Customer Reviews

Monstrum (Spanish Edition)

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

 

 

Donald James has written a strange novel that I enjoyed, but only in a limited fashion. In it the stage is set in 2015, in Russia. Constantin Vadim has been transferred from Murmansk to Moscow to run a homicide squad, for which he has no experience and little talent. This, however, is a cover, as he in reality is to act as a double impersonating the Vice President of the new country, Leonid Koba, who is really the power behind the throne.

No sooner does Vadim arrive in Moscow than it develops that his assignment as homicide investigator is going to be a real problem for him. For one thing, though his staff is large, most of them only engage in private enterprise for one of his superiors, and he can't complain about this. As a result, his squad of investigators is very small. In addition, there's a particularly nasty serial killer on the loose, nicknamed Monstrum because of the gruesome mutilations he inflicts on his female prostitute victims.

Then there are Vadim's personal problems. He's divorced from an ideologue who joined the losing side in the just-concluded Civil War, an anarchist with a seemingly endless ability to prevaricate and justify her actions, though they are less and less moral as time goes on. Vadim also has an affair with an American official who's helping with the Amnesty program locally in Russia, and a flirtation with the medical examiner. There's a dead son by the ex-wife, who figures in the plot, and various other characters.

One of the problems with this story is the way it's structured. I recently read a Mickey Spillane novel where the author managed to hold the final surprise of the book to the last sentence: there's no pretence of that here, instead the mystery concludes 40 pages from the end of the book, and the author then has to wind up the various plots. It's a bit anti-climactic...

I will say, though, that I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it.

Mr. James has written an immensely satisfying novel that is layered with converging plot lines that implode (rather than explode) in a multi-climatic continuum that is both reminiscent of noir classics and as energized as contemporary pulp fiction.

A decidedly subtle read so evocatively written that you are subconsciously drawn in. Be prepared to be thoughtfully distracted between readings as your mind unwillingly reviews the details of the story and the intricacies of the characters.

While the story may seem to lack in areas such as character development, the author seems to allow the reader to draw their own conclusions by way of character action - verses character description. In doing so, the novel becomes a palpable reflection of the reader's own experience and interpretation.

For those who might ascribe the authors story line development with being too convenient or implausibly coincidental, which is the common thread of any thriller, the understated inflections of the lead character - Constantin Vadim - told in first person, more than compensate.

Very good read for discerning tastes that lean towards the more intelligent story.

It is the year 2015, and a post-civil war Russia attempts to build a new democracy and discard centuries of Totalitarianism. Constantin Vadim, a militiaman from Murmansk, is assigned to Moscow as the chief homicide inspector of a destitute and war-torn district of Moscow to take charge of a brutal string of murders of young women by a fiend dubbed the "monstrum". For sure, an unusual and ambitious setting for a serial murder mystery, which historian Donald James tackles in "Monstrum". It is this ambition, however, that fatally flaws what could have been an intriguing novel; there are simply too many plots set in motion and too many messages that James is trying to deliver. Told by Vadim in first person, the all-too-frequent addresses to the reader as "my brothers" becomes tedious. While in the end most of these threads come together, payoff feels contrived, wholly implausible, and ultimately disappointing.

This is a good thriller and it has an intelligence and sense of place that few serial killer novels have. There are a few great lines, e.g., "In an investigation, any investigation, if you want to know what really happened you have to be ruthless with your favorite theories." However, I thought the chracter of Julia was James' most interesting creation and contained his most memorable scenes. As the novel progressed, I wished the novel was called `Julia'. I look forward to other novels by Donald James; perhaps, one on Julia herself.

I bought this book together with Russell Andrews' "Gideon". I still rue the day.

Constantin Vadim is the sort of cardboard decective who would be unable to find his own nose even equipped with a map and a flashlight. For this he is promoted and sent to Moscow, to work on the case of a serial killer (the "Monstrum" of the title) so well-connected that the only way to keep everybody happy is to assign a moron to the case.

Vadim has a drinking problem, a women problem and a general thinking problem (as in, he doesn't think at all). The man is so utterly brainwashed that I found it very hard to relate to him - which hampered the reading experience, as the novel is narrated in first person singular, from Vadim's viewpoint. His life is a perfect example of Henry Rollins' jibe on the genders: "All women are evil. All men are stupid", none stupider than Vadim, either.

One reviewer mentioned a set of improbable coincidences required to set the plot rolling. In addition, Vadim has about as much initiative as the ball in a pinball machine - events hurl him into other events and people. Actions he undertakes of his own volition are limited to getting drunk, that's about it.

The other personae appearing in this book are either sketchy or cliched, so that there's no relief for the pummelled reader - not much fun even in supposedly humoristic situations (the groan-inducing office cat storyline, for instance). The people in the book live supposedly in 2015, and the adults' historical awareness reaches back at most to 2010 (somebody did a mass mindwipe on the poor Russian people... again...). Sad beyond words.

The C for effort is for the "Russianization" of certain sentences - Vadim's hungover ruminations and some dialogues sound really good. That's what made me give an extra star.

When will I learn, whenever I pick up a book that says it is the next XX - I should remember this book. Gorky Park was a fabulous book and this book did not live up to it. Don't get me wrong, I liked this book and it did have same similarities to Gorky Park (almost too many). I liked the descriptions of how Russia had fallen in the book into a complete state of everyone out for themselves ruthlessness. The serial killer bit was ok, not a copy of anything else we know but the author did not really sell it to you. I also thought the political side story / cause was a little distracting becuase it was too pushy - you knew it would have a part to play at the end. Overall I think this is an average book.