Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Bug Man #2

Chop Shop

Rate this book
Intern forensic pathologist Dr. Riley McKay has noticed irregularities in autopsies at the Allegheny County Coroner's lab. Suspecting foul play, she seeks help from Dr. Nick Polchak, the "bug man" renowned for his ability to solve murders by analyzing the insects on victim's bodies. Nick and Riley uncover a sinister link between the lab's director and PharmaGen, a start-up drug company specializing in genetic research. They also discover that PharmaGen fronts an underground system to procure transplant organs for wealthy clients by finding and murdering matching donors. But PharmaGen learns of their security breach and orders the couple destroyed. While staying a step ahead of PharmaGen assassins, romantic attraction develops between Nick and Riley. But the attraction is complicated by a tragic secret that Riley hides -- a secret closely tied to one member of PharmaGen's operation which propels the novel to its astonishing conclusion.

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Tim Downs

38 books262 followers
Tim Downs is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate (Calvin & Hobbes, Doonesbury, The Far Side) from 1980 to 1986. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred daily newspapers worldwide. Tim has written seven mystery/suspense novels: Shoofly Pie, Chop Shop, PlagueMaker, Head Game, First the Dead, Less than Dead, and Ends of the Earth. PlagueMaker was awarded the Christy Award for the best CBA mystery/suspense novel of 2006, and Less than Dead was a finalist for the 2009 Christian Book Award in suspense fiction. Tim lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife Joy. They have three grown children.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
441 (42%)
4 stars
409 (39%)
3 stars
156 (15%)
2 stars
18 (1%)
1 star
5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
Profile Image for Stefanie.
992 reviews67 followers
February 18, 2017
A great second book in the Bug Man Series!
This one was very different from the first book as far as story line and plot, but it still gripped my attention and was very hard to put down.
I liked that the medical field was introduced in this book because I have always found that stuff fascinating. It also gave a completely different view on the main character, Nick Polchak and gave him some more depth from the first book.
I look forward to getting my hands on the next book of the series.
Profile Image for Duffy Pratt.
565 reviews148 followers
June 16, 2014
Exiled once again from the University of North Carolina campus, Kolchak goes home to Pittsburg for the summer. This was a good move for Downs. Many mysteries benefit from a strong sense of place, from Chandler's Los Angeles, to Elmore Leonard's Detroit, or the Upper West Side of Block's Matt Scudder books, or even Carl Hiiasen's South Florida. Downs clearly has the same attachment and affection for the Three Rivers area, and while his sense of place may not be as strong as Chandler's, it was still nice to see it here, and it enhanced the book.

Also, I criticized the first book, Shoofly Pie, for being a one suspect mystery. Here, Downs gave up the idea of doing a whodonit entirely. For a while, I thought the mystery would be what the bad guys were doing, but let's face it, the name of the book is Chop Shop, and the prologue introduces us to a guy who is trying to get organ donations, so it doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going on. Rather, Downs pits Kolchak and a few others against the baddies, and the question is rather how they will figure out what's going on, and will they get the evidence in time, or instead fall prey? This structure works much better for Downs, and the loss of a " mystery". Is a benefit here.

It lets Downs concentrate on his characters. The main three here are wonderfully done. Kolchak is more interesting than in the first book, without losing his strangeness, and he actually has some human interaction. Riley, a pathologist who enlists his help, is a good, strong female character with some nice quirks of her own. And Leo, a childhood friend, steals the show as a computer hacker who is the opposite of a geek. I would love to see a movie of this book just to get to see someone play Leo.

The villains are nowhere near as interesting. It's too bad. Villains should be fun, and here they are mostly either bland or cliche. Usually, you would expect more license with villains, so they should be easier to make fun. But to have your bad guy say, "I'm going to enjoy this." as he's about to pull the trigger on one of the heroes was just too eye-rolling lay bad for me to stomach.

I've read some criticism that there's not enough entomology in this one. It's used three times in the investigation, and peripherally a fourth time. I think that's more than enough. And there are enough other scientific info dumps, mainly on transplants and pharmacogenetics, that more on bugs would probably have been overdoing it. Besides, Kolchak as a character has become so good that he doesn't real need all bugs, all the time anymore.

This one was good enough that I will probably pick up the third one fairly soon.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
2,107 reviews143 followers
March 21, 2020
"Ethics is not just about right and wrong . . . . . It's about how you get to right and wrong."

