Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff (2007)

Started: October 13, 2007
Ended: November 7, 2007
Synopsis:
Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder.
She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called “The Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons”— “Bad Monkeys” for short.
This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail’s psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy—or playing a different game altogether.
>>>>>>>>>WARNING-SPOILERS AHEAD<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Characters:
Jane Charlotte: Late 30's; trying to make the world a better place; the story begins with Jane incarcerated for murder in Las Vegas; due to the unbelievable story she tells the arresting officers, she is placed under psychiatric care to determine if she is mentally fit for trial; narrating her life story to Dr. Vale, Jane recounts her life and how she became involved with the Bad Monkeys; after she is approached by the Bad Monkeys Organization, she is given a coin depicting a hollow pyramid with a glowing eye inside it; around the coin's rim, it states: Omnes Mundum Facimus (translates: We All Make The World)
Dr. Vale: Psychiatrist; has a hard time believing Jane's story, especially when she claims the Bad Monkeys Organization is constantly altering past records, surveillance, etc... that would have corroborated her story
Philip (Phil): Jane's younger brother (by 4 years); stayed with his mother in San Fransisco when Jane went to go live with their aunt & uncle; revealed that Jane lied about his life since he was actually abducted when he was 10 y/o by a known child pedophile; believed dead except by Jane; later revealed to be one of the main leaders of The Troop
Mr. Dixon: DEAD: Jane killed with a knife even though she stated he was not a Bad Monkey but a prick; harassed Jane because of her past affairs with young boys; believes she is bad or will be; worked in Malfeasance (the Panopticon subdivision that investigates operatives); blond crew cut, thick pebble glasses & wears a black trench coat
Buster Friendly: Police Officer that busted Jane when she was 14 y/o for growing pot; after Jane and her mother had it out, he drove Jane to her aunt & uncle's to live
The Fosters: Jane's aunt & uncle; live in Siesta Corta and run the general store; agree to let Jane live with them since Jane and her mother had developed both a mentally and physically abusive relationship
Carlotta Juanita Diaz: Mexican 14 y/o; Jane befriends when she moves to Siesta Corta; father forbids her from seeing Jane after her friend accuses the high-school janitor of being a serial killer
Marvin Whitmer (aka the Route 99 Killer, aka the Angel of Death): DEAD; Jane kills him with the NC gun after he breaks into her house; young with long hair & a Jesus beard; janitor at the local high-school; would target young boys on the highway and abduct them from rest stops; after Jane accuses him to the police, he stalks her
The NC (Natural Causes) gun: Jane finds under the kitchen sink after being tipped off from a secret message she discovered in a cross-word puzzle; resembles a toy gun but has deadly effects; gun has 4 settings: Safe, ns (narcoleptic seizure), mi (myocardial infarction's) and ci (cerebral infarction's); gun kills people but they appear to have died from natural causes (exception: ns setting only paralyses person)
Ganesh: DEAD?:Jane's drug dealer; medical intern, studying to be an oncologist; missing & believed dead; last seen with Julius Deeds
Julius Deeds: DEAD: Reputed gangster; tried to kill his girlfriend with a gasoline bomb; Jane receives a jury-duty summons to his trial and he recognizes her from Ganesh's apartment; breaks into Jane's apartment and severely beats her, sending her to the hospital; Jane eventually tricks him into following her to Benjamin Loomis's house where she shoots him dead with a rifle; Jane sets up the murder scene to appear that Loomis had killed Deeds
Unknown Black Guy: Dressed like a cheerleader (all in pink); Jane wakes up in the hospital to him sitting in her room apparently invisible to all hospital staff; tells her that if she is interested in the Bad Monkeys Organization that she should meet Bob
Robert True (Bob): DEAD: Recruitment officer; short, heavy & balding; gives Jane her first probation assignment; basically becomes her handler, giving her assignments, etc..; sends Jane to Las Vegas to work with Robert True; killed by a Mandrill car bomb (planted by the Bad Jane) outside Las Vegas
Annie Charles: DEAD: Probate officer; appears to be a schizoid bag lady; son died in a drowning accident when he was young; lives in a refrigerator box next to her son's grave; run downed & killed by a truck with the Mandrill Monkey (The Troop) logo on it when she was trying to apprehend Arlo Dexter
