Pain Killers
When last seen, Jewish ex-cop, former addict, and three-time-liver-transplant-recipient Manny Rubert was married to Tina, who had dispatched her former husband by adding ground glass and Drano to his breakfast cereal (Plainclothes Naked, 2001). Now they’re divorced, and Manny, missing her desperately, is hired to go to San Quentin to determine whether a 97-year-old inmate is Josef Mengele. What follows is a truly black and bizarre mix of the horrific and the hilarious: Mengele really is Mengele, and he spends his time experimenting on inmates for Big Pharma. He is also a still-dangerous, preening egomaniac who believes his “research” should be celebrated by a jaded, corrupt America. And only jaded Manny and Tina (yes, she is back) are there to mete out justice. Along the way, Stahl takes intriguing and often funny shots at prison chic, reality TV, various aspects of prison life, Nazi “science,” and Christian porn Web sites. And, as the title suggests, Manny enjoys a staggering array of dangerous drugs and toxic substances. Pain Killers isn’t for the squeamish, but readers who like shock and laughs with their crime are likely to love it. - Booklist
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