"Rabbits don't do existential," but even the rabbits know something deeply weird is going on in John Scalzi's imaginative, adventurous Monsters of Ohio. Scalzi (When the Moon Hits Your Eye; The Kaiju Preservation Society) is the king of irreverent, humorous novels with a science fiction flair, and Monsters of Ohio is no exception.
The new administration forced Mike Boyd into a deferred resignation from the USDA. Since jobs in Washington, D.C., are scarce these days, he heads back home to Richland, Ohio, where he reluctantly sleeps in his stepmother's sewing room. He's determined not to get stuck in Richland for long, but then he and Dave Prost, his teenage best friend and Richland's current police chief, start noticing strange occurrences.
First, a cow inexplicably explodes in the barn of a local farmer, and then an absurdly large number of pets go missing. Meanwhile, the Bradson Foods plant, the town's main employer, is about to be stripped for parts and sold off by Leyton Capital, the private equity group that recently acquired it. Everyone in town is desperately hoping that something will happen to keep Bradson open.
Clever and unexpected, Monsters of Ohio is a witty commentary on the state of modern American life. Scalzi keeps the humor coming as people in Richland are forced to confront racism, the indifference of Leyton executives, and actual monsters that look like they're from another planet. Perfect for fans of Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Monsters of Ohio is smart, entertaining science fiction. --Jessica Howard, former bookseller, freelance book reviewer