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Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite
The Monster by Josh Soule is the story of a simple young man who finds out that life has a heavy hand to play and it might be against him. This is the story of a man who has always been at odds with himself and the world. He is a college student who doesn’t really have great relationships, especially with the women in his life. While he doesn’t have any feelings for his ex-girlfriend, he gets jealous and angry when he sees his best friend with her during a Halloween party. However, things take a sinister turn when they are attacked by a person dressed as a puppet and he is blamed for it. Things escalate quickly, people are now turning up dead, and it appears that he is being blamed for everything. He thinks that running away from his problems is the best solution, but his problems are not going away. What is he to do now?
The novel starts slow and steady, but it picks up momentum suddenly after the third or fourth chapter. From the very beginning, the author made sure to introduce the complex protagonist in the best way possible and allow the reader to make assumptions. The author kept the protagonist unnamed yet gave us enough ammo to create an image of the character in our minds. This was incredible. Absurd yet perfect for the modern literature category, this short novel has the tools to surprise and scare you just a tiny bit to get you invested and have you craving more.
At first, I found the almost monotonous tone used by narrator Scott Cluthe a little confusing, but as he read on, I realized that he was portraying the protagonist in the best way possible. The cadence of his voice, his tone and the way he enunciated the words made the character and the danger very real. I was actually a tiny bit startled when suddenly his tone became excited and almost anxious about something, which made me wary of what was going to happen next. Scott Cluthe did an amazing job of portraying a nameless character and giving it so much strength. This is a psychological thriller at its best! An absolute gem!