And someone is taking the matter of life and death into their own hands, without any regard for how it happens, only how it appears to happen. When forensic entomologist Dr. Nick Polchak (affectionately known by some, as the "Bug Man") decides to join forces with Dr. Riley McKay, a pathologist in training at the county coroner's office, the two soon discover that Riley's misgivings about her supervisor have merit . . . why couldn't she have been wrong?

A brilliant story; absolutely brilliant . . . right down to the last page . . . maybe even especially the last page.
Profile Image for Tory Wagner.
1,299 reviews
October 9, 2017
Chop Shop by Tim Downs features Dr. Nick Polchak, aka Bug Man, a forensic entomologist who solves mysteries using his knowledge of insects. He is a quirky character whose obsession with bugs leads to some rather awkward human interactions. In this book, he teams up with Riley McKay, a pathologist, to solve the mystery of missing body parts and bungled autopsies. An altogether satisfying read!
Profile Image for Brad.
1,179 reviews
May 15, 2011
I was going to give this book 3 stars until the last 40 pages or so, when there were a couple of good twists that made me like it a lot more. There wasn't a whole lot of forensic entomology in this book. I found that kind of disappointing. But the overall story is pretty good and reminds me of Robin Cook's work (excellent medical thrillers). I think Cook may even have written a story that was similar in several ways.

Anyways, Polchak is an enjoyable protagonist, and Riley makes a good companion / sidekick. Downs did a little better with making things a little less straight-forward than they were in the first book in the series, and I plan to continue. There is no strong language or sex, which is a nice change of pace from a lot of similar types of books.

Rating: PG-13, for some non-graphic violence.



***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Profile Image for Kalena.
681 reviews31 followers
October 27, 2015
Mr. Tim Downs, I <3 you; Christian suspense/2nd book read by this author; 2nd in the Bug Man series. Your books are very funny and I learn something with every book. However, these wonderful attributes do not keep Mr. Downs from dealing with serious issues, like genetics and organ donation, that still face us today. There was also a closer look at Nick's wrestling with relationships/intimacy in this novel. I felt this book had an overall different feel to it, but the characteristic wit and logic were evident. The way the author is able to intermingle action, emotional energy, and humor is the reason he is quickly becoming a favorite. Highly recommend; will definitely be reading the next in the series.
534 reviews
September 23, 2011
I really enjoyed the first "bug man" mystery and had high hopes for this one. It was pretty good but I did have a couple of issues crop up. The first was the "big conspiracy" storyline, it was a bit interesting but pretty predictable. The second was the relationship storyline.

The first went about like I expected, the second followed the one from the first book and it made me sad.

I was shocked at the "surprise" identify and the twist that it threw in the story, all of which made it worthwhile to finish the book.

I have every intention of reading more in the series, I just hope that the relationships can go a bit more smoothly.

Profile Image for Elsa E.
21 reviews5 followers
July 20, 2019
Another fantastic book! Nick Polchack is my kind of main character, a humorous, sarcastic, yet self-deprecating, intelligent man of integrity driven to do the right thing even if that means breaking the rules!
Tim Downs does an impressive job of character development, fully connecting and engaging readers!
So so happy to have found this author at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach! Am now reading the 3rd book in the series (First the Dead) and getting absolutely nothing else done...can’t put it down either.
Profile Image for JC.
1,725 reviews60 followers
May 13, 2012
Why do they call Nick the Bug Man? If you didn't read the first book then you actually probably wouldn't have any idea. This book has Nick as the primary character but almost all of his work is detective work with hardly any forensic entomology. No worries. I definitely still enjoyed it and there was plenty of twists, especially near the end, to make this book an enjoyable read. I find Nick pretty funny overall. Kind of clueless too.
Profile Image for Michelle Griep.
Author 37 books2,270 followers
July 4, 2010
If you love the bug man, you'll love this book. Personally, however, I did not love the ending. Without giving anything away, just know that it's sad. Very sad. But hero Nick Polchak is as snappy as ever throughout the story. Sarcastic, intelligent, and this time, the reader gets to view a more intimate side to him.
Profile Image for Carol Bakker.
1,342 reviews105 followers
March 12, 2013
I found the first part slow going. But I was unusually tired when I read those sections. In the middle it picked up: we learn the bad guy's identity before the protagonist does. Towards the end, however, Downs delivers a JOLT — a heart-pounding, blood-pressure rising jolt that kept me gasping to the end.
Profile Image for Michael.
493 reviews13 followers
Read
September 29, 2009
This was a weird one, scrary despite an often sluggish story. It centers around a couple of scientists threatened by a group in the black market trade for replacement organs. It's true, there are some sorry excuses for humans out there.
433 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2016
Another Bugman that did not disappoint. Lots to learn about Pittsburgh and organ donation in this one.
Profile Image for Joleen.
2,400 reviews1,219 followers
September 27, 2024
2003
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Characters
Nick Polchak: "Bug Man", forensic entomologist
Riley McKay: Pathology fellow at the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office.
Cruz Santangelo: FBI, part time assassin
Julian Zohar: Procures organs
Tucker Truett: Owner and CEO of a large medical company
Nathan Lassiter: Head coroner, Allegheny General
Dr. Jack Kaplan: Trauma surgeon at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Mrs. Camilla Polchak: Nick’s mother, so funny