Benjamin Loomis: DEAD: Serial killer; killed by Jane who used the NC gun on him; framed him so that it appeared he killed Julius Heeds before having a heart attack
Arlo Dexter: DEAD: Serial killer in early stages; creates booby-traps and bombs; Jane refers to him as a serial maimer since he has not actually killed anyone yet, just maimed; runs a toy train hobby shop; is tipped off to who Jane & Annie are (by The Troop) and that they want to kill him; runned down & killed by a truck with the Mandrill Monkey logo as he was trying to escape capture by Annie Charles
Dr. God: DEAD: Serial killer; played God with senior citizens in an old folk's home; would poison them and then resuscitate them until there bodies could no longer handle the trauma and die; after Jane takes a job at the home, she kills Dr. God in the employee lounge
John Tyler: Replaced Dr. God; Jane initially had a crush on him until she discovered child pornography hidden in his office; wanted to kill him, but was prohibited from doing so by Bob True; consequently Jane quits her job but leaves one of his hidden child pornography magazines on his desk to fuck with him
Robert Wise: DEAD: Jane's handler in Las Vegas; operative of the Scary Clowns (who specialize in psych-ops); accompanies Jane on her mission to the Ozymandias Corporation, where it was discovered that cryogenics clients were being killed; killed by the Bad Jane with a NC gun (hit with aortic dissection and bled out internally)
Jacob Carlton: DEAD: Ex-Bad Monkey; turned sides and worked for The Troop (Mandrill Monkey logo); was undercover and working at the Ozymandias facility where Jane was suppose to capture him but ended up accidentally killing him
Dr. Ogilvy: Worked at the Ozymandias Corporation
Shibboleth Device: Tool for sorting good monkeys from bad monkeys; device tests for inappropriate emotional responses
John Doyle: DEAD: Convicted child molester & suspected child murderer; Troop member; abducted 10 y/o Phil so that The Troop could train and raise him to be evil; the Bad Jane slit his throat to set up Jane for recruitment into The Troop
Robert Love: Leader of The Scary Clowns; Jane wakes up in the Mudgett Suite (Scary Clown HQ) after she was ambushed by the Bad Jane outside of Las Vegas; dresses as a clown; originally the Bad Monkeys Organization thought he would become evil and kept an eye on him; Love would stage fake environments (i.e. ant farms) and abduct people to study their behavior (i.e. fuck with them); Love choose not to be evil and joined the Bad Monkeys Organization; trained Dixon; eventually moved over to the Scary Clowns; believes Jane to be good but warned her that he would kill her if it became known that she was indeed bad
Bad Jane: DEAD: Troop member that looks exactly like Jane; takes X-drugs that enable her to stop time, move fast, disappear (just think Matrix style); tries to recruit Jane into The Troop; tells Jane that she will bring her to Phil after she kidnaps Robert Love for The Troop; Jane kills by merging her hand into the Bad Jane's chest (X-drugs) and throws her into the spotlight tip of the pyramid hotel Luxor

The book ends with the revelation that Dr. Vale was actually Phil. Jane informs him that the hospital is fake (ant farm) and he has been set-up. She pulls an NC gun out from hiding and shoots him. But...Phil does not die. It is then revealed that Jane is the one who has been set-up. Dixon (alive) walks into the room and states that the Bad Monkeys Organization have always known that she was a deep cover agent for The Troop. Jane admits she had hated her brother and intentionally put him in jeopardy as a way of getting rid of him. Phil had been her ticket into The Troop. They had wanted a sacrifice to prove that she was member worthy. However, she was unaware that The Troop would actually adopt Phil, allowing him to occupy a position of importance in a organization that she was little more than a peon. In the turn of events, Phil turned out to be incorruptible and approached the Bad Monkeys Organization so that he could be a double agent. Both Robert Wise and Robert True were discovered never to have been killed. The Bad Jane (aka Roberta Grace) was also not killed but turned out to be Dixon's protegee. Phil had hoped to redeem his siter, but she would have no part in it. The last sentence has Phil killing his sister with the NC gun.
My Review:
WOW... Bad Monkeys was an original tale that went places I never expected. One of the the best obscure fiction books I have ever read. Ruff has written just a brilliant, exceptionally well-crafted, psychological thriller. Without question, it is a captivating piece of innovative fiction that will remain in your consciousness long after you've finished reading it. Definitely a book I would enjoy reading again. Highly recommend.
Book Score: 10/10