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Pain Killers: A Dark and Gripping Noir Thriller of Addiction and Survival
Down-and-out ex-cop and not-quite-reformed addict Manny Rupert accepts an undercover job to find out if a California prison inmate is who he claims to be: Josef Mengele, aka the Angel of Death. Did the sadistic legend, whose Auschwitz crimes still horrify, fake his own death thirty years ago? Suddenly Manny finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy involving genocide, drugs, eugenics, human experiments, and America's secret history of collusion with the Nazis—all while careening from one extreme of apocalypse-adjacent reality to the other. Not for the faint of heart, Jerry Stahl's Pain Killers hurtles readers into a disturbing, original, and alarmingly real world filled with some of the strangest sex, most horrific violence, and screaming wit ever found on the page.
408 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2009
22 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Stahl
41 books226 followersJerry Stahl (born September 28, 1953) is an American novelist and screenwriter, He is best known for the darkly comedic tale of addiction, Permanent Midnight, which was revered by critics and an ever-growing cult of devoted readers, as one of the most compelling, contemporary memoirs. A film adaptation soon followed with Ben Stiller in the lead role, which is widely considered to be Mr. Stiller’s breakthrough performance. Since their initial paring, the two have become lifelong friends and collaborators.
One of Stahl’s mentors and greatest influences, the late American Novelist, Hubert Selby, Jr. had this to say about Permanent Midnight, “Absolutely compelling... Permanent Midnight is an extraordinary accomplishment... A remarkable book that will be of great value to people who feel isolated, alienated, and overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives.”
Jerry Stahl has worked extensively in film and television.
One of Stahl’s mentors and greatest influences, the late American Novelist, Hubert Selby, Jr. had this to say about Permanent Midnight, “Absolutely compelling... Permanent Midnight is an extraordinary accomplishment... A remarkable book that will be of great value to people who feel isolated, alienated, and overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives.”
Jerry Stahl has worked extensively in film and television.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
May 11, 2010
Oh boy. This one was kind of painful. Which perfectly fit the title. It's like it was telling me subconsciously "Don't read this novel without pain killers".
I haven't struggled with a novel like this in a long time. I kept waiting for it to hook me. I wanted it to hook me. It seemed like it was always on the verge of hooking me. Like an itch you can feel, back between the shoulder blades, but can't reach it in order to relieve it. It was poised, right on the edge, and just never seemed to take the plunge.
It's inability to hook me ended up frustrating me. I threatened to put it down and never pick it back up again unless it delivered soon. It just sat there, this bulky mass of pages and words that failed to give me what I wanted. And I just sat there, too, muttering more threats and curses under my breath, as I turned the pages again and again, waiting for it to WOW me. Waiting for it to hook me.
Then I began to beg it, and plead with it. Please, I whispered in a little voice, please just reach out and grab me. That's not too much to ask, is it? And still, the book just sat there. And still, I kept turning the pages.
I should have just dropped it, left it there on the bookshelf, with the bookmark holding the page I would never return to. I should have been strong. To teach it a lesson. To show it that I would not be taken advantage of. That it could not just sit there like that, teasing me like that, always remaining on the edge like that.
But it had me wrapped around it's massive wordy little finger. I was it's bitch. And it knew it. And it never fucking delivered.
Bet it's having the last laugh right now. While I sit here stewing over the 7 days I spent with the book that just would not deliver.
I haven't struggled with a novel like this in a long time. I kept waiting for it to hook me. I wanted it to hook me. It seemed like it was always on the verge of hooking me. Like an itch you can feel, back between the shoulder blades, but can't reach it in order to relieve it. It was poised, right on the edge, and just never seemed to take the plunge.
It's inability to hook me ended up frustrating me. I threatened to put it down and never pick it back up again unless it delivered soon. It just sat there, this bulky mass of pages and words that failed to give me what I wanted. And I just sat there, too, muttering more threats and curses under my breath, as I turned the pages again and again, waiting for it to WOW me. Waiting for it to hook me.
