Monkey Shines

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A Watcher in the Woods
Monkey Shines book art.jpg
First edition cover art
Author Michael Stewart
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Horror, science fiction
Published1 September 1983 (1983-09-01)
PublisherFreundlich Books
Media typePrint
Pages256 (first edition)
ISBN 978-0-881-91001-8
OCLC 9555443

Monkey Shines is a 1983 British psychological horror novel by Michael Stewart. Its plot follows a quadriplegic man whose service animal, a capuchin monkey named Ella, grows increasingly violent. It was adapted into a feature film of the same name in 1988 by director George A. Romero.

Contents

Premise

The novel follows Allan Mann, an Oxford law student who becomes quadriplegic after an accident, and is given a service monkey named Ella to help him with daily tasks. Ella, however, has been scientifically altered, and begins to channel Allan's inner fury, carrying out his most devious desires.

Critical response

Kirkus Reviews deemed the novel "Uneven in tone, with neither the sparkle of Michael Crichton nor the involving seriousness of, say, Richard Setlowe's The Experiment--but a lively, often intriguing smorgasbord of medical-ordeal, neuro-science, paranormal chills, and man/animal love-story." [1]

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References

  1. "Monkey Shines by Michael Stewart". Kirkus Reviews . 1 September 1983. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.