CompleteMartialArts.com - Bad Monkeys
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List Price: $20.00
Our Price: $14.60
Your Save: $ 5.40 ( 27% )
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Manufacturer: HarperCollins
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061240416
ISBN: 0061240419
Label: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 230
Publication Date: 2007-08-01
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 2007-07-24
Studio: HarperCollins
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Editorial Reviews:
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Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons—"Bad Monkeys" for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy—or playing a different game altogether. What follows is one of the most clever and gripping novels you'll ever read.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sturm und Drang Life Story
Comment: This book is told as a narrative by a woman named Jane Charlotte currently in detention, to a psychiatrist who is evaluating her over a period of visits. The woman regales her interviewer about how she was recruited as an adult in San Francisco by a secret organization devoted to assassinating sexual predators and mass murderers. As the story progresses of this almost destitute woman getting by on minimum wage jobs, there is increasing mention of technologies that probably don't exist, events that couldn't have likely happened in our space-time continuum, leading to the reader wondering about the sanity of the main character or whether this is a science fiction story set (way) in the future. As the story progresses, more and more mention is made of Jane's youth and early adulthood. These earlier mysterious tumultuous periods are less interesting to the reader as the exciting thriller that's happening in present day, and as her engagement with the secret organization revolves more and more around understanding what Jane is 'made of' and her earlier times, the story drags. The plot moves to Las Vegas and starts to move quickly at a thriller-like pace. While the story could progress nicely on its own when not dealing with historic sturm un drang of Jane, the author resorts to adding more and more mention of new secret organizations, technologies, and more, constantly roiling the text so that no expectations can be made about the real-time events in the story. All in all, a wonderful plot line and fresh approach to the narrative, the author injures the novel in places by over-making his point--sometimes less is more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as cute as it thinks it is
Comment: I'm a mom and I love weird head stuff and I love science fiction and I love fun fantasy and I love sick fantasy and I love children's lit. I ordered this book and Artemis Fowl The Time Paradox, for my 14 year old son. We both read both books. Bad Monkeys played all sorts of games, had all sorts of twists and turns, and was ultimately a yawn. The kid's book, Artemis Fowl The Time Paradox, was the vastly superior book by any standard, kid or adult, normal or deranged. Don't pay for Bad Monkeys, wait for it to be remaindered.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Well done!
Comment: I really liked this book! It opens with the main character in a psychiatric hospital (after killing someone), being interviewed by a psychologist. We are slowly taken through her history through her revelations during a series of talks with her doctor.
Is she working for a supragovernmental entity that fights evil? Is she crazy? Both?? We are taken for an incredible ride through this woman's life history, her recruitment into the agency, her work, her personal life, all leading up to the final denouement in the hospital.
One thing: I actually knew by the top of page 4 how some of the denouement would come down. But there is a wellcrafted twist that gave me a very pleasant surprise.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Crazy novel that is fun and quick
Comment: There is a saying one should not judge a book by its cover.
But I have to admit, I was drawn to Matt Ruff's novel Bad Monkeys by its bright yellow cover and its images of four monkeys looking like some bizarre Rorschach test.
The novel opens with a certain Jane Charlotte, who has been arrested for murder. After telling the police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil it earns her a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy--or playing a different game altogether.
Like all secret organizations, there is nothing to substantiate her claims because, of course, there is no records of such a company, especially one that works outside of any government. She tells Dr. Vale that her division is called The Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons or Bad Monkeys for short.
So, you can see the doctor's dilemma.
Bad Monkeys is a well paced thriller/science fiction-ish novel with a huge dash of wicked humor. The verbal sparring between Jane and Vale is delightful, and the action never falls. It's slim volume means and easy to read prose means you can read it fast, as Ruff never lets up. You are almost forced to continue to read if only to find out whether Jane is crazy, or really telling the truth.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A fantastic, fun, fast read
Comment: I have to say, this book surprised me. I heard the title on an internet forum thread about "books that would make great videogames". I'm not too sure I agree that this book would have made a great game, but I do think this book was great.
I used to read a lot, especially when I was a kid. Book after book after book, neither topic nor length dissuaded me. Somewhere around 2000, I just stopped reading like I had. To be completely honest, Bad Monkeys is the first novel I've started and been compelled to finish (let alone in just a week or so) in almost 10 years.
This is a gripping narrative, a sci-fi playground in which you constantly find yourself aching to know what's coming next, and what comes next is always interesting and unexpected.
You could easily finish this book in two nights, or one day if you're feeling especially lazy. I'm going to recommend this to everyone I know.
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