Then I began to beg it, and plead with it. Please, I whispered in a little voice, please just reach out and grab me. That's not too much to ask, is it? And still, the book just sat there. And still, I kept turning the pages.
I should have just dropped it, left it there on the bookshelf, with the bookmark holding the page I would never return to. I should have been strong. To teach it a lesson. To show it that I would not be taken advantage of. That it could not just sit there like that, teasing me like that, always remaining on the edge like that.
But it had me wrapped around it's massive wordy little finger. I was it's bitch. And it knew it. And it never fucking delivered.
Bet it's having the last laugh right now. While I sit here stewing over the 7 days I spent with the book that just would not deliver.
April 11, 2009
Good But Disappointing
Brief Synopsis:
Manny Rupert is a former cop and sometimes former recovering drug addict. In the opening third of the book we see just how difficult life is for Rupert as we are introduced to his struggles with his ex-wife, drugs, money, and general poor decision making skills. He is "asked" to go undercover at San Quentin as a addiction instructor to determine if one of the inmates is a believed to be dead SS officer from the days of the Holocaust. With nothing to lose (and seemingly nothing to gain), Rupert agrees and is introduced to host of bizarre characters and situations.
General Impressions:
I love a good, dark, gritty story as much as anything. PAIN KILLERS certainly falls into that category as all the back stories are revealed of not only Rupert, but also his ex-wife, the inmates, and the correctional facility employees. Unfortunately, I just could not bring myself to love this story. Typically I tear through novels of a similar nature, but the slow pace and seemingly irrelevance of the situations was difficult for me to swallow. I had difficulty continuing to read PAINKILLERS at many times.
I think the biggest setback for PAIN KILLERS is the fact that situations arise out of nowhere, and Rupert is often presented with decisions that border on completely unbelievable (or with no relevance to the story). The plot also moves very slowly (at least in the opening half of the book). Since I have not read the first book with Manny Rupert, PLAINCLOTHES NAKED, this could be part of the problem (although PAIN KILLERS spends ample time recounting things I assume to have happened in the previous book).
PAIN KILLERS suffers from a lack of direction, and while the readers knows exactly what Rupert's mission is, it is difficult to determine where and how he he achieves this goal while reading the story. Obviously, more information comes out that is important to Rupert (and the other characters) that change the motivations and the resolve of the main characters, but the pacing is difficult to stay interested in these things.
Despite these opinions, PAIN KILLERS is most certainly a niche book. If you like dark and gritty books, this should certainly be on your "to read" pile and you might appreciate it more than I did. There are other books I would recommend first, including the Hank Thompson Trilogy by Charlie Huston:
* Caught Stealing;
* Six Bad Things; and,
* A Dangerous Man.
Good Reading,
Plants and Books
Brief Synopsis:
Manny Rupert is a former cop and sometimes former recovering drug addict. In the opening third of the book we see just how difficult life is for Rupert as we are introduced to his struggles with his ex-wife, drugs, money, and general poor decision making skills. He is "asked" to go undercover at San Quentin as a addiction instructor to determine if one of the inmates is a believed to be dead SS officer from the days of the Holocaust. With nothing to lose (and seemingly nothing to gain), Rupert agrees and is introduced to host of bizarre characters and situations.
General Impressions:
I love a good, dark, gritty story as much as anything. PAIN KILLERS certainly falls into that category as all the back stories are revealed of not only Rupert, but also his ex-wife, the inmates, and the correctional facility employees. Unfortunately, I just could not bring myself to love this story. Typically I tear through novels of a similar nature, but the slow pace and seemingly irrelevance of the situations was difficult for me to swallow. I had difficulty continuing to read PAINKILLERS at many times.
I think the biggest setback for PAIN KILLERS is the fact that situations arise out of nowhere, and Rupert is often presented with decisions that border on completely unbelievable (or with no relevance to the story). The plot also moves very slowly (at least in the opening half of the book). Since I have not read the first book with Manny Rupert, PLAINCLOTHES NAKED, this could be part of the problem (although PAIN KILLERS spends ample time recounting things I assume to have happened in the previous book).
