Broken Monsters

In the city that’s become a symbol for the death of the American dream, a nightmare killer is unravelling reality. The new thriller from Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls.

Detective Gabi Versado has hunted down many monsters during her eight years in Homicide. She’s seen stupidity, corruption and just plain badness. But she’s never seen anything like this.

Clayton Broom is a failed artist, and a broken man. Life destroyed his plans, so he’s found new dreams – of flesh and bone made disturbingly, beautifully real.

Detroit is the decaying corpse of the American Dream. Motor-city. Murder-city. And home to a killer opening doors into the dark heart of humanity.

A killer who wants to make you whole again…

Reviews

Praise for BROKEN MONSTERS:

‘This uniquely, horrible, disturbing novel… should be a shoo-in for thriller of the year’ Observer

‘Well-executed…exquisitely paced and impeccably controlled…’ New York Times

'Deftly layered, engrossing, striking' Sunday Times

‘Scary as hell and hypnotic. I couldn't put it down’ Stephen King

‘This is a tremendous novel, full of original characters and stunning dialogue’ The Times

‘I unhesitatingly urge you to buy it and read it now’ James Ellroy, author of LA CONFIDENTIAL

‘This wickedly unpleasant thriller has a rare and intriguing capacity to make the reader think’ Telegraph

‘Beukes is a compelling storyteller who has created strong characters in Gabi and Layla’ Metro

'Beukes has once again redefined the thriller genre' Stylist

‘Make a long flight fly by with this gripping thriller’ Grazia

‘Following up an international bestseller is never easy, but [Beukes] makes it look easy’ Shortlist

‘Never exploitative, never superficial, never uncomplicated: Beukes shows how horror can be the best way to explain our unbelievable reality’ Guardian

‘Set in Detroit, this is an enjoyably violent procedural high on hallucinogens’ Evening Standard

‘A compelling spine-chiller that keeps you hooked to the very end’ Heat

‘A terrifying crime novel that places the victims at its centre’ Marie Claire

‘Captivating … Broken Monsters defies the standard tropes of the serial killer genre’
Los Angeles Times

‘When Stephen King calls a book “scary as hell and hypnotic”, don’t read it late at night in a tent in the woods … I regretted not having a door with a deadbolt.’
The Wall Street Journal

‘This clever and creepy horror fulfils the promise of the grisly first pages’ Sunday Mirror

‘A strange and fascinating thriller’
Sunday Express

About the author

Lauren Beukes is a novelist, TV scriptwriter, documentary maker, comics writer and occasional journalist.

She won the Arthur C Clarke Award for her novel Zoo City, set in a fantastical Johannesburg where guilt manifests as spirit animal familiars. Her previous works include Moxyland, a dystopian cyberpunk thriller set in Cape Town under corporate apartheid.

She helped create South Africa’s first half-hour animated TV show, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika, and has written kids animated shows for Disney UK and Millimages in France.