Monkey Shines

by Michael Stewart

While cramming for finals, wheelchair-bound quadriplegic Allan Mann takes some pills intended to increase the learning ability of his primate companion, and soon the man and his monkey begin having overlapping dreams.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Literature

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 1983

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Born in June, 1945.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my Shelfari reading group and I appreciated this old school 80's horror story.

An athletic super star suddenly becomes paralyzed from the neck down and his life is forever changed. It is changed once again when he is provided with a helper monkey, which he trains to help him out in daily life. From there the story becomes a bit warped and a lot more interesting.

I loved the character development and the pacing. (I am a fan of slow burning stories, so the pacing might not be fast enough for some.) I felt that the dread and tension were sustained throughout the novel and made for compelling reading. There was also a subtext here about animal testing and secret intentions of government entities-this subtext posed questions that are valid to this very day. The ending was the only portion of this book that I had a problem with. Everything was tidied up so nicely that it wasn't quite believable for me. For that I deducted one star.

This was an enjoyable, quick read that I would recommend to horror readers that appreciate 80's horror with a slow burn.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, really, but George A. Romero’s movie adaptation is actually far superior—by which I mean far, far campier!

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched this movie quite a bit growing up, so in a way this hampered my enjoyment of the book, while in other ways it enhanced it. Stayed pretty faithful to the flick George Romero would later adapt for TV time. The story stands as a uniquely twisted piece delving into the scientific link of memory; here Allan is a paralyzed man who has become dependent on a small primate who has been injected with a powerful drug. Together taking the pills they start to live through each other, ultimately creating a dangerous situation. As the monkey is by nature gentle and not revenge filled, and by himself Allan would never act on his buried subconscious hatred, together the primitive impulses were unleashed. So while the tale was as clever as always and something interesting was always happening, there was a flaw that the movie expressed more emotion, more angst, more passion, while the feelings of some of the characters felt a bit more flat and dry on page form.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burn horror with a surprisingly good pay off. The tech-speak rationalizes the monkey/man bond to perfection; the creepy factor in this one is high.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Janie Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine that you are an athletic star and a horrific accident takes all that away from you. You are now faced with being a Quadraplegic. Your life has beelined south and you no longer have the will to live. What's worse? You dont even have the ability to take your own life. You also come to discover that your doctor botched your surgery. Your girlfriend leaves you cause of pressure and what worse than that? She runs off with your quack of a doctor.

Then a friend comes along quite in the knick of time, with a very smart, lovable, and cute service monkey! And she loves you, but she loves you just a little too much! And once your on the road to recovery and you feel like you can deal with the situation, your service monkey begins to show signs of only loving you and noone else.

I think this was written beautifully by Michael Stewart. Quite awhile ago I had seen the movie, but never found the book to read it. Just recently I purchased the book through Amazon.com. And I was quite absorbed with it. Very glad I found it. Classic horror story.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must REALLY hate monkeys!!

[Kaeshani · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

Quite interesting, but your average 80s horror story with a slow-burn pacing, slow character development and creepy atmosphere which was crawling in reaally slow and by that I mean - book took its time alright. Characters were developed pretty good, especially Allan, who slowly went insane from this human/monkey bonding/testing. Ella was a pretty cute monkey, regardless of the evil she made throughout the book. Relationship between Ella and Allan was pretty good and interesting, cute even. There was also a subtext here about animal testing and secret intentions of government entities-this subtext posed questions that are valid to this very day.

Patrick Stewart's writing style is simple, a bit monotonic but straight-forward. I'm no expert in biology or animal testing territory, but the terminology he used was a bit boring, neverthless it was researched normally I think. The ending itself was alright, hell the last 100 pages were intense and horrifying. In my opinion the slow-burn atmosphere was getting the reader ready for the pay-off and there you have it.

Overall, can be read once or twice even, short (256p) novel about monkeys, animal testing, human relationships and a bit of a horror, a bit boring at times but gets engaging in the middle. I think the movie did pretty good job adapting it. In the end, I slightly recommend it.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
This delivers on everything you could want from a story about an evil helper monkey, more so than the movie anyway. This is firmly in the Crichton hard-science thriller mold, replete with detailed explanations of then-current scientific knowledge and procedures, hints at sinister government plans, and solid characterization. The psychic link empath stuff is handled well, too. I have little tolerance for ESP stuff in genre fiction but Stewart makes the smart decision not to go into details about how any of it works beyond “it’s sort of like a trance”. Vaguer is better when you’re essentially using magic as a plot device. Surprisingly the novel is light on the actual monkey shines and spends more time on the psychology of a guy who is permanently disabled by a freak accident, but that stuff is handled pretty well too. This never reaches the lurid heights or the level of evocative prose it would need to function as nutso pulp fun or highbrow SF respectively, but it’s a solid and weird time which is all I was looking for.
Also I don’t know much about the history of service animals, but the novel acts as if helper monkeys were a new concept at the time and it’s kinda funny anytime that comes up.

[Mac Spears · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, mileage may vary. Some friends who read it found it too depressing, but given the situation that the main character is in that’s sort of necessary to the plot. I’d already seen the film adaptation by George Romero, but found the book far more cohesive and rhythmically stronger as a story.

