Yeah, I loved this.

It's late so I won't be going too in detail. But if you had told me a combination of natural history, sports writing, and true crime could be blended together, I wouldn't have thought it was good. But this was simply incredible. I had a hard time stopping once I got listening, which is bad because I listened to most of it at work.

Johnson does an incredible job of setting up the story and putting it into the context it needs to be held in. I HATE fishing so never knew much about fly fishing. Yet I was RIVETED listening to the explanation of fly tying and why it's relevant to feathers. And once I knew the historical and scientific significance of the birds, I felt emotional pain thinking about what was lost. I don't think I would have found it as gripping or emotional I'd Johnson hadn't set it up the way he did. I really want to commend him for how well and seamlessly he did so.

Final rating: 5/5. A wonderful blend of multiple subjects into one topic.

Edwin Rist should be dive bombed by ever seagull he encounters.

It's due in 2 days and book club is in a week so I'm making a push to have it finished by tomorrow!

Book Club chose this one for our next read. On Chapter 5 right now and so far I'm fascinated!

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

Eh. I tried to get into this. I gave up halfway through and just grudgingly finished this thing over a period of like four weeks. Bah. It had a great premise, it just got boring to me halfway through. And then I kept finding other books to read instead. Maybe if I hadn't started King's "The Institute" (nope still not done) and seen some similar themes here, it would have grabbed me. Honestly it reminds me a lot of La Valle's "The Devil in Silver" with too many themes going on to settle on just one main thread. 

"We Are Monsters" follows a a troubled psychiatrist Dr. Alex Drexler who starts to do experimental trails on the criminally insane at the asylum he works at. This ties into a serial killer who just arrives, Crosby Nelson, and of course bad consequences emerge. I didn't really like anyone in this because any doctor with a God complex is always going to start some shit. Honestly parts of this book reminds me a bit of old school Koontz with his whole debate about science moving faster than humanity and the consequences that emerge.

There are other characters in this book, Dr. Eli Alpert, Angela, of course Dr. Drexler and Crosby (woo boy that name). I just didn't care after a while what was going on with anyone though. 

The writing was stilted after a while and some of the sentences made me scratch my head. Since this was an ARC, maybe the final version gets more polished. The flow just gets dragged down after a while too. I maybe went okay then, can we please move on like a dozen times.

The book definitely reads like a Southern Gothic novel I have to say. It's usually one of my fav genres. I just got bored and didn't feel wholly engaged by the time we get to the ending. 

Dr. Emil Alpert runs the Sugar Hill mental asylum with compassion and humanity, treating his patients with understanding rather than drugging them into catatonic submission.
However, his protégé, Dr. Alex Drexler views treatment of the mentally ill differently, secretly testing a new experimental drug that he believes can cure schizophrenia. Driven beyond his means and his better judgement, he seeks fame and fortune at any cost.
When the brutal murder of a former patient, seemingly by a member of the hospital staff sets in motion a series of errors that removes Dr. Alpert from his position, Drexler is given his chance to prove his drug works....by testing it on the asylum's newest and most infamous patient.....Crosby Nelson, the 'Apocalypse Killer'.
Allowing his ambitions to override his common sense, Drexler agrees.....and discovers his drug does something he never planned for...
Crosby Nelson's inner demons have broken loose in the halls of Sugar Hill, and no one is safe.

Because the demons that haunt the Apocalypse Killer are many, and they won't be denied.

An interesting novel that balances between a hard look at how society treats the mentally ill and a straight out horror thriller.

I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.