Laura's Reviews > Bad Monkeys

Jane Charlotte is being held in a prison psych ward and is giving her life story to a doctor. She explains that she works for a secret organization (Bad Monkeys) that works to track and find evil people and get rid of them. The entire book is the exchange between her and the doctor.

Right off the reader is presented with the dilemma:

Is Jane telling the truth?
Is Jane completely gone mentally and living in a self-created fantasy world?
Is Jane lying on purpose for a alternative motive?

The first 2/3 of the book, I was completely engrossed. I found myself pondering the story during the day as I worked and looked forward to getting back to it. Then the story took a rather disappointing turn.

Imagine you are visiting with a friend who starts telling an interesting story from when he was camping with his family as a teen. The story is compelling and funny and you are enjoying it. Then suddenly your friend explains that while they were eating dinner, magic unicorns showed up around the campfire and began eating cupcakes made of clouds. You immediately feel bored/disappointed.

That is how I felt during the last third if the book. It just became really random and bizarre. I didn't mind the final twist in the end (I was totally surprised), but the last few chapters were such a mess, it took out the fun of the twist.

Great idea for a book. Great execution during the beginning/middle of the book. Total train-wreck in the end.

A disappointing 2 stars.