I don't usually read anything in the suspense/thriller/crime genre; I am mostly repulsed by people's fascination with serial killer pop culture, and while I'll occasionally dive into something like 'Top of the Lake,' it's rare and one indulgence is enough to last at least six months.

I picked up Broken Monsters because Beukes first novel The Shining Girls was very well-reviewed, plus this one takes place in Detroit, so...you know. But now that I'm a few chapters in I can't decide if I really love reading a murder mystery about my hometown or if I hate it. Beukes is South African, so naturally there's a very loud voice in my head, reminding me that she is a total outsider and for her, Detroit functions as a kind of shorthand for all that is gritty and mysterious and abandoned. On the other hand, she gets a lot of it right (except for the serial killer part. We don't really have those around here. Bigger fish to fry and all that).

Despite all these reservations, I'm still reading it at breakneck speed, because a good suspense novel is nothing if not readable.