Smithy by Amanda Desiree
Publisher: Inkshares
Release Date: April 13th 2021
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
The research is evident in the setting and plot. The ambiance of Newport in the 70s and the feeling of the mansions as odes to almost offensive wealth make you feel like you are there. The history of Smithy, how the researchers are working and interpreting his “speech” references Nim the Chimp and Koko the Gorilla with a critical eye to where that research failed. My favorite part was how well the author captures working in research. If you study doesn't feel like you are trapped in a house with the seven stupidest people you know pretending to be brilliant, you probably aren't doing science. (Just kidding, but not really.)
However, all this work just doesn't really make anything happen. The book spends so long building the big reveal that by the time the protagonists get there, the reader is already over it. Even when the story looks like it is coming together, there is no real resolution. All you are left with is a bunch of people who failed at the scientific method and an animal that acted, well, like an animal. This book always felt like it was heading somewhere good, but then...fin. Lastly, the epistolary format is interesting, but also makes it clear that this is a filtered version of events, so even if the reader suspends disbelief for the horror, it is hard to really engage with this as a scary story.
Purchase at: Barnes and Noble
Recommended Listening:
Nim The Chimp by The Dollop Podcast (CN: language, sexual humor)
Koko the Gorilla by the You’re Wrong About Podcast
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