When I think of a chop shop, I think of stolen cars, dismantled for parts. Well in this book, it’s not cars, but it is definitely parts, human parts.

A few doctors decide they can make a lot of money off of rich people needing organ transplants. A plan is devised to attain those organs illegally.

Doctor Riley McKay wants to know why she’s being left out of autopsies. Her supervisor sends her on ridiculous errands rather than allowing her to assist. She knows somethings fishy so she asks Nick to process something she found on a body. She needs time of death and reason for the death.

This leads the two of them on quite a journey. Who is trustworthy? Who are evil?

As I said in the previous Tim Downs book I read, Shoefly Pie, this isn’t exactly Christian fiction, but it has faith elements. Nick interviewed an ethics committee member who was an Episcopal priest. I loved some of his statements…"As an Episcopalian, as a Christian, I believe in the need for a grounded ethic—an ethical system that has its roots in unchanging values of right and wrong. I believe those values are found in the nature of God Himself.”
…and…
"Five centuries ago John Calvin wrote, ‘Love needs law to guide it.’ In other words, the highest principle is not love, but God—because without God, love has no meaning."

But I think my favorite was more of a word picture for Psalm 119:105… "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

"The only time it was safe to navigate the smoldering hillside was when the moon shone bright…. There was only one safe course of action: she would take her bearings in the moonlight, then move …"

Riley was trying to evade the evil that was coming for her, but it was a pitch dark night. The only time she could see clearly to find the correct path was when the clouds rolled away and the moon shone brightly. Our safe path is the one God offers in His light.

It was a serious storyline, but Mr. Downs has plenty of lighthearted parts (he's really a funny guy). Anytime Nick Polchak was around his mother I knew it was going you be fun. One evening Riley was stayed for dinner..

You make a mean kielbasa, Mrs. Polchak,” Riley said, pushing away her plate.
“All Polish food is mean,” Nick said. “Just give it a few hours.”


Nick had been sent to the kitchen to cut the dessert so his mama could talk about him. He came back with plates of pie..

“Why do you embarrass me?” Mrs. Polchak said, grimacing at her beautiful dessert. “You can slice open those little worms of yours, but you can’t find the center of a lemon torte? What did you cut this with, your elbow?”

I don’t know why I found that so funny, but I giggled everytime I went back to it.

Anyway, the story was such a good one, plenty of good vs bad, suspense and fantastic dialog. This may have been my favorite. But that's hard to say because I’ve read three of his books and they’re all terrific.
Profile Image for Penelope.
1,209 reviews9 followers
August 2, 2021
4.5 Stars for CHOP SHOP, #2 in The Bugman suspense novel series by Tim Downs. This is a quirky and weird, forensic science-based suspense series and was a reread for me. CHOP SHOP is a Clean novel suitable for most ages.

MY RATING GUIDE: 1= dnf/What was that?; 2= Nope, not for me; 3= This was okay/cute; 3.5= I enjoyed it; 4= I LIKED IT A LOT; 5= I Loved it, it was great! (I rarely give 5 Stars).

CHOP SHOP is not a Cozy Mystery. It’s a very unique Suspense novel featuring Dr Nick Polchak/MMC (perhaps in his late thirties), a brilliant forensic entomologist and entomology professor at North Caroline State University. He is considered an expert in his field, assisting law enforcement in excess of 72 cases in 13 different countries but due to his lack of social niceties and interest, Nick lacks a personal life. I find novels featuring main characters with unusual careers utterly fascinating and Nick is no exception.