PAIN KILLERS suffers from a lack of direction, and while the readers knows exactly what Rupert's mission is, it is difficult to determine where and how he he achieves this goal while reading the story. Obviously, more information comes out that is important to Rupert (and the other characters) that change the motivations and the resolve of the main characters, but the pacing is difficult to stay interested in these things.
Despite these opinions, PAIN KILLERS is most certainly a niche book. If you like dark and gritty books, this should certainly be on your "to read" pile and you might appreciate it more than I did. There are other books I would recommend first, including the Hank Thompson Trilogy by Charlie Huston:
* Caught Stealing;
* Six Bad Things; and,
* A Dangerous Man.
Good Reading,
Plants and Books
June 9, 2010
4.0 out of 5 stars Horrific. Funny. Totally irreverant., March 4, 2009
This 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!?!?!?!?
This 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!?!?!?!?
October 24, 2011
Hard to find much of value here. After three attempts to finish, I called it quits after reading about half the book. Perhaps some interesting characters but things quickly become so ridiculous as to be unbelievable and boring. Want to curse, great. Want to talk about drugs and sex, great. Want to say you have a book that emphasizes the raw side of life, great. But garbage story telling is just that garbage and it is time for me to take the trash out.
June 22, 2009
I have a nasty habit of discovering excellent series in the middle. Very seldom am I lucky enough to read a novel with characters and situations that I thoroughly enjoy, and then later discover that they have been carried over into new novels. Instead, what often happens is that I find out a book I liked is from the middle (or sometimes end) of an excellent series, and I am forced to backtrack and collect the previous books.
Needless to say, I was not lucky enough to catch Manny Rupert, Jerry Stahl's flighty ex-cop drug addict turned private detective, in his first book, Plainclothes Naked. However, Pain Killers is only the second novel in a what will hopefully be a longer series.
Stahl's writing has always had an edge to it. Not surprising, considering that his real life exploits (as recounted in Permanent Midnight: A Memoir) have been a tad edgy themselves. But it isn't the edge that makes Stahl's writing so good. It is the way he manages to combine it with a dark humor that doesn't flinch at the ugliness unfolding around it. A drug addict ex-policeman posing as prison rehab counselor in order to investigate a possible ex-Nazi in hiding shouldn't be funny. But then Stahl throws lines at you like "If I were a pedophile, I'd paint kittens." He knows what shouldn't be funny, and he knows how to make you laugh at it.
Manny Rupert isn't the kind of hero you root for because he's one of the good guys. He's the guy you root for because, as depraved as he is, he's nowhere near as bad as the people he is surrounded by. Besides, at least he can see the humor of it all, as bitter as it may be. If you're like me, and prefer your leading man to be less than perfect, you'll definitely want to pick up a copy of Pain Killers.
Needless to say, I was not lucky enough to catch Manny Rupert, Jerry Stahl's flighty ex-cop drug addict turned private detective, in his first book, Plainclothes Naked. However, Pain Killers is only the second novel in a what will hopefully be a longer series.
Stahl's writing has always had an edge to it. Not surprising, considering that his real life exploits (as recounted in Permanent Midnight: A Memoir) have been a tad edgy themselves. But it isn't the edge that makes Stahl's writing so good. It is the way he manages to combine it with a dark humor that doesn't flinch at the ugliness unfolding around it. A drug addict ex-policeman posing as prison rehab counselor in order to investigate a possible ex-Nazi in hiding shouldn't be funny. But then Stahl throws lines at you like "If I were a pedophile, I'd paint kittens." He knows what shouldn't be funny, and he knows how to make you laugh at it.
Manny Rupert isn't the kind of hero you root for because he's one of the good guys. He's the guy you root for because, as depraved as he is, he's nowhere near as bad as the people he is surrounded by. Besides, at least he can see the humor of it all, as bitter as it may be. If you're like me, and prefer your leading man to be less than perfect, you'll definitely want to pick up a copy of Pain Killers.
