Little Monsters

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Emily, the mother “Ken lost, and Abby never had,” died immediately after Abby’s birth, and looms like a shadow throughout the novel. Little Monsters achieves a sense of momentum and pacing through a ticking clock counting down the months to a large event.

It is hinted at throughout the book and confirmed towards the end very clearly, but there are no long descriptions and the focus is put entirely where it belongs: in the ways the participants were affected after the fact. I loved Adrienne Brodeur's memoir, Wild Game, and Little Monsters, her new novel, has that same raw authenticity.

The novel as a whole seems to have an idealogical and political alignment with one particular character, but the others aren’t entirely demonized or undercut. In the pitch-black depths of the Pacific Ocean north of the Galápagos Islands, they’d encountered evidence—in the form of foot-long clams, giant red tube worms, and spiny white crabs—that even in darkness, there was life. Ken Gardner in Chatham contemplates all the money winging its way into his account right now as the deal of a lifetime goes ahead. The only way to proceed is to steady your nerves, take a breath, and plunge into the depths, trusting that the darkness will hold you. Howl with laughter and squeal with delight at this monstrously funny picture book and audio CD from number one bestselling author David Walliams, illustrated by the awesome Adam Stower!

A must-read for all bird lovers, Ackerman’s latest engaging work contains a feast of revelations about creatures that have fascinated us throughout human history. Ken is a successful businessman with political ambitions and a picture-perfect family and Abby is a talented visual artist who depends on her brother’s goodwill, in part because he owns the studio where she lives and works. Ken was insufferable, Adam was frustrating, Jenny had glimpses of goodness but was inconsistent, David was OK.Inspired by the archetypal story of Cain and Abel, Little Monsters is a kaleidoscopic, propulsive, and sophisticated drama exquisite with the tension of characters careening in and out of one another’s orbits, alternately sharing and withholding secrets from one another and themselves—and with Cape Cod’s magnificence and hidden corners elevating every page. Young children will be requesting this one at story-time today, and tomorrow and the day after and the next after that! This book accompanied on a book tour of my own and I looked forward to the moment I could hop into bed with it each night. When I first started Little Monsters and the wealthy, business-savvy Ken showed up I immediately thought of the HBO show Succession, which I’ve been watching lately.