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301st out of 3,394 books
—
7,820 voters
Monkeewrench (Monkeewrench #1)
by
P.J. Tracy
People are dying for the new computer game by the software company Monkeewrench. Literally. With Serial Killer Detective out in limited release, the real-life murders of a jogger and a young woman have already mimicked the first two scenarios in the game.
But Grace McBride and her eccentric Monkeewrench partners are caught in a vise. If they tell the Minneapolis police of t...more
But Grace McBride and her eccentric Monkeewrench partners are caught in a vise. If they tell the Minneapolis police of t...more
Paperback, 421 pages
Published
April 6th 2004
by Signet
(first published 2003)
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Mar 07, 2009
Mary JL
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
any mystery fan
Recommended to Mary JL by:
A gift from John D.
Shelves:
mystery-horror
Almost did not read this one--I got it as a gift and the title sounded odd. Glad I did not make that mistake!!!
It is a novel about a group of colorful characters who own a software development company called Monkeewrench. Branching out from their education software, the team is devising a new game--"Serial Killer Detective".
It soon becomes obvious that a serial killer is mimicking all of the murders in the game--playing with real victims. The Minneapolis police are very skeptical and suspicious-...more
It is a novel about a group of colorful characters who own a software development company called Monkeewrench. Branching out from their education software, the team is devising a new game--"Serial Killer Detective".
It soon becomes obvious that a serial killer is mimicking all of the murders in the game--playing with real victims. The Minneapolis police are very skeptical and suspicious-...more
It’s not bad, but I had some problems with it. It’s interesting enough to pass the time if you like murder mysteries.
STORY BRIEF:
Monkeewrench is the name of a software company that creates computer games. There are five partners. Ten years ago something happened that caused all of them to change their names, move to Minnesota, live in secured homes, and carry guns. Their new game, just released, is about a serial killer with twenty crime scenes. A real life serial killer has just killed two peop...more
STORY BRIEF:
Monkeewrench is the name of a software company that creates computer games. There are five partners. Ten years ago something happened that caused all of them to change their names, move to Minnesota, live in secured homes, and carry guns. Their new game, just released, is about a serial killer with twenty crime scenes. A real life serial killer has just killed two peop...more
Really good mystery with an amazing cast of characters. I think I liked everybody but Grace. The book didn't get 5 stars because I figured out the murderer from the beginning. :)
The narrator was really good. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like him (he has a bit of a gravely voice) but once the book got underway, I realized he was a great choice. More than 80% of the characters in the book are male and he did an awesome job with the different voices.
I loved how this book portrayed the cops...more
The narrator was really good. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like him (he has a bit of a gravely voice) but once the book got underway, I realized he was a great choice. More than 80% of the characters in the book are male and he did an awesome job with the different voices.
I loved how this book portrayed the cops...more
P.J. and Traci Lambrecht are the mother/daughter writing team behind this fantastic debut novel.
A group of five friends with a mysterious past have banded together to create the company ‘Monkeewrench’, a successful software company in Minneapolis. Instead of their usual educational software, they’ve developed ‘Serial Killer Detective’, a game about a series of 20 unique murders. The horrors of their past come back to haunt the five technogeeks when a killer strikes out to recreate the murders i...more
A group of five friends with a mysterious past have banded together to create the company ‘Monkeewrench’, a successful software company in Minneapolis. Instead of their usual educational software, they’ve developed ‘Serial Killer Detective’, a game about a series of 20 unique murders. The horrors of their past come back to haunt the five technogeeks when a killer strikes out to recreate the murders i...more
Second review (Dec. 09)
I decided to re-read this one because I really wanted to relive all the details of the Sharon Mueller & Mike Halloran connection. I think those two are simply adorable!
In any case, this remains a very good read with fantastic dialogues and truer than life characters.
First review in March 2009 -
Highly enjoyable and suspenseful read! And what clever writing!!
This book has all the ingredients I look for in a terrific read: a storyline that keeps you on the edge of your...more
I decided to re-read this one because I really wanted to relive all the details of the Sharon Mueller & Mike Halloran connection. I think those two are simply adorable!