October 4, 2011
It takes alot of guts to finish a Jerry Stahl novel. He never lets up and it's never easy, countless times I have been left befuddled and confused by his words. But it's always worth it. Pain Killers is good, very good. Compulsively readable while being simultaneously hilarious and horrifying. It's full of realistic characters and crisp, hip, pitch perfect dialogue. I think this is where Stahl really excels, he has a great ear for the way ordinary people from all walks of life talk. Pain Killers is, as is all his work, strangely romantic- the love in Stahl's books is always fucked up. ALWAYS. But it's still LOVE and he's unabashedly honest about himself and what it means to be a junkie, an ex-junkie, a misfit, an outlaw, a miscreant and a dirty, scummy, scuzzy deadbeat. I often find myself laughing out-loud while I read his books, at the sheer audacity of his verve, his nerve- I mean, really does the world NEED a book about Joseph Mengele alive and kicking? I say Yes! As long as Stahl comes along for the ride.
March 29, 2009
I usually love Jerry Stahl, but this book is fucking terrible. The premise is interesting, that Joseph Mengle is alive and imprisoned in San Quinten - that's a fun concept to work with... Unfortunately, Stahl doesn't pull it off at all. No, instead I read this vile piece of shit, hoping it might at some point redeem itself, but it never does. It just rambles on and on, meandering around aimlessly.
September 18, 2010
completely crazy but good.
June 8, 2009
unbelievably sick filthy and funny yet oddly sweet. a great great read
October 20, 2025
I absolutely LOVED the first 300 pages of so of this book. Jerry Stahl has become one of my favorite writers, his books feel very authentic but also batshit insane at the same time with a breakneck pace. However, the story comes to a screeching halt once the Mengele character and Manny start to discuss Nazi history, motivations and justifications. Just killed the story for me along with the (unearned) happy ending for Manny and Tina. Predictable and boring at the same time, I rushed through to the end because it all just got tedious. Still a 4 star book but it should have been 10 stars out of 5.
August 25, 2025
DNF
I found this book to be extremely disengaging, there was reason to continue, nothing seemed to hold me and make me want to continue, it was a chore. There too many books out there to continue with a struggle
I found this book to be extremely disengaging, there was reason to continue, nothing seemed to hold me and make me want to continue, it was a chore. There too many books out there to continue with a struggle
September 19, 2023
Very Palahniukish book. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, it had me chuckling from start to finish.
April 26, 2024
A twisted tale ala Palahniuk and "The Boys From Brazil". It is (sort of) a sequel to Stahl's "Plainclothes Naked", so I would recommend reading that one first.
Read
May 29, 2025Did not finish this one.
April 22, 2009
This is probably not a book that I would have selected on my own – having hated the movie “Permanent Midnight.” But when an AR copy showed up in my mailbox what choice did I have? In the end it was an enjoyable read – if not a bit preposterous.
The Good Guy – Manny Rupert: an Ex-cop, on again off again junkie with a bad liver, who married a woman he met after she killed her husband and he responded to the police call. He’s down on his luck, and not doing himself much good – then a strange old Jewish man shows up in his house, beats him with a walker and hires him to go undercover in San Quentin
The Good Girl – Manny’s ex-wife, soon to be ex-ex-wife he hopes, is a neurotic bulimic on again off again junkie/prostitute/opportunist. Her morality is questionable but somewhere under all that sex and junk – there’s a heart of gold (at least we’re told)
The Bad Guys – Oh there are so many of them, but to keep from giving too much away I’ll only list our target, the 90 year old blond German man in San Quentin who swears that he’s Dr. Joseph Mengele (Nazi Death Camp Doctor at Auschwitz).
So, crazy Jewish man with walker hires Rupert to go undercover as a drug councilor at San Quentin to determine if the crazy old German actually IS Mengele. Things go bad quickly as Rupert’s ex-wife shows up with an Aryan Brotherhood leader who also happens to be Jewish. The people on Rupert’s side might actually be more dangerous then the convicts.
