Customer Reviews

Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu (Thorndike Laugh Lines)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

--Ever since Monk discovered a while back that the kindly old woman I used as a babysitter murdered her husband and buried him in her backyard, day care has been a problem for me.

Call me hooked! I love a laugh out loud mystery but they're not all that easy to find. I hit upon a real winner with Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, by Lee Goldberg. Before I begin, I should confess, I've never seen the Monk show so I can judge this book purely on its own merits. I was entranced by the wonderful relationship between the nutty Monk and his faithful sidekick right from page one. It opens with a crime scene unfortunately located in a dog park and Monk's horror at having to approach the canine mine field is hilarious. The humor runs strong throughout the story but not at the expense of the mystery thread. I thought the astrological chart connection was ingenious (I resist the urge to spoil anything here) and the ragtag collection of oddball cops that Monk must bring in when he is promoted to chief during a police strike add a great dimension also.
Monk's genius is a double edged animal as he is in perpetual state of anxiety. He sees what's wrong in the world and his burden is to set it right. With an almost Sherlockian ability to make connections from the seemingly random, his struggle is both heartwarming and hilarious. Picture a tactical assault team ready to storm a building. One of the cops asks a Kevlar vested Monk if he is carrying a weapon.

--Monk reached into his pocket and pulled out half a dozen packets of disinfectant wipes. "They kill germs on contact," Monk said.
Wyatt grimaced in disgust. "Remain behind me and take cover when the shooting starts."
Monk nodded. "And when should I begin cowering?"

Now this is a hero I want to read about. I'm looking forward to enjoying all of Lee Goldberg's Monk series. Who knows? I may have to break down and watch the show. Nah. Books are always better anyway.

Monk is pressed into duty on the SFPD after the regular cops stage an illegal walk out. He gets a group of misfit detectives under him, and quickly has to deal with several homicides. Lots of classic Monk OCD humor, and plenty of spectacular aha moments as Monk cleans up the city. I read the Monk-Firehouse book, and thought it was very good... but this one is even better!

This is the first Monk book I have read. It's great fun. Lee Goldberg knows his characters so well. I enjoyed the plot. Having Adrian back on the force, albeit in a not-so-kosher way, made for a good story. The fact that his co-detectives were at least as defective as he was just great. Each was well-rounded and I loved the interaction of their "handlers." There were plenty of sub-plots and twists to keep the mystery going well until the end. Two of the moments where Monk is in real trouble were incredible fun. I have no complaints (except that there are typographical errors but that's not Lee's fault, I'm sure.)
I'll definitely be getting more of these books, published and future. I love this genre and this character. A great book for any Monk fan!

This is the first Monk book I have read. I really miss this show and was hoping this book would help fill the void.It did, but just a little. The story line was great, but Monk was a bit too one dimensional. His funny antics made me laugh, though they were close to over the top and the B crew he is placed in command of was over the top. Any one of them would have worked well into the story, but all together they were too much. The book was written in a way that gave Natalie more depth of character than Monk. As a big Monk fan, I know him well, and was able to fill in the gaps. Perhaps this was intended by the author, as this was written more like a 30 minute episode than a one hour movie. However, I miss the sadness, complexity and the bravery involved in facing his fears. I intend to read more of the series in search of this.

This book reads just like an epsiode of the TV show. We already know these characters very well & the actors who play them. As you read this story you can see them acting out the story. Its a credit to the writing & to the show. We know who Monk is & we know how he reacts to certain things. You'll find yourself waiting for the next "Monk Bit" and laugh out loud when it happens.
The actual story here is good as well. Like the show, its really pretty simple when you can isolate it and break it down. The problem is that you get distracted by Monk & his craziness so that when all the pieces fit together in the end you say, "Oh, yeah! I should have seen that coming", but that is basically what makes Monk so much fun. Its not about us trying to figure it out (reading or watching) is about going along for the ride.
One aspect of this book which is worth noting is that it is writing from the point of view of Natalie (Monk's assistant). Because she is the narrator we understand her thoughts and reasoning we get to see a lot more to her character than we do on the show. At first it was a little different because Monk, Disher, & Stottlemeyer are so well defined that, like I mentioned earlier, we can visualize them perfectly beacuse we know their characters so well from the show. Natalie ends up being a little different and I don't think its a bad thing. After finishing the book & getting a better feel for her character I realized that on the show there really isn't any depth to her. She's kind, friendly, supportive, etc. but we really don't get to know who she is. I think the author of this book did a fine job of adding to her character.
The only drawback that I will mention is the supporting cast of charachters in this book. There is a group of detectives who assist Monk. They all have a function in the story & serve it well but they are all crazy characters too, and I think maybe they are just a bit too crazy. Monk is ridculous and we know this, we've come to expext it. The extra characters in this book just make the story a little too ridiculous in parts. Besides that, I think this a great read and although it is not the first Monk novel to be printed it is the first one that I've read & I plan on going back & reading the others.

The Blue Flu stikes SFPD and Mr. Monk is given his badge back along with a promotion to Capt. of the Homicide force. While many murders are solved, we are deprived of the many monkisms we have grown to love from television episodes. Writing can stimulate imagination, however, this book does not. Basically we're reading about a detective who solves murders and has some curious banter with his sidekick. Disappointing save for the cover photo

Or so she thinks. Mr. Monk gets his badge back for this story. Along with a few other detectives, all with their own little quirks. And all with their own assistants. Just like Mr. Monk goes to the Firehouse and Mr. Monk goes to Hawaii, this story is captivating. You pick it up and you don't want to put it down. San Francisco goes into chaos during a police strike. Monk is re-instated, and promptly the murders begin. Monk and his team are trying to solve them, which isn't so easy when you have other police officers working against you because you're undermining their strike. As the story develops, there are interesting twists and turns, as usual. Mr. Monk and the Blue Flue is a great read, I highly recommend it!

The following author's note will be appearing in future editions of this book:

"The story you are about to read shares some of the same plot elements
and situations as the eighth season TV episode "Mr. Monk and the
Badge," which was produced nearly three years after this novel was
written and published. So if you saw that episode before reading this
book, you may experience some deja vu. If so, Monk recommends that you
clean your bathroom. That will not only restore your balance, but the
natural balance of the universe."

As if from the television series, this is a book that is in true Monk set up, a funny detective story.

As a fairly new Monk fan who is becoming as obsessive with the series as Monk is with straightening paintings, I was excited to discover the Monk novel series. I chose Blue Flu as the first one I read (despite a nagging voice telling me I really ought to go in chronological order) because it sounded like an interesting premise and had gotten fairly high reviews here on Amazon.

I was not disappointed.

With few exceptions, I thought this story was vintage Monk. It opens in a dog park... or more precisely, on a hill above a dog park, as Monk is terrified of stepping in dog poo. He plans on solving an odd murder (the killer has stolen the victim's left shoe) from this vantage point. But before Monk can do his usual thing, Captain Stottlemeyer informs him that the department is planning on a "blue flu" because of budget cuts. Thus, Monk is out of a job, or so it seems. When the mayor steps in and offers Monk a chance at Stottlemeyer's job, our favorite disabled detective can't resist the allure of a badge. But captaining is different from consulting, and Monk's need to solve every crime perfectly appears to be his undoing when a series of seemingly random murders hit San Francisco.

The novel is told from assistant Natalie Teeger's point of view. Natalie mainly stays in the background, describing action as a reporter would. However, she occasionally lets the reader in on personal feelings, giving us more insight into the depth of Monk's pain and the effort he puts into ordinary living. Natalie's sympathetic nature also gives us greater understanding of secondary characters. I always found Lieutenant Disher irritating on television, but I quite liked him in this novel.

The mysteries presented within this novel are challenging, although with a little thought one can follow Monk's line of thinking far more easily than Natalie would believe possible. The novel does, from time to time, embellish Monk's disorder more than I would have liked. I had trouble believing that Monk was ignorant of terms like "blue flu" or "squat", despite the character's tendency to take things literally, and his equating vomiting with "a near death experience" seems a little bit too self-pitying. These are very minor points, however; on the whole, the novel is an enjoyable companion to the television series.