The Boy Who Drew Monsters

By: Keith Donohue

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Stolen Child comes a hypnotic literary horror novel about a young boy trapped inside his own world, whose drawings blur the lines between fantasy and reality.

Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier, 10-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been deathly afraid to venture outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean, and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper, who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy's only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all.

In the tradition of The Turn of the Screw, Keith Donohue's The Boy Who Drew Monsters is a mesmerizing tale of psychological terror and imagination run wild, a perfectly creepy listen for a dark night.

©2014 Keith Donohue (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Great twist!

I heard about this book from Marie Lestrange’s podcast (Moths to the Flame) and it was well worth the listen! I’d gladly buy it again.

Not great

Would you try another book from Keith Donohue and/or Bronson Pinchot?

Bronson Pinchot is a good reader.

Has The Boy Who Drew Monsters turned you off from other books in this genre?

The "pay-off" is not worth the read. Once again, this lack or originality will keep me from reading any more horror stories.

Truly original horror

Fascinating and truly original idea that unfurls its secrets slowly. Bronson Pinchot’s narration is absolutely superb.

Twisty Little Listen!

Where does The Boy Who Drew Monsters rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very good. Wasn't disappointed at all.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Boy Who Drew Monsters?

Finding out Nick's connection to Jack's drawings! Whoa!

Have you listened to any of Bronson Pinchot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, so I've nothing to compare.

If you could rename The Boy Who Drew Monsters, what would you call it?

Secrets of a dead boy's life.

Any additional comments?

This was a story greatly woven together form views of the other characters. Worth listening to.

Great read!

Good story with an excellent plot twist.
Definitely a book to read by the fire on a a snowy night.

Horror Equal to King and Harris

Looking for prose and horror equal in stature to Stephen King? World building equal to Thomas Harris? Look no further than this book. If you are a parent, the horror experienced by the mother in this book will surely unnerve you. Donohue's detailed descriptions of both the physical and mental worlds of the young protagonist bring his anxiety, exhaustion and desire to be loved despite his neurological divergence, home to the reader in beautiful and hauting clarity. A creeping build of evidence, slow as molasses, that powers beyond our daily experience are manipulating the characters provides a delicious ark of discovery for the reader. If you hate predictable endings, you are surely not going to guess this one. Bring your teddy bear. 😎

Scary

This is a really good scare and Bronson Pinchot excels as usual. Dark and haunting, it will stick in your head. 4 stars because I didn't like ending...preference only.

I loved this book!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Boy Who Drew Monsters to be better than the print version?

Not having read the print version, I can only say that I wasn't able to flip to the end and spoil it, and I could never have done justice to the accents.

Interesting story

I think this is an interesting story that looks at the way parents and children interact, while learning to deal with tragedies perceived.

troubled boy, troubled waters

I think people who gravitate to this genre will like this one. I'm more on the periphery, but even so, there was enough suspense to keep me listening. I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but I did want to learn what was causing the strange sightings, and what it had to do with the little boy. Sometimes the writing was a little heavy handed, with lots of comparisons to blood, ghosts, etc. (I think there was one where the teeth were like tombstones?) But then, it's all part of the fun, and the ending was very good. I always enjoy Bronson Pinchot. For some reason, he sounded about the same when I played my iPod at 2x, so that's how I listened to this one.