Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Detective Gabriella Versado has seen a lot of bodies, but this one is unique even by Detroit's standards: half-boy, half-deer, somehow fused. The cops nickname him "Bambi," but as stranger and more disturbing bodies are discovered, how can the city hold on to a reality that is already tearing at its seams?

If you're Detective Versado's over-achieving teenage daughter, Layla, you commence a dangerous flirtation with a potential predator online. If you are the disgraced journalist, Jonno, you do whatever it takes to investigate what may become the most heinous crime story in memory. If you're Thomas Keen, you'll do what you can to keep clean, keep your head down, and try to help the broken and possibly visionary artist obsessed with setting loose The Dream, tearing reality, assembling the city anew.

This novel started out with spirit, but it lost it about halfway through with too many storylines and too much happening.

It is difficult to place this novel into any particular genre, because it has a bit of everything. This might also be part of the book’s weaknesses, as well, since it never really finds its footing in any genre. Yes, it is a thriller, but it sometimes reads as a literary novel, which tends to slow the pace down too much for what the author wants to achieve. Another issue with the novel is that too many things are left unexplained and unresolved. Too many storylines are left dangling, almost as if the author is planning on a sequel. 

It’s a sprawling novel that never settles into what it wants to be. Its beginning was good and solid and if some storylines had been cut out, perhaps it would have been a more cohesive story. As it is, there are better books out there to read.