The writing is verbally simplistic, a lot of people rant and rave about how grotesque this is – but as a horror fan, I’ve got to say – it’s not that bad. Most of the disgusting parts are simply people recounting what Mengele had done – which IS gross, but it’s not extremely explicit in that respect. There is a lot of sex, drugs, racial slurs, anti-government garbage, and a whole lot of the German guy arguing about the good he did in the death camps – like slaughtering babies to cure cancer… that part gets old fast.
To be honest, this isn’t the best or worse book I’ve read. The characters are all fairly despicable in one way or another and the plot only holds together loosely. At times you will find yourself shaking your head trying to figure out just how you’re supposed to buy all of what’s being sold to you here. If you are looking for something comparable – try Tim Dorsey- ADHD writing, spastic plot, and a lot of material to make your average reader cringe.
The Good Guy – Manny Rupert: an Ex-cop, on again off again junkie with a bad liver, who married a woman he met after she killed her husband and he responded to the police call. He’s down on his luck, and not doing himself much good – then a strange old Jewish man shows up in his house, beats him with a walker and hires him to go undercover in San Quentin
The Good Girl – Manny’s ex-wife, soon to be ex-ex-wife he hopes, is a neurotic bulimic on again off again junkie/prostitute/opportunist. Her morality is questionable but somewhere under all that sex and junk – there’s a heart of gold (at least we’re told)
The Bad Guys – Oh there are so many of them, but to keep from giving too much away I’ll only list our target, the 90 year old blond German man in San Quentin who swears that he’s Dr. Joseph Mengele (Nazi Death Camp Doctor at Auschwitz).
So, crazy Jewish man with walker hires Rupert to go undercover as a drug councilor at San Quentin to determine if the crazy old German actually IS Mengele. Things go bad quickly as Rupert’s ex-wife shows up with an Aryan Brotherhood leader who also happens to be Jewish. The people on Rupert’s side might actually be more dangerous then the convicts.
The writing is verbally simplistic, a lot of people rant and rave about how grotesque this is – but as a horror fan, I’ve got to say – it’s not that bad. Most of the disgusting parts are simply people recounting what Mengele had done – which IS gross, but it’s not extremely explicit in that respect. There is a lot of sex, drugs, racial slurs, anti-government garbage, and a whole lot of the German guy arguing about the good he did in the death camps – like slaughtering babies to cure cancer… that part gets old fast.
To be honest, this isn’t the best or worse book I’ve read. The characters are all fairly despicable in one way or another and the plot only holds together loosely. At times you will find yourself shaking your head trying to figure out just how you’re supposed to buy all of what’s being sold to you here. If you are looking for something comparable – try Tim Dorsey- ADHD writing, spastic plot, and a lot of material to make your average reader cringe.
February 23, 2016
I read it three times and I an still not sure if this novel is a masterpiece or a fucking mess. The truth is its probably a lot of both. They're never gonna give this book any prizes but it could fly as a David Lynch film or better yet a Cohen Bros. comedy. The narrator is an unreliable ass. The love interest is a homicidak codependent who Dr. Death recognizes as a fellow psychopath. Tina is the fatal flaw in the book because it's difficult to discern wjo or what she is unless you acceot that this affable gumshoe struggling with an addiction to pain killers, Tina and this whole Conspiracy that never fully cimes together, us really a psychotic paranoid nut case with ethnocentric issues, mommy hang ups and disassociation from reality. If this is the plot, plan and purpose of the novel, it's never immediately obvious to readers. There are no meta-fictional clues, no tell tale tropes and little of the self aware wit one expects from a farce involving fugitive Nazis, prison reality shows abd the very real problem of certain Jews controlling most of the wealth in the world. That his woman wants to castrate him is not surprising given the narrator's annoying habit of indulging himself in pity, misogyny, fear and a kind of apathy I suppose is funny if you can call Call girls for Jesus on meth, matrimonial murder by tainted Lucky Charms, inferiority, addiction, prison gangs, masochism, infantilism, gassing stray dogs dor shits and grins as well as the gratuitous murders of fkat Mexicans comic. I am not saying things are not funny. They sure as hell can be but when you refer to the Holocaust Museum as the Disneyland of Death and Stahl rebukes you for bad taste you gotta wonder if that's what he means to be.
