Lauren Beukes

"Scary as hell and hypnotic. I couldn't put it down...I'd grab it if I were you." --Stephen King A criminal mastermind creates violent tableaus in abandoned Detroit warehouses in Lauren Beukes's new genre-bending novel of suspense. Detective Gabriella Versado has seen a lot of bodies. But this one is unique even by Detroit's standards: half boy, half deer, somehow fused together. As stranger and more disturbing bodies are discovered, how can the city hold on to a reality that is already tearing at its seams? If you're Detective Versado's geeky teenage daughter, Layla, you commence a dangerous flirtation with a potential predator online. If you're desperate freelance journalist Jonno, you do whatever it takes to get the exclusive on a horrific story. If you're Thomas Keen, known on the street as TK, you'll do what you can to keep your homeless family safe--and find the monster who is possessed by the dream of violently remaking the world. If Lauren Beukes's internationally bestselling The Shining Girls was a time-jumping thrill ride through the past, her Broken Monsters is a genre-redefining thriller about broken cities, broken dreams, and broken people trying to put themselves back together again.

Broken Monsters

baku

Janice Hopper

I started this book in ebook format not long after it first came off. I bounced off it, for some reason. Looking back, I thought it was going to be a particular kind of book, a kind that I didn't find very interesting. Looks like I was actually wrong.

I saw the audiobook version was available of Scribd recently, so I thought I'd take another run at it. The audiobook made all the difference for me! I've had a run of audiobooks recently that haven't really worked that well for me, so it was wonderful to find one that DID. Kudos to the narrators of this book. There were different narrators for the different basic characters. That helped.

I thought this was going to be just another mystery novel with an especially creepy killer. Not too interested in that. It IS about that, but there's a little more creepiness going on here. And a LOT of the story is about Gabi, the detective, and Layla, her daughter, and Layla's friend, Cass. So lots of strong women represented here. Thumbs up!

There were some sideplots that I thought were a bit unfortunate, that didn't really add to the narrative, but they were fairly minor.

The author relies heavily on the memes and conventions of the internet. That reliance makes the book timely and lively, but may make it dated and incomprensible in the future. But for those of us who spends a lot of time on the internet, it drives the story along pretty well. 

I enjoyed the book a lot more than I expected to after a slightly rough beginning. I listened to almost the whole book in a day.

Alfredo santos

This was just a fantastic rollercoaster. Started reading and thought it was your run of the mill serial killer + troubled cop going through something unique story. And although on the baseline is that, it's also so much more. First of all the way the author embodies the characters, all unique and with a strong inner voice, is a game changer. The way the villain of the story is portrayed is also new. Not a madman, not an evil killer. Just something else. And I'm not referring to something as diverse as SK's The Outsider (don't want to spoil anything for you). I've never read about this author but ran into The Shining Girls cover and Broken Monsters was the one I could get my hands on. Will definitely continue reading Lauren Beukes and her style. 

After all this brag and excitement, why don't I give it five stars? overall it was great, but it wasn't 5 star fiction literature great. My points of comparison in somewhat related genres would be 4th of july creek or swan song (if you're into fiction). And I rate it based on emotions produced. Those books, damn, made you happy, sad, cry, etc. Whatever the emotion was, it was hard and sucked you in deeply. And although Broken Monsters does entice a good laugh, and cheering, and also sympathy for stuff that happened to the characters, it still lacks a bit of depth in that emotion. 

Till next book!

Chiara Malaspina di Orezzoli

Se solo nelle ultime 50 pagine non ci avesse infilato un'esplosione di paranormale (poi in parte spiegata, ma comunque decisamente poco coerente con il resto della storia) avrei ceduto alle 5 stelline.

Una cosa è certa: Lauren Beukes sa scrivere.

