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Gigantic
"I wasn't sure you would get this far, so thanks a million already. You opened the mystery bag... Inside the bag, along with this letter, is a dossier that describes the whole story."
Kevin Stubbs is a Knower. He knows life hasn't always treated him fairly. He knows he wants to be allowed access to his son again. But most of all, he knows that the London Borough of Sutton is being stalked by a nine-foot-tall, red-eyed, hairy relict hominid - the North Surrey Gigantopithecus. Armed with a thermal imaging camera (aka the Heat Ray), a Trifield 100XE electromagnetic field reader (aka the Tractor Beam), and his trusty comrades in the GIT (aka the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team), Kevin sets out to prove that the Gartree-Hogg footage from Sutton Cock is real, and that a British Bigfoot is living in suburban London: FACT.
But what he discovers undermines everything he believes in - and forces Kevin to face up to his own failures, and the very real, very scary prospect that he might have got it all terribly wrong.
Kevin Stubbs is a Knower. He knows life hasn't always treated him fairly. He knows he wants to be allowed access to his son again. But most of all, he knows that the London Borough of Sutton is being stalked by a nine-foot-tall, red-eyed, hairy relict hominid - the North Surrey Gigantopithecus. Armed with a thermal imaging camera (aka the Heat Ray), a Trifield 100XE electromagnetic field reader (aka the Tractor Beam), and his trusty comrades in the GIT (aka the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team), Kevin sets out to prove that the Gartree-Hogg footage from Sutton Cock is real, and that a British Bigfoot is living in suburban London: FACT.
But what he discovers undermines everything he believes in - and forces Kevin to face up to his own failures, and the very real, very scary prospect that he might have got it all terribly wrong.
- GenresContemporaryFiction
244 pages, Paperback
Published September 2, 2021
89 people want to read
About the author
Ashley Stokes
30 books49 followersAshley Stokes is the author of Gigantic (Unsung Stories, 2021), The Syllabus of Errors (Unthank Books, 2013) and Voice (TLC Press, 2019), and editor of the Unthology series and The End: Fifteen Endings to Fifteen Paintings (Unthank Books, 2016). His recent short fiction includes Subtemple in Black Static; The Validations in Nightscript, Black Slab in The Ghastling; Replacement Bus Service in Out of Darkness (edited by Dan Coxon, Unsung Stories), and Fade to Black in This is not a Horror Story (edited by JD Keown, Night Terror Novels). Other stories have appeared in Tales from the Shadow Booth Vol. 4, BFS Horizons, Bare Fiction, The Lonely Crowd, the Warwick Review, Storgy and more. He lives in the East of England where he’s a ghost and ghostwriter.
"Touching the Starfish is a very funny and accessible book. It is a fine first novel." Eastern Daily Press.
"Lovers of mitteleuropa period fiction, or of contemporary fiction, or – ideally – both, will love this book. It’s Joseph Roth meets Roberto Bolaño, and it is simply wonderful." David Rose on The Syllabus of Errors.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
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May 8, 2023Terrific, funny, sad story of a true believer. Kevin is a cryptid hunter convinced there is a yeti in Sutton. His marriage has collapsed and his son doesn't want to see him, but if he can just be the one to prove the survival of gigantopithecus he'll win it all back. Obviously he is wildly deluded and absurd, but the charm/tragedy of this book is how it makes you see what Kevin is really striving for, his longing for wonder and magic and a greater life amid the blah bleak suburban with its horribly limited horizons. Also, the mentality of the people who want to believe, and their heroic fight against cognitive dissonance. Really very good indeed, strong recommendation.
June 28, 2023
Entertaining and a fun concept, just absolutely not my type of humour.
October 10, 2021
This book has an unusually oblivious rather than unreliable narrator. A know it all so convinced they’re right they change everything they see to fit their facts - funny and sentimental it’s a brilliant read
Full review https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
June 8, 2023
Had a great time reading this book. It was a fun adventure where you never really knew if it was a comedy or tragedy. Got to meet Ashley Stokes at london Comic Con in london which was the reason I got around to reading this book. Really glad I did. Makes Sutton seem a bit more adventurous now
November 9, 2021
Just brilliant in treading the line between comedy and tragedy, the character of Kevin Stubbs is heart-breakingly excellent. Manages to say so much about masculinity without ever feeling preachy or didactic. Highly recommended.
October 23, 2021
Cryptid intrigue meets troubled family dynamics. This incredibly witty novel follows the hunt for bigfoot in Surrey, England. We get to read the case files of GIT--Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team--written by two different team members: one scientific skeptic and one true believer. The friction between the different motivations in GIT builds tension underneath this funny and thought-provoking book. Investigator Kevin Stubbs puts it all on the line to prove that gigantopithecus is real and living in Surrey--his family, his career, and his credibility.