March 8, 2013
I decided to pick this book up after reading Stahl's short story collection "Love Without" and as much as I hate to say it, I really feel like his tone and style lends itself more to the short story than novels.
Stahl seems to be trying to carve out a niche for himself in the post-Bukowski kind of hyper-macho world, and this novel seems like it sidles up alongside "seemy underbelly" books a la Warren Ellis.
My issue is, with Stahl, there isn't the bite that Ellis has. The stuff seems depraved without as much deeper reason, and the shock factor isn't quite as shocking. Yes, he writes good, depraved, kinda messed up prose that flirts with dirty, gross "what if" lifestyles. Basically, you get tired of reading a book where everyone you happen to encounter, from cab drivers to the random person next to you on the plane all have secret lives in which they are junkies, murderers, criminals, or perverts. It just doesn't ring true.
Still, having gotten all those gripes out, it was an entertaining book for what it was. You do develop an interest in the characters, and the screwy "don't trust anyone and nothing is as it seems" ends up resolving pretty well. I didn't feel like I wasted my time, but I can't give it a glowing recommendation either.
Stahl seems to be trying to carve out a niche for himself in the post-Bukowski kind of hyper-macho world, and this novel seems like it sidles up alongside "seemy underbelly" books a la Warren Ellis.
My issue is, with Stahl, there isn't the bite that Ellis has. The stuff seems depraved without as much deeper reason, and the shock factor isn't quite as shocking. Yes, he writes good, depraved, kinda messed up prose that flirts with dirty, gross "what if" lifestyles. Basically, you get tired of reading a book where everyone you happen to encounter, from cab drivers to the random person next to you on the plane all have secret lives in which they are junkies, murderers, criminals, or perverts. It just doesn't ring true.
Still, having gotten all those gripes out, it was an entertaining book for what it was. You do develop an interest in the characters, and the screwy "don't trust anyone and nothing is as it seems" ends up resolving pretty well. I didn't feel like I wasted my time, but I can't give it a glowing recommendation either.
April 30, 2009
Jerry Stahl is a bit of a manic. Or maybe he's more of a smart-ass, or hell bent on histrionics. Having read Pain Killers, Stahl's newest work of fiction, it is hard to say exactly what frame of mind, personality disorder, or introverted social skill Stahl is channeling. Yet it is glaringly obvious why Stahl, a recovered heroin addict, chose opiates as his former drug of choice. If I were him I'd want something to slow it all down too. His mind appears to bounce around like a pubescent ADHD sufferer whose Adderall prescription has run out. Only it's been seventeen years since Stahl quit using, his mind has had way more than enough time to adjust to drug free thinking – and like anyone that has learned to cope with a mental health issue, Stahl has mastered what had perhaps once been a hindrance, morphing it into inspiration.
From the first sentence of Pain Killers, the pace is all out and over the top. Pop culture references, porn-star sexual innuendos, and hyperbole conspiracy theories come popping off the page like Stahl's suffering from Turrets syndrome and just can't help himself when he throws in one more smart-ass quip.
To read the rest of this review, please follow this link to The Sylvan Echo's Book Review page.
**Note: scroll down the page to the second review, thank you...
From the first sentence of Pain Killers, the pace is all out and over the top. Pop culture references, porn-star sexual innuendos, and hyperbole conspiracy theories come popping off the page like Stahl's suffering from Turrets syndrome and just can't help himself when he throws in one more smart-ass quip.
To read the rest of this review, please follow this link to The Sylvan Echo's Book Review page.
**Note: scroll down the page to the second review, thank you...
November 3, 2009
I received this book free through the LibraryThing Early Readers Program.
