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A review by richardrbecker
The Monsters We Make by Kali White
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
As a fictional crime book focused on real-life events, The Monsters We Make provides plenty to consider — especially its premise: you don't really know the person or people next store. They might look like fine folks on the outside, but they're up to no good on the inside.
Inspired by the disappearances of two paperboys from a small midwestern town, White sets up a sinister story around 12-year-old Sammy Cox and his seventeen-year-old sister Crystal. Crystal fancies herself as a future journalist, and Sammy is an overweight outcast with a secret.
Given his state of mind when he hurries home from his own paper route, red-faced and out of breath, one rightly assumes it's a horrible one. It is a horrible one, but also one overshadowed by an entire cast of sadsack people. None of them are confident, root-worthy, or even likable — not even the cop on the case.
Officer Dale Goodkind is a haunted man in a spoiled marriage. He didn't solve the last disappearance of a paperboy and doesn't seem all that equipped to solve this one. Mostly, his head is stuck in the past, re-living a childhood trauma that remains mostly murky. Still, he is a step up from Sammy and Crystal's mom. She's a whiny single mom (single because she was bored being with a good husband) who works as a hairdresser and is dead set on preventing her daughter from going to college because she never got a break. And that pretty much leaves Crystal to root for. She's a snoop with an underdeveloped moral compass.
Overall, the writing is fine, even if the pace is slow. But the characters did become a spoiler for me. There are also several instances where people just do or don't do things that seem realistic or make any sense. Gooodkind's fellow officers are "joking" that maybe he can't solve the case because he's also the abductor. I'm more inclined to think he can't solve the case because he's inept, losing his cool on several occasions with near-deadly and disastrous results. It's possible, but improbable given that the criminal-apparent is right out in the open.
For fans of slow-burn based on true crime stories, The Monsters We Make will give them just enough. But for people who enjoy a thriller, it tends to fall into the middle range with relatively few thrilling moments.
Inspired by the disappearances of two paperboys from a small midwestern town, White sets up a sinister story around 12-year-old Sammy Cox and his seventeen-year-old sister Crystal. Crystal fancies herself as a future journalist, and Sammy is an overweight outcast with a secret.
Given his state of mind when he hurries home from his own paper route, red-faced and out of breath, one rightly assumes it's a horrible one. It is a horrible one, but also one overshadowed by an entire cast of sadsack people. None of them are confident, root-worthy, or even likable — not even the cop on the case.
Officer Dale Goodkind is a haunted man in a spoiled marriage. He didn't solve the last disappearance of a paperboy and doesn't seem all that equipped to solve this one. Mostly, his head is stuck in the past, re-living a childhood trauma that remains mostly murky. Still, he is a step up from Sammy and Crystal's mom. She's a whiny single mom (single because she was bored being with a good husband) who works as a hairdresser and is dead set on preventing her daughter from going to college because she never got a break. And that pretty much leaves Crystal to root for. She's a snoop with an underdeveloped moral compass.
Overall, the writing is fine, even if the pace is slow. But the characters did become a spoiler for me. There are also several instances where people just do or don't do things that seem realistic or make any sense. Gooodkind's fellow officers are "joking" that maybe he can't solve the case because he's also the abductor. I'm more inclined to think he can't solve the case because he's inept, losing his cool on several occasions with near-deadly and disastrous results. It's possible, but improbable given that the criminal-apparent is right out in the open.
For fans of slow-burn based on true crime stories, The Monsters We Make will give them just enough. But for people who enjoy a thriller, it tends to fall into the middle range with relatively few thrilling moments.