The uncertainty that the reader feels regarding the existence of bigfoot is mirrored by the skeptic character of Maxine and contrasts with the true belief of Derek and Kevin. If you are familiar at all with cryptid/ufo enthusiasts, you will recognize a lot of characters in this book. The thoughtful and various father/son dynamics in this book underpin a more serious secondary plot. If you think cryptids are interesting, if you enjoy epistolary format, and enjoy seeking the truth behind an unreliable narrator, you should read this book.
The uncertainty that the reader feels regarding the existence of bigfoot is mirrored by the skeptic character of Maxine and contrasts with the true belief of Derek and Kevin. If you are familiar at all with cryptid/ufo enthusiasts, you will recognize a lot of characters in this book. The thoughtful and various father/son dynamics in this book underpin a more serious secondary plot. If you think cryptids are interesting, if you enjoy epistolary format, and enjoy seeking the truth behind an unreliable narrator, you should read this book.
November 22, 2021
11/21/2021 4.5 stars Full review tk at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
11/22/2021 The blurb makes you think this is going to be a comedy, and perhaps for some it is. But it reminded me very much of my first pro theater production, a play with what I thought was a bleak if occasionally funny script, set in a series of airport waiting areas. We performed it to laughs every night but always in the back of my mind lingered the knowledge of the desperation that underpinned the words, and the despair: a bit of a Malaysian Alan Ayckbourn if you will.
Gigantic recaptures that vibe exactly for me, as it follows the hapless Kevin Stubbs, an investigator for the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team and a man determined to finally make a confirmed sighting of the missing link hominid that he's convinced lurks in the Sutton woods. Despite his own sheltered, fatherless upbringing, he's tried so hard to instill his passion for cryptid tracking in his own young son, Kyrylo. After a series of mishaps, he's sure that getting proof will not only vindicate his passion, but also bring him fame, perhaps fortune, and definitely reconciliation with his now-estranged family. He doesn't mean to be a weird, neglectful father and husband. But achieving his goal of proving the existence of a South England Bigfoot will show to everyone that he's not a laughingstock, that he's merely misunderstood, and that all his strange behavior has had a very scientifically important point.
In this, he's more or less aided by the other members of GIT, particularly Derek Funnel, who's just as much a believer as he is, if not more. Kev is a bit annoyed still that he was passed over for the role of Lead Investigator by the retiring Eddie "Gorgo" Gartree, who handed the mantle instead to Maxine Cash, the skeptical science teacher with her own motives for joining the group. Despite still being married to Bohu, the mother of his child, Kev can't help but be attracted to Max, which will certainly complicate things as they follow up on the strange recording of what seems to be a tall, hairy creature with glowing red eyes, captured on the outskirts of a children's party before fleeing into the night.
Told in the form of reports from the perspectives of both Kev and Max, bookended by letters from Kev, this is both a funny look at cryptid hunting as well as a deeply sad examination of a damaged man's psyche. Ashley Stokes masterfully paints a portrait of a yearning young man whose traumas made it all too easy to get caught up in an obsessive hunt that combines all the things he's ever longed for, even as it comes at the cost of all the things he thought he wanted, a process that further calcifies his personality as he gets older. Kev isn't the first man to sacrifice his family life and ties to his hobbies, but can he be brought back before he destroys it all? And what will it take to get him to finally do so?
Everyone knows someone like Kev, but this is probably the most unflinching yet kind portrayal of why this phenomenon occurs and the kind of person who's susceptible to it. It's a good reminder of the importance of both prioritization and raising your kids as actual people with their own interests and needs. I really loved this book. Anyone with even the slightest interest in cryptids or in human psychology should read it.
Gigantic by Ashley Stokes was published September 2 2021 by Unsung Stories and is available from all good booksellers, including Unsung itself.
11/22/2021 The blurb makes you think this is going to be a comedy, and perhaps for some it is. But it reminded me very much of my first pro theater production, a play with what I thought was a bleak if occasionally funny script, set in a series of airport waiting areas. We performed it to laughs every night but always in the back of my mind lingered the knowledge of the desperation that underpinned the words, and the despair: a bit of a Malaysian Alan Ayckbourn if you will.
Gigantic recaptures that vibe exactly for me, as it follows the hapless Kevin Stubbs, an investigator for the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team and a man determined to finally make a confirmed sighting of the missing link hominid that he's convinced lurks in the Sutton woods. Despite his own sheltered, fatherless upbringing, he's tried so hard to instill his passion for cryptid tracking in his own young son, Kyrylo. After a series of mishaps, he's sure that getting proof will not only vindicate his passion, but also bring him fame, perhaps fortune, and definitely reconciliation with his now-estranged family. He doesn't mean to be a weird, neglectful father and husband. But achieving his goal of proving the existence of a South England Bigfoot will show to everyone that he's not a laughingstock, that he's merely misunderstood, and that all his strange behavior has had a very scientifically important point.
