Monster is a novel written in 2005 by Frank E. Peretti. It tells a story of a horrifying predator who terrorizes the woods of northern Idaho. The story deals with views on evolution, beneficial mutation, and natural selection.
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Reed Shelton is out to make the perfect camping trip with his wife, Beck. However, Beck is more of a stay-at-home kind of wife. But Reed manages to convince her to accompany him on the trip. As the couple makes camp for the night, they encounter a strange, unearthly wail accompanied by a set of glowing eyes. In a blur of action, Beck is snatched up by a creature and dragged into the night.
Reed, with the combined efforts of a small town and a band of close friends, begins the investigation for his wife. In the meantime, Beck must fight for survival as she is forced to adapt not only to her surroundings, but also to the behavior of her frightening abductors. Realizing that there is little time, Reed and friends pour on the hunt for Beck, only to realize that they aren't the only ones doing the hunting. Something grave and terrifying—and definitely not human—is hunting them. As the net closes, the monster is revealed to be more real than originally imagined.
In the midst of the horror, Michael Capella (or "Cap"), a friend of Reed's and a former scientist, investigates the DNA left at the monster's ravaging sites. As he researches further, he finds that it is some form of chimpanzee DNA "contaminated" with human DNA. This revelation leads him to suspect his former colleague, Adam Burkhardt, whom he discovers has indeed been doing some dangerous experiments.
Reviews were somewhat negative. Cindy Crosby in her review for Christianity Today said that "what's missing here is the genuine keep-you-up-all-night suspense and fast pacing that made Peretti's earlier books, such as This Present Darkness, such page-turners. Peretti relies on passages like these--"Screams! Savage screeches! Howls!"--to frighten the reader, rather than creating an atmosphere of terror. The sheer volume of pages, improbable storyline, and prose troubles will disappoint readers of Peretti's earlier books."[1] John Mort in his review for Booklist said that Peretti was "better off writing about the weight of sin, as he did in The Oath."[2] Publishers Weekly said that "not raised overtly until the middle of the book, Peretti's critique of certain aspects of Darwinism eclipses the story and leads it to an unsatisfying and somewhat confusing end."[3] Jeff Jensen in his review for Entertainment Weekly said that "Monster is flabby and not very thrilling, filled with undercooked attacks on evolution (the book's only distinguishing "Christian" trait, beyond some bland God-speak) and curious notions about female empowerment. To paraphrase Genesis, it is not good."[4]
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