Bad Monkeys
{{Short description|2007 psychological thriller novel by Matt Ruff}}
{{For|similar titles|Bad Monkey (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Bad Monkeys
| image = Bad Monkeys 2007 book cover.jpg
| caption = First edition
| cover_artist = Will Staehle
| author = Matt Ruff
| country = United States
| language = English
| genre = Psychological thriller
| publisher = Harper
| release_date = July 24, 2007
| pages = 240 pages
}}
Bad Monkeys is a 2007 psychological thriller novel by American author Matt Ruff. It received mixed reviews in national media, but was subsequently optioned for film.
Plot summary
The beginning of the book takes place in the mental disabilities wing of the Las Vegas Clark County Detention Center. A psychiatrist named Dr. Vale interviews Jane Charlotte, who is there for the murder of a man called Dixon. Jane claims that she works for a secret organization devoted to fighting evil and that she is the operative for the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons, which is also known as Bad Monkeys. She also claims that her job is to eliminate individuals who are guilty of heinous crimes, but might elude normal channels of justice. Jane tells her story to Dr. Vale about her life working with Bad Monkeys.
Origins
Ruff has stated that Bad Monkeys is his "Philip K. Dick novel", and that, for this reason, the protagonist is named for Jane Charlotte Dick, Philip K. Dick's twin sister who died in infancy.[http://www.bymattruff.com/my-novels/bad-monkeys/origins/ Bad Monkeys — the origins of the story], by Matt Ruff, originally posted at Powell's Books, August 7, 2007, retrieved November 11, 2011 He also states that the book was inspired by having watched an episode of South Park and, shortly thereafter, having read David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.
Reception
The book received mixed reviews in national media. In The New York Times Jonathan Ames wrote, "'Bad Monkeys,' allusions aside, is highly entertaining. It moves fast and keeps surprising you."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/books/review/26ames.html|title=Death Angel|work=The New York Times|first=Jonathan|last=Ames|author-link=Jonathan Ames|date=August 26, 2007|access-date=January 16, 2019}} The Los Angeles Times criticized the book's characters, conversation, and recycled ideas, ultimately concluding that while Ruff "does show flashes of the philosophical underpinnings found in his previous work", that "his talents are better suited to expansive worlds rather than this embedded chicanery".{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-05-bk-champion5-story.html|title=Killing moons|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 5, 2007|access-date=January 16, 2019}} The Washington Post compared the book to the G. K. Chesterton novel The Man Who Was Thursday and the film The Matrix, noting that Bad Monkeys'' contained "so many ingenious fake-out layers that readers will find their heads spinning with awed delight by the book's frenetic climax".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/07/AR2007080701668.html?noredirect=on|title=Exterminator Jane|first=Paul|last=Di Filippo|author-link=Paul Di Filippo|date=August 8, 2007|access-date=January 16, 2019}}
Bad Monkeys received a 2008 Washington State Book Award for Fiction{{cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/washington-state-book-award-winners/|title=Washington State Book Award winners|work=Seattle Times|first=Mary Ann|last=Gwinn|date=September 26, 2008|access-date=January 16, 2019}} and a 2008 Alex Award from the American Library Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/alexawards/alex08|title=2008 Alex Awards|website=American Library Association| date=14 January 2008 |access-date=January 19, 2018}}
Film adaptation
On July 20, 2016, Universal Pictures bought the film rights to the novel with Margot Robbie attached to star as Jane Charlotte.{{cite news|last1=Hipes|first1=Patrick|title=Universal Options Matt Ruff Novel 'Bad Monkeys' With Margot Robbie To Star|url=https://deadline.com/2016/07/margot-robbie-bad-monkeys-movie-matt-ruff-novel-universal-1201789702/|accessdate=July 21, 2016|work=Deadline|date=July 20, 2016}}