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Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.)

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Author: Matt Ruff
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Binding: Paperback
Amazon Editorial reviews
Product Description

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder.

She says she's a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil. She says she's working with the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons—aka "Bad Monkeys."

Her confession lands her in the jail's psychiatric wing and earns her countless hours of poking, probing, and questioning by a professional. But is Jane crazy or lying?

Or is she playing a whole different game altogether?


Amazon - offers:
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.): $10.07 (New)
eBay - offers:
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.) by Matt Ruff: 8.5 USD expires: 2010-03-10 13:06:14
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.): 1.0 USD expires: 2010-03-11 22:10:45
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008): 9.0 USD expires: 2010-03-15 03:46:56
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.) by Matt Ruff: 7.0 USD expires: 2010-03-18 02:55:35
Bad Monkeys: 8.69 USD expires: 2010-03-19 08:33:12
NEW Bad Monkeys - Ruff, Matt ...: 9.27 USD expires: 2010-03-20 16:19:18
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.), Matt Ruff, Acceptable Book: 4.99 USD expires: 2010-03-25 23:20:02
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.), Matt Ruff USED Good Condit: 5.15 USD expires: 2010-03-27 04:52:31
Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.) by Matt Ruff: 8.5 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 9.1 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 9.4 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 3.46 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 9.12 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 9.12 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 4.46 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 2.0 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 5.33 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 11.59 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 8.81 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 6.8 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 8.11 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 8.56 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 8.44 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 6.34 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 12.01 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 6.05 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 2.74 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 1.99 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 2.58 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2008, Paperback, Reprint): 15.07 USD expires: 2010-03-27 16:50:32
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Amazon Customer Reviews:
GilGaMish: Bad Monkeys are Bad
The book had a lot of far fetched storylines and outlandish characters and situations. The story does become too convoluted, but it is interesting and very very different.
K. A. Ekvall: Me bad monkey, You bad monkey too.
Bad Monkey. That's what Jane Charlotte is, does. She's Good. She fights Evil by facing it headlong and can do the things that only the truly worthy can do. Kill people who are truly really evil; fight evil in the way that is beyond, over and under, Law and Order.

But what appears, at first, to be a simple situation of having been caught, red-handed, of killing someone, the psychological warfare is only beginning as Jane decides to reveal her reasons for her act of murder to a shrink, only realizing, along with the reader for that matter, that it was not at all what it appeared to be. As she spins her tale of how she was recruited by the Organization, to her brother Phil, it's a ride of twists and turns, some odd and wildly amusing moments, and then, finally, the truth about the real Jane. And it ain't all peaches and cream.

Silly, I know, but I only picked this up because the size was an odd one, it was bright, almost neon color and had an image of a face, at first vague, and the title, well...eye-catching, all of it. And so. Well, I got kind of burnt out on all those other cleverly written, and engrossing suspense/mystery/figure-it-out sort of books, because they're generally so formulaic. And not that surprising. With a lot of BS in between to add pages. While Bad Monkeys has its share of that, it's done in a way that is so intoxicatingly wonderful to read, and re-read, with its tongue-in-cheek wit and fast-paced dialogue, it just adds to one of the most unique and original stories I've read in a long time. It's a psychological rabbit-hole experience where weird stuff happens and inventive concepts which almost passes the test. Except for the chapter on a lengthy fight sequence with Jane, in which time & space is thrown away for an out of body acid-trip of a scene, while interesting, it bit out of place. But the ending I found clever and surprising, and well delivered. Nor does Ruff shy away from taboo subjects, attacks beliefs and the concepts of good and evil, while not laden or overly heavily, it offers a POV that is neither there nor here, but the reader's own perceptions. You decide. Never feeling too long or too short, with just enough to make you enjoy all the characters, and keeping everything tightly woven together and contained, Ruff created a well-rounded tale that was both fun and intriguing.
Goddess (Goddess): There is nothing like this!
Fun, twisted, mentally challenging book.

One of those strange books that doesn't belong in any existing genre
Aspiring writer, voracious reader and bibliophile mom (Erin K. Simons): More plot twists than an episode of LOST!
Bad Monkeys was the first book from Matt Ruff that I picked up. I'm so glad I happened upon it in the library - he's quickly earned a place among my favorite authors.

Bad Monkeys is a book that keeps you guessing all the way to the end. It's not a mystery - in fact, I'd be hard-pressed to categorize it all all. It's quirky, with a healthy dose of satire and a storyline with more twists and turns than perhaps anything I've ever read.

I want to be careful not to give anything away, so here's a brief and deliberatly vague teaser: Jane Charlotte is a self-confessed member of The Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons (or Bad Monkeys). In a series of sessions with a psychotherapist in a prison psych ward, Jane tells the story of how she joined the Bad Monkeys, an organization devoted to fighting evil. Are the Bad Monkeys only in her head, or is something very large and very crazy at work?

Ruff has spun a real page-turner in Bad Monkeys. This is a book I stayed up half the night to finish, and couldn't help myself from exclaiming, "WHAT? No WAY!" to no one in particular at several points in the story.

Check it out. Ruff's masterful with his deception -- you won't be disappointed.
travel reader (John Hauer): Love Ruff, love the book
Matt Ruff writes too slowly. Unfortunately I read his first book right when it was published and had to wait forever to get more of him. I gave up, and then accidentally found this book in Borders one day. That led to his other book, as well. I want more. Yes there is murder, mystery and deception in this book. That all works. The big question is what is a "Bad Monkey" and should we kill it. We certainly believe in the death penalty in America. Fire away...
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