The murder, the body — they're both there on the first page. Detective Gabriella Versado is not going to have good day. 'Broken Monsters,' the new novel by Lauren Beukes, unfolds in Detroit, where the difference between art and ruin is in the eye of the beholder. With careful prose, a large cast of characters and an intense plot that seems inspired by the work of Salvador Dali, Beukes offers readers a glimpse art, awe, and ultimately their own hearts. The latter not recently removed still beating, which will feel like a happy surprise.
So, yes, there are some very strange murders going on in Detroit; the less readers know about them, the better. Even the dust jacket tells too much for my taste. 'Broken Monsters' does not rely on twists or gimmicks, but it benefits from being discovered, one word at a time. Rest assured, they're all engaging, as are the characters. Beukes crafts a rather large cast, giving her a lot of agility to pop around as the complicated plots unfold. 'Broken Monsters' covers a lot of ground without feeling like it.
Gabriella is the single, divorced mother of a precocious teenager, Layla. Layla likes to spend time with an unlikely friend, Cas, the two of them messing about, generally on the Internet, and soon enough, managing to turn virtual life into actual trouble. Jonno is a would-be journalist, old enough to know about pen and paper, young enough to know that the Internet is a future that is rapidly turning journalism into a non-profit institution. New to Detroit, leaving the detritus of a broken life behind, he's lucky enough meet a cute DJ who can show him the cultural and artistic underground in Detroit. There's a lot going on around the edges.
The other edges of Detroit prove to be just as busy but not so happy. Thomas Michael Keen live on the streets, works for a church and rummages for food. Would-be artist Clayton Broom watches his work crumble along with his life. A group of artists turn the ruins of Detroit into a dream. This proves to be the category of dream that includes "nightmares."
Beukes is a master of slowly and steadily whipping up a frenzy of plot, tension and characters. Her dialogue feels real, gritty, tense or light-hearted as required. She crafts a lot of characters who are all enjoyable to be with as she moves from one to the other. Using plot and character, she keeps the tension high, and gives readers a loot of reasons to worry about everyone involved.
Readers who enjoyed 'The Shining Girls' will find a rather different novel here, but one that is equally enjoyable. Beukes knows how to slide from reality to something that resembles it, but is much more disturbing. And it's not that the world is filled with the prototypical "human monsters," though we have those in spades. It is rather that the world is filled with unpredictability. We like to think that we know ourselves, know those close to us, know what everyone is capable of. But it turns out that creativity is just as likely to be a curse as it is a blessing. Art, ruin, awe, we do them all so well. Beukes does them all well enough to give us the kind of nightmares that she herself is writing about.
New to the Agony Column
09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
