Hello Internet!
This is a book I purchased a while ago that I have decided to write a short review for. Monster is a novel about a husband and wife, Reed and Rebecca (or Beck as she is usually known as), who are separated during a camping trip when a strange furry creature kidnaps Beck. It then follows the point of view of Reed and some of his friends who are trying to find Beck as well and Beck’s perspective as she tries to make sense of the things that have kidnapped her. Not only do the hunters have to track down the monsters, they also have to deal with people who want to make sure no one sees these creatures and live to tell the tale.
I kind of went back and forth about this book while reading it, in more ways than one. On the one hand, because it is written from a cinematic perspective in most parts it allows for character deaths. Indeed, several times it looks like a character who we’ve been following closely through large parts of the story get killed, and in one case we don’t learn otherwise for a whole chapter. I’ll be honest, when I read that I told myself I would never read anything by this author again, and I might not have even finished it if it weren’t for the fact that the book was almost over and I really wanted to see how it ended, but I changed my mind about Peretti when I found out that person hadn’t died. Of course, other people do die in this book, and there are a lot of scary parts, so I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone not in their late teens at least.
On the more positive side, I really enjoyed the mystery that was involved in this. While it seems obvious at first that the creatures responsible for all the problems are sasquatches, also known as Bigfoots (Bigfeet?), some of the discoveries made start to indicate to the audience and some of the characters that they are actually something else. It is all revealed carefully throughout the story with just enough evidence and just enough doubt to make it enjoyable, right up until the end in which the truth is discovered. I won’t say what actually happened except to say that neither theory is the full truth.
Another part I found great in this book was how the characters, especially Beck, relate to God. Throughout the story she repeatedly questions why God allowed all these bad things to happen to her, especially when she comes agonizingly close to rescue on several occasions only to be taken away again. In the end though, not only do we see that is they had found and tried to rescue her sooner and in a different manner than what they did in the end then more innocents would have died and several bad guys and monsters would have escaped, they also made her a stronger and braver woman.
Another subject that comes up is evolution, an area I have always had a strong interest in. The story makes several good points about how random mutations really don’t produce the progress needed by the theory. My main problem is that while it is all important for the plot, it still occasionally felt a little forced to me.
So on the whole, I probably will get another book by Frank Peretti some time, and I don’t regret reading this one at all.
Till next time,
Goodbye Internet!