He's a doctor with a past...He's a hit man with a conscience...And he's got 24 hours to beat the reaper. Meet Peter Brown, a young Manhattan hospital intern with an unusual past that is just about to catch up with him. His morning begins with the quick disarming of a would-be mugger, followed by the steamy elevator encounter with a young female pharmaceutical rep, topped off by a visit with a new patient - and from there Peter's day is going to get a whole lot worse and a whole lot weirder. Because that patient knows Peter from his other life, when he had a different name and a very different job. The only reason he's a doctor now is thanks to the Witness Protection Program - and even that can't protect him from the long reach of the New Jersey Mob. Now he's got to buy some time to do whatever it takes to keep his patient - and himself - alive. "Beat the Reaper" is an intensely clever, imaginative novel that thrills on every page and is one of the most audacious and outrageous debuts of the year.