Manny Rupert, an addict, a cop kicked off the force, an the ex-husband of a murderer, is back for round two. This time he's been hired to go undercover in San Quentin and determine whether a sick old man in for vehicular manslaughter is really who he claims to be—the infamous Nazi Doctor of Death, Joseph Mengele.
That's where Pain Killers starts, but where it goes is on an insane, gritty, noir venture through the darkest parts of society. Pain Killers is a humorous black romp if by humorous you mean “Oh my God they went there” and by romp you mean going by limo from prison snail back love shack to Christian porn sets to meth houses and mansions and back again. This novel is, to steal a line, truly, truly outrageous.
Stahl's humor is not for everyone, possibly not for anyone that possesses an iota of sensitivity about religion, psychology, the human condition, addiction, sex, or just about any subject. But there's a sort of victorious feel to seeing character so truly messed up still intelligent and stubborn and taking on the face of human evil. There's more talking than action, so the pace is not forceful or fast. At times the conversations while interesting and amusing come off as off topic, when the point is to solve a mystery. And the WTF factor is, at times, very high. But it's a wild ride, different from everything else out there which certainly has an audience in today's marketplace.
Manny Rupert, an addict, a cop kicked off the force, an the ex-husband of a murderer, is back for round two. This time he's been hired to go undercover in San Quentin and determine whether a sick old man in for vehicular manslaughter is really who he claims to be—the infamous Nazi Doctor of Death, Joseph Mengele.
That's where Pain Killers starts, but where it goes is on an insane, gritty, noir venture through the darkest parts of society. Pain Killers is a humorous black romp if by humorous you mean “Oh my God they went there” and by romp you mean going by limo from prison snail back love shack to Christian porn sets to meth houses and mansions and back again. This novel is, to steal a line, truly, truly outrageous.
Stahl's humor is not for everyone, possibly not for anyone that possesses an iota of sensitivity about religion, psychology, the human condition, addiction, sex, or just about any subject. But there's a sort of victorious feel to seeing character so truly messed up still intelligent and stubborn and taking on the face of human evil. There's more talking than action, so the pace is not forceful or fast. At times the conversations while interesting and amusing come off as off topic, when the point is to solve a mystery. And the WTF factor is, at times, very high. But it's a wild ride, different from everything else out there which certainly has an audience in today's marketplace.
June 15, 2011
Manny Rubert is a former cop and addicted to pain killers (I would like to note that addiction is a behavior, not a substance - those who really need pain killers are NOT addicted, they are dependent - those who are addicted react differently to the medication ... but I won't go into the whole thing here). He receives a job offer that is somewhat unusual ... he is asked to go into a California prison and try to confirm if a certain prisoner is who he says he is - Joseph Mengele.
Supported by a complex cast of characters, Manny enters the prison undercover and tries to determine the truth as to who the old man is. But this is only part of the story we are told - we also spend time with Manny as he investigates from different angles, as he talks to various people (who are all individually described and clearly defined, no matter how short a time they are represented, in a characterization typing that is nothing short of astonishing) and gathers clues and stories to support the final analysis as to whether the old man is or is not the Beppo, the Angel of Death, Uncle Mengele to the children he claimed to love ...
I loved this book, but the parts with maybe-Mengele made me feel like I needed a brain shower to wash off the gunk. Don't let that stop you - this is a wonderful piece of writing and you should definitely give it a read!
Supported by a complex cast of characters, Manny enters the prison undercover and tries to determine the truth as to who the old man is. But this is only part of the story we are told - we also spend time with Manny as he investigates from different angles, as he talks to various people (who are all individually described and clearly defined, no matter how short a time they are represented, in a characterization typing that is nothing short of astonishing) and gathers clues and stories to support the final analysis as to whether the old man is or is not the Beppo, the Angel of Death, Uncle Mengele to the children he claimed to love ...
I loved this book, but the parts with maybe-Mengele made me feel like I needed a brain shower to wash off the gunk. Don't let that stop you - this is a wonderful piece of writing and you should definitely give it a read!
