The Monster of Minnesota

News from the Edge #1

by Mark Sumner

Combining mystery, science fiction, and '90's tabloid sensibility, here's a unique approach to a popular genre. Sure, Savannah "Savvy" McKinnon, maybe people were killed by the lake monster known as Big Jelly--or maybe not. If there's a cover-up to be exposed, she's just the one to do it.

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Horror, Supernatural, Paranormal

198 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Sometimes credited as Mark C. Sumner or M.C. Sumner.

Reviews

[Brendon Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Savvy, an investigative reporter, works for a trashy tabloid paper that doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good story. She receives a call from a young woman about her brother being killed by an unknown monster in a lake in Minnesota. After getting approved for some field work, she goes out to investigate this strange story.

It leads her to numerous suspicious deaths, heartbroken locals, a fishing and tourism industry in tatters, and some dodgy scientific research. Is the monster real? Well, Savvy is about to find out.

This was exactly what I hoped for. It's a cozy, easy read with a flowing plot and mystery. It's a cross between an adult scooby doo episode at times and the X files. It's just a lot of fun, and running at 200 pages is a good book to read when you want something quick. I've got the other 3 in the series as well. I will get to this year. Alot of lighthearted fun.

[Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retro Review:

I read this cheesy little paperback some time ago while working in a boring mailroom after I’d picked it up at a library book sale. I’d already read the second book in the News from the Edge series, “Insanity, Illinois” back when I was into all sorts of modern conspiracy lore, but here I was mainly interested in the Minnesota setting. Both books were rather innocuous entertainment, super '90s in style, but rather cliche and with little staying power. Each follows St. Louis tabloid reporter-who-pines-for-serious-journalism Savvy McKinnon and her nerdy photographer assistant as they get sent on ludicrous assignments by their overbearing boss.

In this case, they get sent to a fictional Minnesota town, which seems to be south of the Twin Cities, to investigate a lake monster. In the Monster of Minnesota in particular, the characters are stereotypical, the plot is rushed, and the setting generic (no real local color), but there are some funny scenes. Also, in each, the "mysterious event" turns out to be explainable, with an edge that maybe something weird really was going on after all.

The funniest thing, though, was the testy little commentary scrawled on the title page of the withdrawn library book by an irate patron, showing that Minnesotans can really be touchy about their geography and easily reduced to sputtering rage- remember, no matter how badly a book misrepresents our state, don't deface a library book, you jerk!!!!

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Monster of Minnesota is the first book in a fun urban fantasy series featuring a plucky journalist investigating weird phenomena of a decidedly pulpish nature for a decidedly pulpish tabloid of the kind that used to proliferate next to the check-out lanes of every grocery. Not terribly good or memorable, but very entertaining and quite fun. A good one to stretch out with in the backyard hammock with iced tea and a transistor radio.

[Jamesboggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this unassuming little pulp on the shelf at my science fiction club. A plucky young tabloid reporter investigating a murderous lake monster in Minnesota sounded highly promising. I was in the mood for a fun, X-Files/Coast-to-Coast Radio style conspiracy story, and The Monster of Minnesota really hit the spot.

Savannah McKinnon is a young reporter writing for national tabloid newspaper the Global Query. She may be stuck writing about lake monsters and UFOs under the name Savvy Skye, but she still has dreams of a legitimate journalistic career. When she gets a call about an alleged monster with a verifiable body count, she sees her chance. She convinces her hard-nosed editor to let her investigate the report on field assignment. The Monster of Minnesota follows Savannah along the twists and turns of that investigation. I don’t want to give away her findings, but I enjoyed the ride.

Savannah is a fantastic protagonist for this sort of story. She is a young reporter, seemingly right out of college. She is skeptical - definitely more Scully than Mulder - but not obnoxiously so. She’s inexperienced but already a little jaded from her time at the Global Query. Her insecurities, anxieties, and ethics round her out as a realistic person. I could absolutely see her as the anchor for an ongoing series of fringe mystery novels.

Savannah is joined by a colorful cast of characters. She answers to hard-nosed and overbearing editor Bill Genovese. She has an experienced journalist friend and love interest in Jimmy. At Lake Jellico, she finds young monster survivor Gloria Kwei, true believer Bryan Raley, a giant of a man called Clive Busfield, not to mention the environmentalist, small town sheriff, and local mad scientist. These characters provide ample opportunities for drama, red herrings, and surprise twists. You can’t ask much more of the characters of a pulp mystery.

The writing was enjoyable too. It is mostly workmanlike, with a hint of noir. The story is told in first person by Savannah, so the reader gets her thoughts and reactions. I found the thoughts, dialogue, and actions to be believable. They were also funny. I actually laughed out loud a few times at things Savannah said or did. The writing definitely engaged me, and helped me get through this story quickly.

The Monster of Minnesota was a fun pulp mystery leaning towards conspiracy culture. I am not familiar with many books that make use of the UFOs, cryptids, and other phenomena of modern folklore. I would be happy to dip into that pool again.


