Customer Reviews

Mr. Monk Goes to Germany

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Mr. Monk Goes to Germany

The latest book in Lee Goldberg's Mr. Monk Series is well-paced and exciting. The chapters speed by as though you are watching a good movie.
Monk is coping fairly well when Dr. Kroger announces that he is going to Germany for a weeklong conference. Within 24 hours Monk has turned into an emotional wreck fraught with abandonment issues. He is convinced that Dr. Kroger cares deeply about him and won't be annoyed about being followed overseas. He pays Natalie's way for her and with a bit of chemical help "The Monk" flies to Germany with his assistant.
The book is full of comedic moments as Natalie navigates their way to the village where the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs originated. Picture Monk staying in a centuries old house built without any right angles! There is just enough description of the charming setting around Lohr, local customs, and people to make the book interesting, but it never becomes the focal point.
Naturally there is no such thing as a quiet vacation (including routine appointments with a less than pleased Dr. Kroger at the conference center) when Monk is around. The bodies start to show up almost immediately which puts the village's tiny police department into a tailspin. Again the writing is clever as we meet Commissioner Stoffmacher and Lt. Geshir who just happen to have a Skipper/Gilligan relationship like Stottlemeyer and Disher back home!
Monk spots a six-fingered man in the village, and immediately the detecting becomes very personal for him. Although the man is an upstanding citizen Monk is determined to find criminal evidence against him and works relentlessly to this end. There are many twists and turns to the plot as Monk with Natalie at his side digs for the truth. Natalie's voice as the narrator is funny and full of insight. She provides the normalcy that counterbalances all of Monk's unique perceptions. There are some unexpectedly dramatic scenes with Dr. Kroger. At this point the book is moving on fast forward with the reader along for a wild ride. Everything resolves itself in the end of course as Monk ingeniously solves the mystery. For me the book was over too soon!

This sixth `Monk' novel is a breeze of a read. It's very entertaining, the mystery elements are neatly handled and there's plenty of Monk madness to enjoy. And yet, for all that, I have to admit that I found this the least satisfying of the `Monk' novels so far published.

Monk is horrified when his psychiatrist, Dr. Kroger, suddenly announces that he is going to Germany for a week to attend a conference. How will Monk cope without his regular sessions with the good doctor? The answer to that soon becomes apparent when Dr. Kroger tries to pacify Monk by arranging for Dr. Jonah Sorenson, the one-armed psychiatrist who we first met in the television episode `Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink'. Sorenson's lack of body symmetry has our obsessive compulsive detective in something of a cold sweat. Added to this is the fact that Monk's new neighbor only has one leg. Monk slips into a state of "tearless weeping" and "losing count of his blinking." He decides that the only course of action left open to him is to follow Dr. Kroger to Germany.

Monk's unease about people with physical anomalies is about to become even more pronounced because he suddenly notices a man who has six fingers on his right hand. This is especially significant to Monk because his wife's murderer was hired by an eleven-fingered man.

Where I have some difficulty with this novel is in some of the situations that Monk and Natalie get into and how they react to those situations. Obviously, with a television series as the basis for a novel, you can't help but refer back to the characters as they appear on screen. In the television episode, `Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine', as I remember it, when Monk is under the influence of the personality-altering drug, Dioxynl, his usefulness as a detective is non-existent. In this novel, Monk's detective skills are unimpaired after taking the drug. Also, Natalie's extreme reactions toward Dr. Kroger in this novel didn't ring true for me when compared to her screen persona, or even when compared to her ususal laid-back character in the novels.

When reading this novel, I kept asking myself why it was set in Germany as opposed to any other country. Why did the cast have to be transported out of San Francisco at all? There are even a couple of characters that mirror Stottlemeyer and Disher with similar sounding, if Germanic, names. All good comedy stuff, admittedly, but at times, things felt a little forced to me.

All this moaning is perhaps a bit harsh. I'd still recommend this novel to fans of the previous books in the series because it's a good, entertaining read. However, compared to the previous `Monk' novels, I do feel that this is the weakest entry in the series.

These books are so much fun, they almost make all my issues small by comparison. I have read all the books and anxiously look forward to the next one. If you are looking for pure escapism when you read, pick up these books. The characters are fun and believable (well, as believable as Monk can be), the stories are well written and you do not have to watch the series to enjoy them (I don't have cable and have only seen 1-2 episodes). If you want a fun read, read MONK!

If everything is going wrong in your life....have I got a book for you.

"Mr Monk Goes to Germany" is light and funny and entertaining on every page. It's sure to put you in a better mood.

The book starts off with a major catastrophe. Monk has lost a sock and he demands a full police investigation into the crime. As if that isn't bad enough, his new neighbor has only one leg. The man, stuck on Mount Kilmanjaro with his leg caught between two boulders, had to hack off the leg, then eat it to survive.

Monk knows in his soul that "'I'm very tasty to cannibals'" (p 31).

And now, with things in such a crisis state, Monk's shrink, Dr. Kroger, is leaving on vacation.

If you don't laugh out loud, then there is at least a smile on every page.

A huge fan of the Monk series, I was afraid the book would ruin the TV experience for me. As long as you are up to date on Monk, reading any of these books will not ruin the show, however if you have not seen Monk, or at least the first few seasons, it may cause some confusion or spoil some upcoming shows.

I found myself laughing out loud at typical Monk antics, even late at night while reading before bed. I came here to order every Monk book I do not have and thought I would share with others what a wonderful experience these books have been! If your on the fence as a TV Monk fan, get the books, you won't be sorry!

Lee Goldberg's uncanny ability to so superbly capture the character and nuances of our beloved "Mr. Monk" is all the more remarkable by his extraordinary prolific capacity for writing so many quality books, on a variety of subjects, over a relatively short period of time.

We're grateful, as readers, for the seemingly never-ending flow of his high-quality work... but how he's able to accomplish such a feat is as much as mystery as the plots of his eagerly-awaited novels. Keep it up, Mr. Goldberg... if you can continue to keep writing at such a prestigious pace, we'll continue reading and enjoying your books, hopefully for a long time to come!

--Ron Howe (aka Toby Martin II) / Erskine, Minnesota

Very cute book! It is just like reading an episode. Cute way of using Natalie as the storyteller.

I've only read two others of the Monk books, "Mr Monk and the two Assistants" and "Mr Monk goes to Hawaii", but in my opinion, this one is, by far, the funniest. I couldn't stop laughing. Of course, being hooked on the TV series, I can picture Monk and Natalie and hear their voices and it makes the books even better. If you're in the mood for a good laugh, this will do it!

We love Monk! I was so happy to see that there are Monk books out there.

This was one of the best Monk books I've read, along with Mr. Monk is Miserable. If you like the t.v. show then you will definitely enjoy this book. It has moments similar to the episode "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine" and is very amusing. The narrator is Adrian Monk's assistant, Natalie Teeger; this was a good choice by the author because of all people she understands Adrian the most and helps us to appreciate the humor.

This was a very good book and I recommend it to anyone who likes the show Monk.