In any case, this remains a very good read with fantastic dialogues and truer than life characters.
First review in March 2009 -
Highly enjoyable and suspenseful read! And what clever writing!!
This book has all the ingredients I look for in a terrific read: a storyline that keeps you on the edge of your...more
2 likes · like · see review
The saying goes that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But when people start dying exactly like Grace dreamed them up for her company, Monkeewrench's hottest new video game, she is not flattered. As a matter of fact she is terrified, because it appears she or someone she loves could be the next target.
This was such an awesome read! If you are looking for a something without a lot of over the top violence then this book may be for you. There were murders, but they were handled with fi...more
This was such an awesome read! If you are looking for a something without a lot of over the top violence then this book may be for you. There were murders, but they were handled with fi...more
3 likes · like · see review
Mar 12, 2009
Kirstie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
crime/suspense fans
Recommended to Kirstie by:
Kwing
Shelves:
favorites
So my husband picked this book up for me at the library because he knew I was coming to the end of the series of John Sanford books I was reading and thought this might be of interest to me.
I have to say the overall it was a pretty good book, sadly the ending was a bit more convoluted than it needed to be and I totally figured out who the killer was halfway through, though I had a harder time with the motive this person had.
Overall it was a decent story that was executed well. It kept me intere...more
I have to say the overall it was a pretty good book, sadly the ending was a bit more convoluted than it needed to be and I totally figured out who the killer was halfway through, though I had a harder time with the motive this person had.
Overall it was a decent story that was executed well. It kept me intere...more
Two words.... LOVED IT!
I listen to this on Audio book in my car (I have an hour travel to work sometimes) and I couldn't get enough of it. Even when my borrowed copy had a scratch on the last disc, I even reserved another copy, just so I could finish it and find out who the murderer was.
The characters are funny and very very... real. They don't alwats react to events like you would expect, because people don't always react that way in real life. You can tell Grace is afraid of something from he...more
I listen to this on Audio book in my car (I have an hour travel to work sometimes) and I couldn't get enough of it. Even when my borrowed copy had a scratch on the last disc, I even reserved another copy, just so I could finish it and find out who the murderer was.
The characters are funny and very very... real. They don't alwats react to events like you would expect, because people don't always react that way in real life. You can tell Grace is afraid of something from he...more
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
MONKEEWRENCH – EX
P.J. Tracy – 1st book
An unpopular, troublemaking old couple are brutally murdered in a small Wisconsin town church. While Wisconsin Sheriff Michael Halloran and Deputy Bonar Carlson are working to solve their case, in the Minnesotan Twin cities, Detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, are dealing with a serial killer is copying a computer game where 20 murders happen. The games’ designers, a social outcast group whose company is called Monkeewrench, have their own issues and pa...more
P.J. Tracy – 1st book
An unpopular, troublemaking old couple are brutally murdered in a small Wisconsin town church. While Wisconsin Sheriff Michael Halloran and Deputy Bonar Carlson are working to solve their case, in the Minnesotan Twin cities, Detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, are dealing with a serial killer is copying a computer game where 20 murders happen. The games’ designers, a social outcast group whose company is called Monkeewrench, have their own issues and pa...more
Hey, I'm in the middle of it, so how the heck should I know, but so far, it's a page turner. I bought it at a salvation army store closing sale because it was like 50 cents. It's a murder mystery.
Addendum:
Alright. I finished it. It continued to be a page turner, til the end, even though I had pretty well guessed (but you don't know) who the murderer was. It may have actually dropped a half a star to 3.5 in rating in the last 20 pages because, with half a dozen people already dead, one of the ch...more
Addendum:
Alright. I finished it. It continued to be a page turner, til the end, even though I had pretty well guessed (but you don't know) who the murderer was. It may have actually dropped a half a star to 3.5 in rating in the last 20 pages because, with half a dozen people already dead, one of the ch...more
2 likes · like · see review
Actually, I would give this book 7 or 8 stars. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I hated to see it end, and the ending was a complete surprise.
Monkeywrench (Incidentally, the title should be spelled "Monkeewrench"), by P. J. Tracy, is the first in a series of 6 books now. It is a wonderful "must read" story. I am eager to read the rest of the series.