Rating: 3.5, round up to 4

CHARACTER LIST (abridged)
Savannah “Savvy Skye” McKinnon - protagonist, young reporter at the Global Query, skeptical, dreams of a legitimate journalism career, investigates Big Jelly
Bill Genovese - editor and founder of the Global Query, reluctantly authorizes Savannah’s investigation of Big Jelly
Gloria Kwei - informant about Big Jelly, resident of Lake Jellico in Minnesota, 14 year old, her brother Tom is the fourth victim of the monster
James “Jimmy” Knoles - editor of the Green River Journal, former Washington Post investigative journalist, older than Savannah, love interest for Savannah, rushes to Lake Jellico to save Savannah
Bryan Raley - teacher at the local community college, avid reader of the Query, convinced Gloria to call the Query, his girlfriend runs the Ten K Council and his mother runs the only motel in Lake Jellico, passionate about the investigation
Clive Busfield - lake guide, owns a guide business, former boss to the late Tom Kwei, discovered 3 of the monster victims, hates ChemMat, treated as a suspect, loves the Kweis
Aggie Busfield - wife of Clive Busfield
Jenni Sorgenson - girlfriend of Bryan Raley, director of the local environmental group Ten K Council, wants to protect Lake Jellico from ChemMat, effortlessly beautiful, patient and supportive
Mitchel Grey - sheriff, rude, attempts to protect ChemMat, his campaign received significant donations from ChemMat
Dr. Lawrence Jerome - his pesticide made water tiger bugs grow to dangerous size, tried to cover up the problem, ultimately responsible for the deaths, tries to feed the main characters to the monster, gets eaten by the monster

[Bill Plott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first novel in a series that was the inspiration for The Chronicle, a great SyFy channel show that sadly lasted only one season. The show is set at a tabloid newspaper in New York. It writes about real supernatural phenomena not made-up stuff likely the old Weekly World News. In the novel, the paper, which is more like WWW, is located in the Midwest. Savannah McKinnon persuades her editor to let her go to Minnesota to investigate a Loch Ness type creature that may have killed five people. It's a readable story. I'm curious to see others in the series to see if it evolves toward what the TV show offered.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the series of books SciFi based their quirky show The Chronicle on...

I wish there'd been more of the books and the show...

re-read 4/25/2010

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's go back to the late 90's. I was in my early 20's, standing beside a bargain bin at a drugstore when I fished this book out. I read it. I enjoyed it. I bought the other two in the series. For whatever reason, I've carted these books around for over two decades. I thought it would be fun to revisit the first one.

Still entertaining, and very ninety's--in a warm, fuzzy reminiscing kind of way. An eager reporter working at a tabloid in St. Lewis gets a lead on a possible real story in Minnesota. Is it a real monster? She doubts it, but she knows real people are dead, so she packs a bag and drives all the way there to uncover a mystery and reveal a murderer/monster. Fun and funny.  But, I'm happy to toss this one into the library book sale for someone else to be entertained by.

May revisit the others in the series.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought the wrong books. I found the next two in the series at Half Price Books then I learned that I was missing the first book so I had to order it from Amazon. In the end, it was all a good decision although I started the series a bit later than I'd planned.

I got the books from Half Price Books in the science fiction section. As it turns out, it's not science fiction at all! It's a mystery. Normally I don't care for mysteries but this was such a quick, light read with a sprinkling of X-Files (Scully-style) that I didn't mind at all.

I'm ready for the next two.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this trilogy completely out of order, so I finished on this one despite it being the first in the series, but they're entirely episodic, so it wasn't an issue. Of the three, this one is probably narrowly my favorite. The plot is decently structured and the science fiction hook is original and interesting.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

About what I expected. Not spectacular, but fun. If you were enticed by the cover you'll probably enjoy it.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick entertaining read.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up knowing it would be a light read based on the premise and it's two sequel titles. It did not disappoint.

The story reminded me of 'The Night Stalker' 70s TV show, but I was pleasantly surprised by the protagonist-- a college age reported with self image issues and a healthy skepticism of all things weird. The author kept the plot moving between "real monster" and "fraud" right up to the end (I won't say which one it was).

Final judgement: fun to read, but don't expect this one to satisfy one's thirst for more X-File episodes. I look forward to the rest of the series.

[Millerbug · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read! Very different and quick too! It's about a reporter who works for a tabloid and she actually runs across a story that she feels is true and investigates. I really liked the main character, she is sassy when she needs to be, and a little bit of a coward but no less than any real person who goes to confront a monster in a lake. Humorous and a good little mystery. And a very fun and nice quick read!

[Teawench · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books I could have read in an hour or two at most. Though it seemed like some of the characters were thrown in for shits & giggles, it was easy enough to remember who was who. There were a couple of plot holes but in a quick read like this, they don't really bother me. It was a nice distraction.

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping to get a good "spoof" book based on the title and Enquirer like cover, but I don't recall more than a chuckle or two and a lot of wondering "why am I reading this?". I did finish it, but that's not saying much.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun little detective series where the prtagonist is a reluctant reporter at a tabloid. On assignment to cover new of the weird forher boss she solves real mysteries. Funny and light.