Steven Fisher is about to be sent off to fight in World War II, but his patriotic zeal is tempered by a series of nightmares. He realizes that his psyche is trying to remind him of something-a promise he made to a deformed World War I veteran who saved his life years earlier. Steven looks back on his past, rediscovering his childhood and reflecting on the horrifying events that brought him face-to-face with pure evil in the summer of 1928 in his small town. As a 13-year-old, Steven is enamored by the local legend, The Monster Monroe, who lives alone in a big house and wears a mask to cover his hideously mangled face. Monroe works as a freak at a carnival in the city and drinks to escape the pain his life has become. He also documents his life in his memoirs-the mistakes he made and the love he lost-in an attempt to reconnect with his daughter, long absent from his life. And when a sadistic murderer begins to kill young boys, Monroe is the perfect scapegoat. THE MONSTER MONROE, a period drama, centers around one fateful summer of a young man's life. It's a powerful debut novel-a page-turner that packs a powerful emotional punch.