Bad Monkeys

A Novel

By: Matt Ruff

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann, Emily Woo Zeller, Greg Tremblay

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Bad Monkeys has wit and imagination by the bucketload.... Buy it, read it, memorize then destroy it. There are eyes everywhere." (Chris Moore, best-selling author of A Dirty Job and Lamb)

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.

Clever and gripping, full of unexpected twists and turns, teasing existential musings, and captivating prose, Bad Monkeys unfolds at lightning speed, taking listeners to another realm of imagination.

©2004 Matt Ruff (P)2020 HarperAudio

Great story but I didn't love the performance

I am quickly becoming a fan of Matt Ruff. This book was great. The story was engaging and exciting with twists and turns that I was not expecting. It's really great. I listened to it an Audible and have to say that I think I would have preferred reading it rather than listening to it. The Audible version has 3 different readers and it was a little confusing because of that.

Young Adult novel..

I may have been expecting too much since I grabbed this after finishing Lovecraft Country.. this did not hold up to that quality. By a long shot. Feels very YA. Was cheesy and had many many tough girl one liners. If I had read this at 12 it would be a good starter with a couple of PG 13 topics tossed in for a minute. Very hesitant to try this authors other books. The narrators felt as middle ground as the story. Three separate readers for some reason. All with different levels of skill. Was very off putting. Too bad too. I liked the idea. Had a decent start.

Creative and engaging Story

It was a very creative storyline. Although I was surprised at the ending , i thought it was all a dream.

A good ending...

The readers were good. The story was interesting in parts. I give it a B grade. Maybe B-. lovecraft country is awesome though.

The most trite story ever

I was truly disappointed by this book, chosen because I very much enjoyed his other novel Lovecraft country. The plot is trite, the dialogue is exhaustingly unoriginal and you find yourself unfortunately predicting the plot progression at every “turn.” I finished it simply because it was short but honestly this is not worth your time.

It’s ok

I definitely thought Matt Ruff was a black writer after watching love craft (he’s not). Kinda a fun story but the start drags a bit. Overall it’s ok. Nothing spectacular but also easy to finish.

Story was mostly interesting.

Not nearing as developed or intriguing as Lovecraft Country. The story is compelling enough, ,it just fell short for me. Also, I didn't love the audio change from her voice to the therapists. it felt like he was an NPC from a video he or something. You'll definitely get through it, but of you can to it like me, after reading LC, you'll be a little let down I think.