An absolute page-turner

I picked up one of the new books coming across my desk because of the cover. It is florescent, rain-slicker yellow, with a plasticized cover. It is an eye-grabber. And when I opened up Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff, I expected to just skim quickly over a couple of pages before putting it out on the new books shelf. 44 pages later, I came to and realized that I had been completely sucked in to the story. The premise - Jane Charlotte is a member of a secret organization called the 'Bad Monkeys' that eliminates evil people and she has just been arrested for murder - is not the kind of plot I generally connect with (too sci-fi, too thriller). But the writing is so good, and the character is so interesting that I could not put this book down. Basically, the entire novel unfolds as an interview between Jane Charlotte and a psychiatrist who is supposed to decide if she is insane or criminal (or both). Jane is a bit antisocial, a bit of a rebel and troublemaker, and you can tell she has led a life on the edge, but she is still someone you would like to meet and have a conversation with. I have made the ultimate personal sacrifice, and put this book out on the shelves before I finished reading it, but it's all part of my honor-bound duty as a librarian. So I can't give you any hints on how it ends, and please don't tell me what happens because as soon as things slow down, I plan on finding out where this bad monkey leads.