Kill Monster

By: Sean Doolittle

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 9 hrs

Publisher's Summary

When treasure hunters excavate the long-lost wreck of the Steamship Arcadia from a Kansas corn field, a buried creature awakens—a mindless brute made of accursed earth, shaped like a man, but in no way mortal. A century and a half after its creation, the golem’s sole mission resumes: to assassinate a savage pro-slavery guerilla commander named "Bloody Bill" Wolcott.

Wolcott, of course, is long dead, but his closest surviving descendant—a corporate IT burnout named Ben Middleton—is quite available. Ben’s life hasn’t exactly gone according to plan, and he’s learned from experience to expect the worst. But he’s never faced the kind of doom posed by a 150-year-old mud monster with no "Off" switch.

And that’s not even his biggest problem. Because there’s one last stop in Bloody Bill’s bloodline: Ben’s teenage son, Charley. Ben would do anything to protect Charley -- if he doesn’t strangle the kid himself first. Ben’s only hope lies in a motley crew of protectors: the descendant of the creature’s original handler; the intriguing new hire from work; and his fellow nerds from First Floor IT. And if he survives, Ben faces an even worse fate: his 40th birthday is right around the corner. 

©2019 Sean Doolittle (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Did You Try Turning it Off and On Again?

Once in a great while you get to listen to a book that resonates with you like a literary tuning fork—and boy, oh boy, are my ears ringing after finishing Kill Monster. If this book’s premise doesn’t make you giggle, then we can’t be friends: After a centuries-long dirt nap, an ancient, relentless, and murderous golem returns to un-life with one fixed goal in its simple mind—kill a middle-aged, underachieving IT guy named Ben Middleton. Of course, Ben is the victim of a technical error; the monster’s true target was supposed to be Ben’s long-dead ancestor—but you try reasoning with a clay-brained, mythological monster that can’t stop, won’t stop until your entire bloodline is ancient history. Ears not ringing yet? Then give Vikas Adam’s mirthful narration a listen, my friend, and we’ll be on the same wavelength in no time.

What a fun monster romp!

If you like a supernatural thriller, without too much blood and guts, this is a great listen. I loved the characters, the story was great and the narrator was excellent.

A fun read, from start to finish

This was such a fun story! The narrator was amazing - great variety of voices for characters without being over the top. The story itself was what I consider mild horror, though I have a high tolerance for gore. And great wit sprinkled throughout to keep it light and funny. I would highly recommend this.

Had to stop listening

There were pros and cons to what I listened to of this audiobook. I am giving it one star because I couldn't continue it. On the pro side, I found the story compelling, and it did create anxiety which some readers would definitely enjoy. On the con side, I am not a big fan of gratuitous gore. Though in the author's defense, at least he didn't try to create empathy with the people and animals about to be turned into piles of brains and meat. In fact, there is a distinct lack of likable characters - pretty much all of them are unlikable. However, and here is the deal breaker for me, I cannot possibly keep reading/listening when it has become obvious that a character is going to be fed their slain pet. Regardless of how attached or unattached I am to said characters. It is just not something I want to hear so I had to delete it. One final thought, somehow I got from the description that there would be a lighter aspect to the story. If you got that impression as well you should know that there isn't. The low performance rating is just due to a one very silly sounding female character, though his Indian accents were good.

Decent story, good premise, okay listen

This book has a lot going for it. Interesting characters, decent premise, unusual threat, pretty good humor. It is a nice, non-offensive listen. It was likable. And yet, I still felt like something was missing. It didn't seem compelling to me for some reason. I can't say why. Perhaps it just caught me on the wrong day.

I can recommend this book as an enjoyable, if not overly memorable listen.

Interesting plot ruined by wooden characters

Ham- fisted characterization, tin-eared dialogue. Adults made to found like bickering Disney channel YA characters. Tedious histrionics to no narrative purpose. Insufferable. Kept wishing the monster would dismember them all.

I wanted to like this...

I wanted to like this book, but it ended up wasting my time (and I even sped the audio up to 1.75)... I kept waiting for something to happen in the story, but NOTHING. Just a bit at the very end of the story. Too much character development... lots of baggage.