In this, he's more or less aided by the other members of GIT, particularly Derek Funnel, who's just as much a believer as he is, if not more. Kev is a bit annoyed still that he was passed over for the role of Lead Investigator by the retiring Eddie "Gorgo" Gartree, who handed the mantle instead to Maxine Cash, the skeptical science teacher with her own motives for joining the group. Despite still being married to Bohu, the mother of his child, Kev can't help but be attracted to Max, which will certainly complicate things as they follow up on the strange recording of what seems to be a tall, hairy creature with glowing red eyes, captured on the outskirts of a children's party before fleeing into the night.
Told in the form of reports from the perspectives of both Kev and Max, bookended by letters from Kev, this is both a funny look at cryptid hunting as well as a deeply sad examination of a damaged man's psyche. Ashley Stokes masterfully paints a portrait of a yearning young man whose traumas made it all too easy to get caught up in an obsessive hunt that combines all the things he's ever longed for, even as it comes at the cost of all the things he thought he wanted, a process that further calcifies his personality as he gets older. Kev isn't the first man to sacrifice his family life and ties to his hobbies, but can he be brought back before he destroys it all? And what will it take to get him to finally do so?
Everyone knows someone like Kev, but this is probably the most unflinching yet kind portrayal of why this phenomenon occurs and the kind of person who's susceptible to it. It's a good reminder of the importance of both prioritization and raising your kids as actual people with their own interests and needs. I really loved this book. Anyone with even the slightest interest in cryptids or in human psychology should read it.
Gigantic by Ashley Stokes was published September 2 2021 by Unsung Stories and is available from all good booksellers, including Unsung itself.
June 19, 2023
A funny and deeply tragic novel. A story of how a vulnerable person gets taken advantage of, and how the human brain is capable of rationalising anything.
Kevin Stubbs is a sad sort of man; lives by themself, few friends, somewhat estranged wife and child. But, they know the TRUTH of things, the FACTS of the situation, what’s really going on. And what’s really going on is that there is a gigantopithicus (bigfoot/yeti equivalent) running rampant in the woods of Sutton, south London. It’s just that there’s a big conspiracy to keep it quiet, right? All the scientists and media trying to hide these simple truths. But Kevin has seen it with their own eyes and will not be dissuaded. The story follows Kevin and a small team of investigators as they follow up on a particularly noteworthy sighting of the beast. The mystical and supernatural elements are well presented and often have a well-suffused humour to them; that Marenghian tint of being from a slightly schlocky horror writer. It’s very well done; there are some truly funny moments throughout. But Gigantic grounds its humour in a deeply believable world; even if that is seen from Kevin’s somewhat oblivious vantage point. Kevin is a deeply sympathetic character, someone who wants so desperately to belong to something and to connect that they become vulnerable to the abuse of bad actors. While the bigfoot idea is fantastical, it feels like an insight into the kind of mind that could fall into any number of modern conspiracy theories; flat-earth, climate-change denial, new world order type stuff. At no point is Kevin ever malicious, just misled.
There is a really touching story here about a man unable to connect with his wife; fully consumed by an insane obsession. The stories of the other members of the Gigantopithicus Investigation Team (or GITs) similarly have well-drawn personalities and arcs throughout the book, and the writing is clever enough to show these despite Kevin’s utter obliviousness.
A heartfelt and sad character study wrapped in an amusing monster-hunt. Great reading!
Kevin Stubbs is a sad sort of man; lives by themself, few friends, somewhat estranged wife and child. But, they know the TRUTH of things, the FACTS of the situation, what’s really going on. And what’s really going on is that there is a gigantopithicus (bigfoot/yeti equivalent) running rampant in the woods of Sutton, south London. It’s just that there’s a big conspiracy to keep it quiet, right? All the scientists and media trying to hide these simple truths. But Kevin has seen it with their own eyes and will not be dissuaded. The story follows Kevin and a small team of investigators as they follow up on a particularly noteworthy sighting of the beast. The mystical and supernatural elements are well presented and often have a well-suffused humour to them; that Marenghian tint of being from a slightly schlocky horror writer. It’s very well done; there are some truly funny moments throughout. But Gigantic grounds its humour in a deeply believable world; even if that is seen from Kevin’s somewhat oblivious vantage point. Kevin is a deeply sympathetic character, someone who wants so desperately to belong to something and to connect that they become vulnerable to the abuse of bad actors. While the bigfoot idea is fantastical, it feels like an insight into the kind of mind that could fall into any number of modern conspiracy theories; flat-earth, climate-change denial, new world order type stuff. At no point is Kevin ever malicious, just misled.