Monkeywrench (Incidentally, the title should be spelled "Monkeewrench"), by P. J. Tracy, is the first in a series of 6 books now. It is a wonderful "must read" story. I am eager to read the rest of the series.
Other than a great first chapter, I had a hard time getting through the first 200 pages of this book. The mysteries (two of them) really seemed to be going nowhere and didn't seem connected at all. I didn't care about any of the characters. About 200 pages in, when everything starts to get connected, it becomes much more interesting. However, I never grew to care about the characters and a lot of the plot seemed too far-fetched and contrived. I liked how it ended, I just wish the journey had bee...more
I have to say I was suprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I bought with the idea that it would be one of my filler books, you know, a book to fill the time until I get one I really want. As it ended up, this book was one that was started and finished within a 24 hour period. I stayed up all night to finish it, and was amazed that a writing team (mother and daughter) could write such a cohesive, well thought out story. Normally these thriller fillers don't even rate a mention, but this one de...more
The first in a series about Grace, two Mpls cops, her software gang, and assorted other characters, like Sheriff Michael Halloran, or “Mickey” as Father Newberry calls him, and Deputy Bonar Carlson whose belt hung so low it would never see his belly button and who “ would have to kneel to reach his gun.”
It begins quite humorously, with Father Newberry trying to keep down the last creation of the well-meaning Sister Ignatius attempting to serve him with a “proper meal” which in that part of Wisco...more
It begins quite humorously, with Father Newberry trying to keep down the last creation of the well-meaning Sister Ignatius attempting to serve him with a “proper meal” which in that part of Wisco...more
First book of the series by the same name, set in modern-day Minneapolis MN and Calumet Wisconsin. Grace McBride and 4 dear friends formed the Monkeewrench software game company. Their latest game, Serial Killer Detective, has been beta testing online for a week when a copycat serial killer in Minneapolis begins murdering real people following the game murder scenarios exactly. MPD Homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth investigate the murders as well as the Monkeewrench team. Meanwhil...more
An online serial killer game incites a cluster of murders in the Minneapolis area. In rural Wisconsin, two people are brutally killed inside a Catholic church. Is there a connection? In mother-daughter team P.J. Tracy's first novel, Monkeewrench, big-city police, rural sheriff's deputies, and FBI agents find themselves entangled in a mess of such great proportions that none of them are prepared for the answers.
It begins with the software company Monkeewrench. Long known for their educational chi...more
It begins with the software company Monkeewrench. Long known for their educational chi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book took me by surprise. I haven’t read/listened to a mystery for awhile and I forgot how fun they can be. The setting for this book is northern rural Wisconsin and Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Minnesota. I happen to love this setting because I know it and in books set in locations that are in a way off beat (like not in New York City or London), make the story more accessible to me. But I am also a midwest gal, so I get a giddy feeling everytime I realize the book I am reading takes place in an...more
1 like · like · see review
The story line was very difficult to follow. It jumped from scene and situation too sporadically. The profanity was very distracting. I doubt it would have been one third as long if the profanity was taken out. The language doesn't add to but rather distracts from the plot.
I won this in a giveaway and although I appreciate authors offering their books to these giveaways, I would never add this one to my library.
I won this in a giveaway and although I appreciate authors offering their books to these giveaways, I would never add this one to my library.
I absolutely loved everything about this book and can't wait to read the others in the series! While the concept of a serial killer mirroring a game isn't new, the characters on the game development side of the story were very new. A mysterious group of five developers with a non-existent past create a game which suddenly comes to life. As the police race to try and stop the killer, we gradually learn the background of the characters and why they're pasts are so mysterious. Add in another unexpl...more
What a delightful surprise! This police procedural mystery is realistically set in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Anyone with any familiarity with that part of the country will immediately recognize the speech patterns and some stereotypical characters. Yet the plot is anything but stereotypical. Someone is murdering people, following the plot of a new video game that is in the pre-release stage. The creators of the game are an especially unusual group of geeks, who have past secrets of their own. Yet...more
Not nearly as funny or as clever as I'd been told, and much more crude than I expected from a mother/daughter writing team (my preconception, I know, but still). The beginning chapters were mired in too much, and I almost gave it up. The action did improve, but ultimately this just wasn't really my taste, and the dual romance subplots were too similar. Other authors do this better.
