Once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it back down. The story revolves around Jane Charlotte, who has just been charged with murder and is being interviewed in prison by a psychiatrist. She claims to work for a secret society that is erradicating evil from the world by killing "bad monkeys"--people who are considered evil to the point of being irredeemable. But is she telling the truth? The choice of such a questionably reliable narrator sets this novel apart from other science fiction thrillers on the market and keeps the reader guessing throughout the book. In addition, the sometimes quite likable "bad monkeys" raise the question of what defines evil and when is someone truly beyond the point of redemption. A page turner that encourages deep thought is a rare thing and I can't wait to read more from Matt Ruff. ( )

This one reminded me a lot of Christopher Moore books. A fact I guess other people must have noticed since they have a quote from Moore on the cover. Slightly less crazy characters but still over the top plot. I like this style of book but it just does not capture me the way some inferior books do just because I happen to like characters I can relate to better. In a way the writing style of both Moore and Ruff reminds me of the short stories I read for a Latin American literature class. The descriptions are amazing, the stories interesting, but I just can't actually feel anything for the characters because they are too removed from me. Of course these books were way funnier than that class. ( )

first line: "It's a room an uninspired playwright might conjure while staring at a blank page: White walls. White ceiling. White floor."

This is a not-quite-dystopian novel of psychological suspense, requiring readers to parse out truth from lies and good from evil. It's a quick, gripping read, and I can easily imagine a movie adaptation. ( )

A really fun and engrossing read! Plan to read the whole book in one sitting. The Organization is the most bad-ass super-secret organization ever conceived.

By the end, there might have been a few too many plot twists...

Addictive. Unpredictable. All the things a monkey tale should be.

Jane Charlotte is in jail on murder charges, specifically in the psychiatric ward. Why? Well, her claim that she is a member of the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons, a.k.a. “Bad Monkeys,” is a good start. Prison psychologist Dr. Vale listens to her personal history, starting with her recruitment into the secret organization at the age of fourteen, after her discovery that the janitor at her school was the Angel of Death. The Bad Monkeys were already on the case, but she didn’t find that out until it was almost too late.

American philosopher and thinker Loren Eiseley once said,“I am not nearly so interested in what monkey man was derived from as I am in what kind of monkey he is to become.” So too the reader swings back and forth as they hear Jane’s tale. Is she herself a good monkey, or a bad monkey?

Her story unfolds in a way that will seem eerily familiar to fans of the underground classic Illuminatus Trilogy. It’s a quick read, especially since you won’t want to put it down. ( )