Mr. Monk on Patrol [Hardcover]

Lee Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2012 | Series: Monk (Book 13)

When the local government of Summit, New Jersey, is hit with a string of arrests, Chief of Police Randy Disher finds himself acting as mayor. With a town to run and a series of robberies to investigate, he calls on Adrian Monk to serve as a temporary policeman.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lee Goldberg has written episodes for the Monk television series, as well as many other programs. He is a two-time Edgar Award nominee and the author of the acclaimed Diagnosis Murder novels, based on the TV series for which he was a writer and executive producer.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover; 1 edition (January 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451235614
• ISBN-13: 978-0451235619
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This may be the best one yet., January 3, 2012

By 

Barbara Early (Lockport, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Monk on Patrol (Hardcover)

What could be better than waking up to a new Monk book on your Kindle? Having the morning off to read it. And what a pleasure that was.

In this latest installment of the officially sanctioned tie-in novels, Lee Goldberg takes Monk and Natalie away from the familiar streets of San Francisco, to the town of Summit, NJ, to come to the aid of Police Chief (and now acting mayor) Randy Disher. Randy has inherited a town rife with scandal, and needs to augment his tiny six member department with reinforcements--namely Monk and Natalie.

The biggest crime problem has been a series of robberies, but where Monk goes, bodies are sure to follow. But this book is more than just a satisfying mystery.

Reading a Monk book is a lot like having lunch with an old friend--pleasant even if that old friend happens to be plagued with obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, and a host of issues that would, in real life, probably make people run away screaming. Yes, he's funny. Yes, it's entertainment. But at the root of the attachment is a character whom people have come to care about--a troubled man thrown further off-course by the murder of his wife. We want him to recover, only we want him to remain Adrian Monk.

Kudos to Lee for doing both in this book. While each book of the series is entertaining on some level, this particular entry brings added depth into the characterizations of Monk and Natalie. Monk is not off somewhere separating the mixed nuts. He is making strides of improvement--breakthroughs that surprise both Monk and Natalie.

And Natalie is not just handing wet wipes, either. She's growing in competence, confidence, and responsibility. And in this installment, more than any time in the past, she comes alive and is instantly relatable. Yep, this is Natalie Teeger--and I like her. And adding Disher and Sharona to the mix was just plain fun.

But as far as leaving us hanging on a potentially life-altering cliff-hanger? Shame on you, Lee. When does the next one come out?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very sad the series is almost over [4.5 stars], January 24, 2012

By 

Debra Hamel (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mr. Monk on Patrol (Hardcover)

Mr. Monk on Patrol is the 13th book in Lee Goldberg's series of TV tie-ins featuring obsessive compulsive detective Adrian Monk. Unlike its predecessors, this installment is not laugh-out-loud funny, but it's heavy in character development. Monk and his assistant Natalie travel to Summit, New Jersey, to help out Randy Disher, former San Francisco homicide detective turned small-town chief of police. Monk is also reunited with his first assistant, Sharona, since she and Randy are now married (a plot development I still have trouble wrapping my mind around). Monk and Natalie help Randy deal with a crime spree in Summit and find themselves paired as partners on the beat, a dramatic change from their usual employer-employee relationship. Even bigger changes are in store for the pair, but I won't give anything away here. Sadly, Goldberg has decided to stop writing Monk novels. The next book in the series, Mr. Monk is a Mess (due out in July, 2012), will be the last (or perhaps penultimate? Goldberg mentions Mess as leading to a finale on his web site). Mr. Monk on Patrol does a good job of moving the series toward a conclusion that, judging from the look of things, promises to be fitting. (I'm hoping there aren't any 19-years-later-on-Platform-9-3/4-type scenes--not that there was anything wrong with that particular epilog, really, but big time leaps are, I think, inherently depressing.) I'll be eager to see how Goldberg ties everything off, but I'm not happy at all to see the series end.

Debra Hamel

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gem of the Monk Series, January 16, 2012

By 

Richard S. Wheeler (Livingston, MT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mr. Monk on Patrol (Hardcover)

The obsessed detective Mr. Monk, and his forgiving assistant Natalie find themselves in Summit, New Jersey, this time, working for their old friend Randy Disher, chief of police there. This novel is a little different. Monk and Natalie have both evolved. They are very much the same characters we've known and loved through many Monk novels, but time and adversity have weathered them, etched character in them, softened the sharp edges. These changes deepen our bond to them. Mr. Monk is still the maddening compulsive-obsessive, but we see the burden and pain of the disorder at work in him, and we come to cherish his small, brave steps toward a happier, less imprisoned life. Natalie, too, has evolved with the years into a gifted detective whose deductions rival Mr. Monk's. If anything, she is even more accepting of her crazy employer than before, and in her maturity, more independent.

Like the other Monk novels, this is about crime and detection, and about Monk's uncanny ability to sift bits of evidence out of the things that elude the rest of us. But there is more here that Monk fans will cherish. Here is progress; Monk's and Natalie's quiet journey toward happier and richer lives.

Lee Goldberg writes with grace and insight, focusing tenderly on his characters' lives and aspirations, and in the end, we readers feel closer to Mr. Monk and Natalie than ever before. His particular gift, one of many, is his ability to draw characters vividly. He is one of the finest novelists writing.