Bad Monkeys

Across the table from a police psychologist in a Las Vegas lockdown, a killer flashes back to what makes her tick. Seems her victim wasn’t just some ordinary Joe, and it was her job as an operative for a super-secret paramercenary organization to take him out. Their job is to eliminate the bad seeds of society with extreme prejudice … and the target was a “Bad Monkey,” the sort of dude whose early death would be for the betterment of society. Or so she claims; the woman has a checkered past and a lot of it seems delusional to her inquisitor. Bad Monkeys reads like a screenplay filled out into a lean novel, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a ripping yarn full of clever twists, turns and dark-witted humor that toward the end veer off into Philip K. Dick territory. Author Matt Ruff has a good ear for dialogue and a wicked eye for social satire, making Bad Monkeys a more-than-excellent quick read.