Zoe Smolen

I found the beginning a little slow, but it was worth the wait.

b.andherbooks

I went into Broken Monsters expecting to be horrified by the serial killer who kills people (including a young child) and fuses their various body parts to dead animals but honestly I thought that was one of the "tamer" parts. More horrifying was social media's role in the major conflicts in this novel, especially that of teenager Layla who gets involved in some really scary (and REAL) stuff.

The supernatural elements of this story didn't really play out for me like I'd hoped, and I definitely prefer The Shining Girls. That said, still a great offering.

Ben Nathan

Really excellent. Great thriller type read. Wonderful job of different perspectives and personalities. I highly recommend this one. It's also kind of messed up in a good way :)

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Review also found here at Booked J. 

All right, Broken Monsters, I am going to have to admit defeat. Alas, this was another DNF.

Broken Monsters has been on my TBR for years and years. And my copy has been hanging around since its initial publication. In the years since, I have picked it up a dozen times only to set it aside in something like frustration and boredom. Which is unfortunate, because it started off so good! 

The first quarter of this novel was compulsively interesting. Lauren Beukes had me hooked in a swirl of delectable writing and potential. H*ll, she hooked me from the premise. Talk about a chillingly unique mystery! 

In the end, it wasn't my cup of tea. Eventually, my engagement dropped off and I found my interest drifting. Somehow I went from possibilities and intrigue, to an underwhelming ache in my mind. It was like an instant shift and suddenly I was disconnected, and indifferent, towards everything in its pages. Broken Monsters just wasn't for me and I had to finally admit that it was never going to be finished.

Bryan Alexander

I read Broken Monsters as part of my quest for the best 21st century horror novel. And I was very pleased.

Here Beukes gives us the story of a deranged serial killer in Detroit, his crimes, victims, and the police trying to stop him. It succeeds on all kinds of levels.

First, the characters are diverse and well-drawn. Beukes risks cliches, but avoids them very well: a single mom/police detective and her daring daughter; a homeless man trying to help people around him; the mad killer, utterly confused by where his art has led him. Each feels real, goes through serious changes, and is distinct from the others. Minor characters are equally sharp, like the shocked parents of one victim.

Second, Broken Monsters plays well with genres. The police procedural is good, as is the serial killer; we know these forms, and Beukes carries them off well, with some freshness. The madman is confused and makes bad mistakes, unlike, say, the 1990s post-Hannibal Lector super villains. The detective acts on her own, which turns out to be a bad idea. The book is also a genre hybrid, a combination of these forms, with a serious dose of fantasy, and they bounce off of each other productively. 

It's also very female-centric. Most of the lead characters are women, and they offer the majority of perspectives. This isn't seen as remarkable, perhaps positioning this as a post-feminist novel.

Third, so many details are solid. The art and art world, digital technologies, and Detroit all convince. (For Detroit, I smiled at seeing Charlie LeDuff name checked (my review) (8). It was good to see both ruins and optimism. And a knowing link to Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project. It's rare to see fiction making good use of social media and mobile devices without being cyberpunk.

Fourth, it's just tasty to read. I kept returning to it, savoring good lines, like "It's like her whole room is a Tumblr of things that make her happy" (175) and "her stepmom... still treats Layla like she's a pack of rotted dynamite that might go off at any moment" (435). 
It's killing her not to tell her mom. The secret feels like moths fluttering in her mouth, bashing against her teeth. (224)
The dream knows what they are waiting for, even if they don't themselves.
The end of everything.
The moment when it reveals its miracle boy and all the eyes will look and their seeing will be horror and glory and wonder and it will pierce the skin of the world, collapse dimensions, and open the doors and the work will breathe and dance in his shoes and the dream will be able to escape.
Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home. (236-7)

It's an odd horror novel, given the genre mashup. Beukes keeps the Gothic bits offstage for most of the book, placing key scenes with horrific deaths and imaginations to shadow the rest. In that way it remains true to the murder mystery and serial killer genres. The finale is something of a horror novel staple, a battle combining fantasy and reality with the world (or at least Michigan) at stake.

Overall, strongly recommended.

Broken Monsters

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