bel Air. Here the cult celebrates its dinosaur-ness at elaborate parties where they dine on live snakes and dance all night in the dino-buff.
The cult's ploy is to cause a movement in which the L.A. dinos shed their latex masks, strip themselves of their Dolce & Gabanna suits and travel back in time to their wild, animalistic ways.
The main character, a velociraptor named Vincent, is a private detective working in true 1920s Hollywood fashion in a cramped, overpriced office on Hollywood and Vine. He and his dill-witted partner, Ernie, a T-Rex, are assigned to find and bring back Rupert, also a T-Rex, who has been corrupted by the ways of the Progressives.
A cast of supporting characters include the suave female dinos of Louise - Rupert's sister who originally hired Vincent to find him - as well as Circe, the sexy and alluring Progressive cult leader who intoxicatingly smells of rosemary.
This leads to the quirky biological trait in dinosaurs which Garcia has invented for use in "Casual Rex" - whereas humans become intoxicated by alcohol, it is cooking spices like cilantro which cause dinosaurs in Garcia's world to become overwhelmingly drunk.
While the dinosaurs in Garcia's Los Angeles have sociologically adapted to living in the modern world (some have even entered the "industry" as actors and agents), their anatomy and stature remain the same as in B.C. times.
All this said, "Casual Rex," although it seemingly promises a strong storyline and acute creativity, is unfortunately not a good read. Just like the meteor showers that caused the end of the original dinosaurs, meteor-sized plot holes in "Casual Rex" bring the demise of Garcia's dino-story.
Perhaps he crafted "Casual Rex" as an ironic message, placing an extinct species in the contemporary endangered land of Hollywood. Or perhaps Garcia simply wrote "Casual Rex" during an ecstasy trip - no one really knows.
"Casual Rex," alas, could have been a piece of quality sci-fi writing. Garcia, with time (and possibly a visit to Betty Ford) may someday even rise to the ranks of acclaimed author Ray Bradbury. With adequate time and a little depth of story, hopefully Garcia's third novel will prove satisfactory.