The book’s Oxford setting and English gardens frame everything in a distinct way. I found the scenes with Ella’s nature adventures especially evocative and fascinating.

Geoffrey’s arc reminds me of Victorian stories of science gone wrong tales, HG Wells, something elemental and timeless. While avoiding spoilers, there is a character who plays a large role in the story yet seems to live mostly at the end of it for the first half of the book.

Also without attempting to spoil, I found the ending emotionally appropriate while also shocking and pulpy. Again, no shade on the film, but this ending rules by comparison!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this deserves three stars, if only for how much better it is than the movie. Or, one might argue, how much better it is than a story about a monkey taking brain-pills should be.

Which is still a low bar to clear.

Still, this was weirdly competent writing, mostly proper, mostly plotted, a bit banal in characterization perhaps, but it was a book. Damning with faint praise, perhaps, but it does what it is intended to do, and (also weirdly) its lack of real style makes it actually quite nice as a palate cleanser and blank slate. It's literally trying to tell a story, and while it gets no marks for art, again, it's like a neighborhood pub: not necessarily great, but reliable, consistent, and satisfactory.

Good on ya', Monkey.

[R.L. Muscatello · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully written novel in description and tone. During more of true horror sequences, Stewart’s writing would cause a constricting lump in the throat and I’d find myself holding my breath till the end of paragraphs. A major accomplishment with inducing such fear with a sweet little monkey as the vehicle. With Allen’s immobility and helplessness, both physically and emotionally, the feeling of being trapped and claustrophobic was ever present.
The technical side of the medical aspects were also very informative and described in such a way as to not to affect the pacing.
Now may be a good time to check out the film adaptation.

[Bryan Moyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kind of contradictory review. The story was actually great. It was a case of what happens when man plays god. The characters were well written, and Ella's progression from monkey to science experiment out of control was enjoyable. The big problem I had was all of the medical terminology. There were times it was so prevalent that it knocked me out of the narrative. It would have been a much better novel without having the feeling that you needed to go to medical school before reading it.

[Jessi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I need to watch the horror film of the same name, but I believed they did vary somewhat. It was a fun read, but slightly predictable. Some parts were ambiguous as if the writer was not sure which route to take or chickened out in a few spots. Perhaps this was for the reader to make up their own mind? It was a quick read and worth a shot.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very of its time, a paradigmatic example of how publishers look for the "flavor of the month" to promote their product. If not for the massively popular books of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton in the early 1980s, this predictable and formulaic - if serviceably constructed - novel could well have fallen through the marketing cracks of people whose livelihood depends on selling books. Moving the novel forward as an art form? For suckers only.

[Clint the Cool Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! A real page-turner. I had seen the movie long ago. The book is probably better. It’s interesting at first, then becomes creepy, then downright terrifying. It’s a slow burn but is very well written. Recommended!

[L HIGGINSON · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like this book. First of all because I sympathized more with the monkey than I did with the wheelchair-bound, abusive jackass. Would not recommend. Hard pass.

[Maddie Dantier · Rating 3 out of 5]

my hatred of monkeys was vindicated

[Bent Andreassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, pretty good, at times scaring. 4 minus

[elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monkey Shines
– Michael Stewart
★★★★☆

I may be biased, but Monkey Shines is an intriguing book that truly is horrifying. I finished it with a hand over my mouth, eyes wide - and I'm sure you will too.

Once it really got going, Monkey Shines was terrifying. I love animals and would never want an animal to die but Ella, the monkey, had me scared witless. But despite this, I still felt some sympathy for her. She was, in the end, just a monkey - which made, at moments, her all the scarier. The horror aspects of this story are well written, and had me on the same edge as Carrie by Stephen King did - the only King story I have currently read.

Another aspect of the writing I enjoyed was the ability to really get into the mind of our main characters. One such example is in regards to the character Geoffrey, a scientist who supplies Allan with the monkey. When focusing on Geoffrey, there's an increase in scientific vocabulary which helped me to better understand him and his aims. With Allan Mann, a paraplegic and owner of Ella, the slow pace helps to understand him. We are able to see the world through the same pace as him - as time must slow down if you're confined only to your head. This pace is helpful for better understanding our characters, but did sometimes bore and confuse me. It lead me to struggle to focus at times, as short paces always do. I also struggled to have a concept of time, within the book which takes place over a few years. The slow pace made it seem like a shorter timespan than it really is, but this slight flaw can easily be looked past - especially as it is not a very long book.

If you're a fan of sci-fi and of horror, I recommend this book to you. While it isn't perfect, it is entertaining and can be truly terrifying. If you read Monkey Shines, I hope you see it the same way as I do.

[Fred Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-done thriller about the relationship between a quadriplegic and his service monkey and how it goes bad, leading to disaster for anyone the monkey perceives as a threat. The novel has a slow build-up, but there's just enough science and theories about animal behavior, combined with thrills as the connection between the man and animal is revealed.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a page turner and before I knew it, I was at the last three chapters. I enjoyed it and it's twisted macabre plot, especially with the science involved. And the ending definitely left me wanting more....

[Cws]

F Ste

[Jonathan Lanza]

read in malaysia

[Bruno · Rating 1 out of 5]

Proof that even homicidal monkeys can’t save a plot that moves slower than the wheelchair it’s about.