May 2003, Pittsburgh. Dr Riley McKay/FMC, a fellow at Allegheny county coroner office, requests Nick (who she has never met before) to investigate a dead body currently lying in her morgue. Dr McKay has reason to question her college and the written Cause of Death. Her suspicions raise Nick’s interest, so he begins to dig in his very unique fashion. Neither Dr McKay nor Dr Polchak anticipate the terrible consequences of their private investigation.

The Bugman series is definitely quirky and weird. Readers who enjoy character driven novels, suspense novels, or can enjoy a novel without mandatory romance with a Sweet HEA might want to check this series out. I find them fascinating. CHOP SHOP is bk#2 in the Bugman series. SHOO FLY PIE, #1; LESS THAN DEAD, #3; FIRST THE DEAD, #4; ENDS OF THE EARTH, #5; NICK OF TIME, #6.

READER CAUTIONS - Suitable for readers of Suspense or Mysteries, IMO, 16yrs and up.
VIOLENCE - This is a series dealing with forensic homicide investigations but the details are not particularly dark or graphic.
PROFANITY - None.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS - None.
Profile Image for Matt  Goncalves.
253 reviews10 followers
April 29, 2024
This was a bargin bin discovery where the name and the pitch from the synopsis had me curious. But after the first few chapters, the writing became sloppy, and the story was predictable as the stakes were established. The dialogue of the characters was decent, but it became more about ideas being argued than people talking, and the characters were one dimensional, except for the protagonist who was conflicted in all the wrong ways. One minute, he was a genius forensic entemologist, then he was socially stunted, then he was a hopeless romantic and then some cool hero who wasn't phased by imminent danger. He was too inconsistent and didn't seem to serve the plot too much other than being annoying and risk-taking but only to be motivated by curiousity and then a forced romance with his female companion.

By the halfway mark, I wasn't heavily invested, and the climax was not as compelling as it was trying to be. Somehow, there is a series of this character, and this is the second installment
I doubt I will bother with the rest. I bought this book for fifty cents, so I go what I paid for; a mediocre story.
Profile Image for Tim Shepard.
739 reviews3 followers
October 31, 2018
I love the Bug Man novels. This is my second time reading through them. But this one I didn't remember from reading from before. It just amazes me the things that Tim Downs has his character Nick Polchak do. While I do I understand that this is a work of fiction I doubt many forensic scientists would be doing the same things outside of the legal process. Overall, I enjoyed the book. My only disappointment was with the ending. I think that Nick was finally starting to understand that he is not a bug but part of the human race. And to kill a character that was drawing that out of him was a little disappointing. But still it is worth the read.
Profile Image for Elaine Lucky.
896 reviews88 followers
May 31, 2021
Another fantastic Bug Man mystery. Nick is approached by Riley, a coroner's office employee, about abnormalities in autopsies and the suspicious behavior of her supervisor. What starts out as a small investigation leads to a larger conspiracy of money, greed, organ harvesting, murder, & betrayal. Nick & Riley don't know who to trust but each other, but both have secrets that could drive them apart.
Profile Image for Lizzytish .
1,712 reviews
September 4, 2021
I couldn’t find the first book in the series anywhere, thus I started with the second. I enjoyed the bug man and his sense of humor. Also fascinating facts about bugs and forensics was interesting. Serious topics of genetics and organ donors was food for thought. Near the end of the book my heart was pounding!
Profile Image for Jeanna Read.
469 reviews2 followers
January 2, 2024
If you are a fan of medical mysteries/thrillers, this is the series for you! Even better than the first in the series - this one lets you get to know the main character better, and truly makes me ready for the next in the series! Only a 4 rather than a 5 because it began to drag in the middle; but boy, did it pick back up!!
3 reviews
June 30, 2019
The Bug Man is one of my very favorite characters. Sarcastic and witty, Tim Downs offers a unique hero in Nick Polchak.
Profile Image for Evette.
94 reviews
June 15, 2022
One of my favorite Bug Man novels. Some parts were predictable, but others completely caught me off guard.
4 reviews
March 1, 2023
Not as good as the first book but still very enjoyable.
Profile Image for Lucy.
139 reviews2 followers
December 15, 2023
I'm enjoying this series; Nick Polchak, the "Bug Man", is a well developed and interesting character.
Profile Image for Eva.
608 reviews
March 25, 2024
Tim Downs has crafted a page turner with unsuspecting motives and intriguing characters. The reader is engaged from start to finish.
74 reviews
June 14, 2024
It was slow going but finished strong. I am not sure about it though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.