There is a really touching story here about a man unable to connect with his wife; fully consumed by an insane obsession. The stories of the other members of the Gigantopithicus Investigation Team (or GITs) similarly have well-drawn personalities and arcs throughout the book, and the writing is clever enough to show these despite Kevin’s utter obliviousness.
A heartfelt and sad character study wrapped in an amusing monster-hunt. Great reading!
September 30, 2024
The subtle warmth and po-faced pedantry of Detectorists, turned up to eleven. There is a strangely English trait that the smaller, less significant and crankier an organisation, the more rigid it will be in its internal rules and regulations. Kevin Stubbs is one of the three main members of GIT – the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team – whose inner workings verge on the paramilitary and which exists for one purpose only: to prove (or, in the case of the team leader, to disprove to Kevin’s satisfaction, for the sake of his marriage and his relationship with his son) that there is a Bigfoot-like creature haunting the town of Sutton in Surrey. Ruthless logic and strict adherence to science and facts are paramount – except when they clash with what Kevin already knows to be true, and the logic becomes so circular it consumes itself. Although Kevin is very funny, without realising it, and also slightly pathetic, the book’s secret is that (again, like Detectorists) we are never laughing at him. The ending, which takes us all by surprise, is genuinely moving. ‘FACT’, as Kevin would say.
September 9, 2023
In the throes of post traumatic stress Kevin Stubbs - aka Monkey Magic - aka Very Talented IT Guy - unwittingly exchanges the manacles of one set of unflinching beliefs for the shackles of another set of unflinching beliefs. FACT. And ultimately pays the price. Or at least vaguely makes his way in the direction of the checkout counter.
At first approach this is a hilariously funny laugh-out-loud novel, but by the time the reader is done with the book, or more to the point the book is done with the reader, it has somehow transformed itself into a deeply sad and reflective book about trying to make meaning and sense in an often cruel, senseless and seemingly meaningless world.
Nicely paced, skilfully observed characters, this is a richly textured novel that cannot fail to move the reader in a variety of ways. Now that I KNOW and have been given a chance to learn the FACTS I won't hesitate recommending this funny, moving novel to all and sundry.
At first approach this is a hilariously funny laugh-out-loud novel, but by the time the reader is done with the book, or more to the point the book is done with the reader, it has somehow transformed itself into a deeply sad and reflective book about trying to make meaning and sense in an often cruel, senseless and seemingly meaningless world.
Nicely paced, skilfully observed characters, this is a richly textured novel that cannot fail to move the reader in a variety of ways. Now that I KNOW and have been given a chance to learn the FACTS I won't hesitate recommending this funny, moving novel to all and sundry.
August 26, 2025
The premise vs the actual plot may have been misplaced in my view.
This book had a lot of potential and I definitely have read too many psychological thrillers because I had it in my head there was some deeper meaning or twist to finish the book off.
What I actually read was quite sad and followed a man who was raised in a sad home who ended up living a life that robbed him of happiness.
There was some good writing, description and interesting views on the world and the mysterious. But I didn’t get much from this book in the end and wished for more than I got.
Not a bad book but not life changing either.
2.5/5 scaled to a 3.
This book had a lot of potential and I definitely have read too many psychological thrillers because I had it in my head there was some deeper meaning or twist to finish the book off.
What I actually read was quite sad and followed a man who was raised in a sad home who ended up living a life that robbed him of happiness.
There was some good writing, description and interesting views on the world and the mysterious. But I didn’t get much from this book in the end and wished for more than I got.
Not a bad book but not life changing either.
2.5/5 scaled to a 3.
October 10, 2021
A great read. Giggles, deep thought, and truth. If you want a book that talks about the human condition without becoming a philosophical or depressing tract, this is the one. It's funny, reflective, illuminating, sad, and realistic in turn. And it makes you think about those things you're obsessed with , which may or may not deserve that obsession. It's a must-read.
October 24, 2022
It all started off well, the premise appealed to me but the 'Kevin is a dickhead' theme got repetitive and boring. Then it was 'hang on, maybe he's right' followed by 'no he's a total bellend'.
It did make me chuckle though.
It did make me chuckle though.
November 17, 2022
Cliched and boring.
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October 5, 2023I don’t know what to say. There was nothing for me to like about this book.
March 21, 2022
In Kevin Stubbs the author has succeeded in creating a lead who is both comic and sympathetic. There is something very human, relatable, about a character who seeks to discover the magical in the midst of the ordinary, to preserve the wonder that seems to vanish with our childhood. I found myself simultaneously rooting for Kevin and fearing for his sanity, yet desperate for him to maintain his quest. We all have to be a little mad to survive this world of ours and the things we allow ourselves to believe are often more fanciful than a sasquatch in Surrey.
Gigantic is a book I wholeheartedly recommend, it is funny and poignant, and I was sorry to reach the end.
Gigantic is a book I wholeheartedly recommend, it is funny and poignant, and I was sorry to reach the end.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews