Customer Reviews

The Monsters of Gramercy Park: A Novel

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm not sure whether to describe Monsters of Gramercy Park as a thriller with the style of a literary novel, or a literary novel with the momentum of a thriller. All I can say is that you'll want to buy two copies: one to keep and one to gift. It's that good.

On the surface Monster's a thriller, but really it's the tale of the codependent relationship and power play that develops between a failing writer (Lizbeth) and Latino gang lord (Velez). Leigh's keen ear for dialogue and deft prose kept me guessing until the very end.

Monsters takes its name from an eponymous story-within-the-story, which could easily stand on its own as a Gothic children's book.

Leigh recently shared a Time Out London cover with Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, among others. Well, if he keeps going at this rate, Zadie and Ian best watch their backs. Leigh's talents are undeniable. Read this before Hollywood gets its grubby hands on it, then you're stuck buying the version with the "NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE" cover.

The idea of this book was fascinating and does bring back intensity of the 'Silence of the Lambs' interaction - and it is as effective in this wonderful read.
Wilson Velez is a prisoner who formed an ultra-violent gang who is in a high security prison and has a given a new court review to moderate his life at the prison - Lisbeth was a popular serial writer, whose subject has gotten worn, and failing sales - She decides to interview Wilson and maybe get herself writing again.
The 'dance' between writer Lisbeth and Wilson is mesmerizing - and soon you get so caught up you wonder who is really telling the true story - who is the manipulator - is Wilson a visionary or is he still the ultra-violent gang leader still operating in this high security prison?
The ending and its events that proceed it are thought provoking and will haunt you after you close the book.
Well worth the hardback price.

The Monsters of Gramercy Park by Danny Leigh draws the reader into a haunting tale of need and a struggle for power between two determined personalities. Wilson Velez, the convicted felon and leader of the Sacred Incan Royals, needs a reason to live after years of the harshest segregation known in the American prison system. Lizbeth Greene, the celebrated novelist known for the extreme violence that has haunted her life, is looking for her next book. The coming together of these two to create a true recounting of Wilson's life sets in motion a train of events leading to a truly horrific outcome.

While not your typical blood and gore thriller, this book is perfect for the reader who likes to be kept guessing. Throughout, manipulation and tension keep shifting the foundation upon which the novel is set. Many time I felt the rug pulled out from under my feet as what I believed to be true was ripped away.

Leigh does a great job in fleshing out his characters. Just when you think you know who they are, knowledge is turned on its head and you are left scrambling for a foothold. While Wilson and Lizbeth were not characters I liked, I was compelled to keep reading their story. Several times I found myself ranting out loud at Lizbeth, something I haven't been caused to do by a book in years.

This is a novel that will leaving the reader thinking and second-guessing for days to come. Highly recommended for readers who don't want their endings tied up in a box with a pretty bow.

Being familiar with both Gramercy Park and the urban sub-culture of New York City as well as that of the neighboring rustbelt cities in urban New Jersey down to Philadelphia, I choked on the author's disenfranchised & obviously far removed take on "Latino Gang Culture". At one point, the dialogue reads like an artificial slice of nuyorican slang and spanglish complete with "tu sabe" etc, but then comes the bizarre and out of place "Cholo" reference. Perhaps the whole Mexican thug thing might have worked for a novel set in Arizona, Texas or California, but not in the Northeast. The author apparently watched an episode of Locked up, threw in some DOC terminology such as "Ad Seg" interspersed with a cringe-worthy amount of repeated references to La Raza and the People's Nation of Sacred Incan Royals, hoping to tap into the authentic subcultures of the street life in New York City. Instead, it reads like a script from 21 Jump Street. I'd suggest the author try full immersion in his intended setting, be it Philly, Camden, Newark, Jersey City, Passaic, Elizabeth or any of the NYC Boroughs, before he attempts Richard Price realism from his garden in Brighton.

The Monsters of Gramercy Park by Danny Leigh draws the reader into a haunting tale of need and a struggle for power between two determined personalities. Wilson Velez, the convicted felon and leader of the Sacred Incan Royals, needs a reason to live after years of the harshest segregation known in the American prison system. Lizbeth Greene, the celebrated novelist known for the extreme violence that has haunted her life, is looking for her next book. The coming together of these two to create a true recounting of Wilson's life sets in motion a train of events leading to a truly horrific outcome.

While not your typical blood and gore thriller, this book is perfect for the reader who likes to be kept guessing. Throughout, manipulation and tension keep shifting the foundation upon which the novel is set. Many time I felt the rug pulled out from under my feet as what I believed to be true was ripped away.

Leigh does a great job in fleshing out his characters. Just when you think you know who they are, knowledge is turned on its head and you are left scrambling for a foothold. While Wilson and Lizbeth were not characters I liked, I was compelled to keep reading their story. Several times I found myself ranting out loud at Lizbeth, something I haven't been caused to do by a book in years.

This is a novel that will leaving the reader thinking and second-guessing for days to come. Highly recommended for readers who don't want their endings tied up in a box with a pretty bow.

I must admit, this book is outside my preferred genre. I am not a fan of Patterson-Baldacci-Grisham. I prefer historical fiction (Jeff Shaara) or fantasy (George R.R. Martin). This book left me very unsatisfied. The protagonist is flawed to the point of being unlikeable. The ending felt like a weak cop-out. I chose this book to read because I was travelling and needed a "thin" book that was easy to carry. Reading Harry Potter with my 8 year old was more rewarding than 'The Monsters of Gramercy Park'.