Mr. Monk in Outer Space

When a fast food chain executive is shot three times in his office by a professional hit man, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer of the SFPD calls former partner turned private investigator Adrian Monk. Along with his lovely assistant, Natalie Teeger, Monk arrives on the scene (after outsmarting a revolving door) and reveals that the victim's death had been caused by a heart attack. In other words, the corpse had been desecreated.

This prompts Stottlemeyer's current partner, the quirky and sometimes ditzy Lt. Randy Disher, to form the Special Desecration Unit, placing himself in charge, of course.

The question is, who shot the dead man?

Meanwhile, when Adrian Monk's living room carpet is soiled by a coffee stain that can only be seen with a show more magnifying glass, the obsessive-compulsive detective orders a new carpet. Since he cannot live in his home until the new carpet is installed, he finds himself staying with his agoraphobic brother, Ambrose. As the two of them rarely speak, it makes for an awkward situation.

Monk is then called to the scene of another shooting murder, this time outside of a convention center. The creator of an long canceled sci-fi TV show called Beyond Earth had been shot in the head while exiting a cab. Security footage revealed the killer to be...Mr. Snork!

As Natalie explains, Snork is one of the lead characters in Beyond Earth. He is a crewmember of the USS Discovery, lost in space after Earth is destroyed. The ship's crew encounters other aliens and helps to form the Confederation of Planets. Snork has pointy ears, an elephant trunk for a nose, and speaks Dratch.

The costumed killer from the security footage is seen running into the nearby convention center. According to Monk, it should be easy to catch the "freak" until he learns that the convention center is hosting a Beyond Earth convention with scores of fans dressed like Mr. Snork and other aliens.

Monk is absolutely appalled at the idea of dressing up like a television character and upon visiting the Beyond Earth convention, is further shocked to learn that his tech writer brother, Ambrose, has penned three reference books about the show!

But how does the murder of a has-been TV executive connect with the desecration of a fast food franchise exec? Only Adrian Monk can answer that question, once he learns to get over his fear of odd numbers, quirky TV show fans, carpet stains, eye patches, revolving doors, and more. More importantly, will he listen to his brother, Ambrose, who might have vital information thanks to his knowledge about Beyond Earth?

Lee Goldberg delivers yet another amusing story of "defective detective" Adrian Monk paired with an hilarious spoof of hardcore pop sci-fi fandom.

Goldberg's brilliant approach of telling the Monk stories using the first person POV of Natalie serves to clarify the concept of Adrian Monk as a flawed, fearful, egotistical, hypocritical, and ultimately sympathetic character. In other words, a human being. More, readers become familiar with what drives Monk to be the "best detective on Earth"...and possibly Beyond! show less

While investigating a shocking murder, famed detective Adrian Monk must interact with the rabid fandom of a sci-fi show possibly making a comeback -- and learn that his own brother is part of this community.

This was an interesting book overall, based on the Monk television show and characters. I think it definitely helped being a fan of the TV show because I could 'hear' the tone of each character and imagine their facial reactions; even when a specific piece of dialogue wasn't labeled with a speaker's name despite being in a conversation with three or more characters, I could often immediately tell who was talking. I'm not sure if this works as well if you haven't watched the show, but I also doubt many people are picking up this book show more who didn't watch the show.

A couple of things are different about having a novel-length story for Adrian Monk instead of a screenplay to last for roughly 40-45 minutes of air time. For starters, like other books in this series, this title is narrated by Monk's assistant Natalie. I find this a weird choice but it works okay enough. Second, instead of just one mystery to solve, there are several. Of course, like with the show itself, these mysteries all end coming together in their solutions, but at least there's an illusion at first of Monk working on disparate cases at once.

It was nice to watch Monk and his brother interact as well as to learn more about their family history. While this book is not itself part of the show's canon, it does follow what happens there without disturbing any timeline facts and by staying true to the characters. show less

Based on the television series created by Andy Breckman, the book series goes more into depth, and I especially liked seeing Monk's brother in this book. Agorophobic as he is, he is most helpful to his OC brother, and an explanation of how they became so weird (from parental influence) comes to light. Monk would set me nuts if I had to endure him, as Natalie, his ass't, does, but she dearly loves him as a person, even with his faults. I got a bit lost in this book, due to my non-exposure by choice to Sci-Fi, but when I settled in, it was a good read. The fault was mine, not that of the author. This is another one of the series not to miss, and I plan to read every one of them to have a laugh at OC behavior in an innocent way.

The murder of Conrad Stipe, legendary creator of the fan-favorite television series “Beyond Earth” sends obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk into the rarified world of science fiction fandom as he seeks the killer at a convention in which the fans attire themselves in appropriate costumes from their beloved series.

As the body count mounts and a second person involved with “Beyond Earth” becomes a victim, will Monk find the answers and solve the case before there’s another death?

As with the earlier books in the series, Monk’s assistant, Natalie, serves as the narrator for this, the fifth story in the series. Monk’s brother, Ambrose, is an interesting addition to the cast of characters as he offers some insights into show more Monk’s obsessive behavior. This plot twists and turns enough to keep readers from guessing the outcome before the big reveal. The story, like those that preceded it, is true to the television series. However, the thinly-veiled jab at the multitude of “Star Trek” fans comes across as insensitive meanness rather than as good-natured fun, robbing the story of much of its intended humor. show less

The book is a curious addition to the series; in some ways the most sympathetic and in others the harshest. We learn about Monk's childhood and meet his brother (who has shown up in a couple of television episodes). Star Trek fandom is parodied but is also explained psychologically. There is much broad humour but Monk also develops as a person. Monk solves the murder of the creator of a cult science fiction series; it is not Gene Roddenberry. This involves interaction with the fans; people as obsessed as he. His agoraphobic brother Ambrose is the world expert on the series even to the point of creating an entire language (that is not Klingon) from the random improvisations of an actor in a single episode. Randy Disher continues to be show more the figure of fun that reminds us that Stottlemeyer is competent and Monk is not silly. Disher's "Special Desecration Unit" is a wonderful mechanism for displaying his ambition and fantasies. The book series continues to be a masterly companion to the TV shows although I will never understand why nobody sues Monk for all those things for which he expects them to thank him later. show less

An amusing novel spun off of the TV series about the brilliant detective handicapped by severe OCD, worsened by the unsolved murder of his wife. At a Star Trek-like fan convention, Monk investigates a murder by a killed made up like one of the alien characters of the series as are many others at the convention. Along the way Monk solves other crimes. His solutions are great. The book is a fun, light, quick read.

A book based on one of my favorite TV shows, "Monk", about a brilliant detective who is obsessive-compulsive to the nth degree. This book, apparently along with the others in the series, is told by Monk's assistant Natalie, and was written by one of the regular writers of the show. The story is a pretty typical "Monk" murder-whodunnit, bizarre in nature. The 'outer space" bit comes from the fact of the murder victim being a Gene Roddenberry sort of creator of a cult sci-fi series, "Beyond Earth". No actual space travel is involved, which might have been a hoot with Monk, who hates to even fly. The story is nicely convoluted and true to the character of the series. Monk's eccentricities and compulsions seem more extreme here than in the show more show; I wonder if that's due to a humanizing influence of Tony Shalhoub's excellent acting. Nevertheless, an enjoyable quick read for any fan of the show, with a little deeper character analysis than the series usually gets into. show less