I am not a huge reader of stock and trade murder mysteries, so I don't know a lot of the conventions that are typical of this genre. I enjoyed the story, liked most of the characters, though I got a little tired of the stereotype "lonely good cop with fat loveable partner" of which there are two in this story. Also, there is no single star protagonist, which bothers me. I want a focus, and this just won't let me decide who I'm rooting for.
Next bit I had trouble with was the way the authors put i...more
Next bit I had trouble with was the way the authors put i...more
I liked this book. It was different than the average mystery. The authors did an excellent job of developing characters, both protagonists and antagonists were well fleshed out and worthy of consideration. The plot was original and I found the story to live up to it nicely. The pace of this book will not let you go for a moment. I thought the twists were for the most part unexpected and unusual. The only thing that really bothered me about this book was one of the characters had an unusual accen...more
An entertaining mystery/thriller set in Minnesota and Wisconsin, this novel is fun to read. Tracy (actually two people) does a wonderful job of individualizing the dozen or so major characters, making them lively and colorful. Of course, I must admit that the Minneapolis setting kept my attention, as much of the action takes place within a three-mile radius of my house. One thing I don't understand, however, is why one of the main characters would set up company headquarters in the Minneapolis w...more
I don't remember who recommended this one to me, but whoever it was thanks! This book was a suspenseful thriller, that had the reader following a crazy killer who decided to copy the murders featured in a new video game. The creators of the video game (the company is called Monkeewrench) warn police that they know which murder is coming next, but can the police stop the copycat before it's too late?
The best part of this book for me was the members of the Monkeewrench team. They are a really quir...more
The best part of this book for me was the members of the Monkeewrench team. They are a really quir...more
1 like · like · see review
Bought this book while waiting for a job interview. I'm not a big thriller reader and honestly I found her style of writing a little hard to get into. I was suckered into buying the book because of the blurb mentioning 'game-creator'...lol
Maybe I'll venture to read the rest of her books some day.
Maybe I'll venture to read the rest of her books some day.
Wow- I'm not usually into thrillers or mysteries when it comes to what I read. But this one was incredible. Couldn't put it down. I think the primary appeal is that the riveting mystery portion is coupled with a host of likable characters, a good deal of humor in unexpected places, and even a dash of romance.
Despite this being set in the present day (and having a lot of technology-based components) it still had plenty of elements that felt like the classic detective capers of the 40's. These so...more
Despite this being set in the present day (and having a lot of technology-based components) it still had plenty of elements that felt like the classic detective capers of the 40's. These so...more
The murder of an elderly and overly pious couple in Wisconsin has the local Sheriff’s baffled at first. In Minneapolis, a jogger is murdered and then a young woman, who is found draped over an angel statue.
Grace MacBride and the rest of her eccentric group of friends read about the jogger and young woman with growing horror. Those two murders perfectly mimic the first two scenarios in a game that their software company, Monkeewrench, is creating. Usually Monkeewrench creates educational software...more
Grace MacBride and the rest of her eccentric group of friends read about the jogger and young woman with growing horror. Those two murders perfectly mimic the first two scenarios in a game that their software company, Monkeewrench, is creating. Usually Monkeewrench creates educational software...more
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PJ Tracy is the pseudonym of mother-daughter writing duo P.J. and Traci Lambrecht, winners of the Anthony, Barry, Gumshoe, and Minnesota Book Awards. Their first three novels, MONKEEWRENCH, LIVE BAIT and DEAD RUN, have become national and international bestsellers.
P.J. Lambrecht is a college dropout with one of the largest collections of sweatpants in the world. She was raised in an upper-middle...more
More about P.J. Tracy...
P.J. Lambrecht is a college dropout with one of the largest collections of sweatpants in the world. She was raised in an upper-middle...more
Mar 30, 2009 10:29am