September 24, 2012
I really enjoyed the first half of this novel - interesting premise, amusing narrative style, and the type of damaged protagonist that I tend to relish. It went downhill for me around the midpoint when the protagonist's ex-wife goes missing and, after a bizarre course of events, he ends up in the back of a van with notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, and Mengele won't shut up about his "achievements." I've read plenty about the Holocaust and am well aware of the atrocities Mengele committed at Auschwitz, but this was just too much information for me. Way too much.
I truly enjoyed Stahl's style, and the main character is great. I'm curious to read another book in this series and keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't follow the same pattern of wonderful first half and disappointing second half.
I truly enjoyed Stahl's style, and the main character is great. I'm curious to read another book in this series and keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't follow the same pattern of wonderful first half and disappointing second half.
April 28, 2014
Pain Killers by Jerry Stahl - Very good. At times, very strange. Funny as f*ck too. Which sort of seems wrong for a book with a holocaust theme, but what are you gonna do? I loved the historical aspect, even though it was mostly fictional. But the bits that were factual, were sickeningly real. There were some parts I found that seemed unanswered, although this may have been intentional. I know I'll be going over this book in my head for a long time to come. 
March 2, 2010
Stahl has a great gift for demented humor. Gallows humor, I suppose. Perhaps it's easy to come by if you've spent a significant period of your life on the business end of a needle. First thing I've read of his since I, Fatty a few years back. The premise of this story is that Josef Mengele is alive and irate that he's been denied what he sees as his rightful due. He's desperate to be recognized for all of the "advances" he pioneered in science and medicine while at Auschwitz. The blackest of comedies, truly a twisted joy after three non-fiction books back-to-back.
April 28, 2009
Just finished it. OK, I'm not saying I recommend (Thanks, Nancy Pearl)this book for everyone. But if you're a fan of Jerry Stahl's previous works (Permanent Midnight, Perv, etc.), you won't be disappointed. I liken this to the film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang...except with an enhanced degree of wrongness and OMG moments. Reads very much like a screenplay. (And I would have started my review with the words, "Not for the faint of heart...", but I feel like so many of my reviews have started that way...)
January 4, 2011
Brilliant writer; I laughed a lot, but more at the cleverness of the writing, not the humor of what he conveyed.
The plot seemed a little long and roundabout for my tastes. I didn't really like the whole historical fictionesque inclusion of Josef Mengele, which ends up being the focus of the book.
I probably should read one of this author's other, more recognizable, books to get a better sense of his real capabilities.
The plot seemed a little long and roundabout for my tastes. I didn't really like the whole historical fictionesque inclusion of Josef Mengele, which ends up being the focus of the book.
I probably should read one of this author's other, more recognizable, books to get a better sense of his real capabilities.
February 22, 2011
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.
May 9, 2009
I heard Jerry read from this book at an event in Los Angeles. His reading just blew me away, and I bought the book. Reading it the past few days has been the highlight of my week. The book totally delivered. Withering satire. Among my favorite passages: Nazi war criminal Dr. Mengele comparing himself to Jerry Lewis.
January 22, 2011
Certainly an adult book... I don't recommend it to anyone. I don't know. Jerry Stahl is a intriguing writer, but it just wasn't my thing.
Undercover cops, secret service officers who are guilty of horrible "war crimes"... Not my thing. I thought it was going to be more about addiction, which is my thing. I am gladly moving on.
Undercover cops, secret service officers who are guilty of horrible "war crimes"... Not my thing. I thought it was going to be more about addiction, which is my thing. I am gladly moving on.
February 16, 2009
Admittedly, I didn't even come close to finishing this book. I got about 100 pages in and put it down with the thought that I don't need to read something so dark, sickening, and gratuitously shocking. This is a soulless work.
August 12, 2010
Jerry Stahl is a rather sick man. This is a story of addicts, ex cops, cons, Nazis, reality tv producers, pimps and prostitutes. Stahl pulls together the very worst the world has to offer and somehow creates believable characters and a cohesive story. Not recommended for the queasy or timid.
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