Six classic thrillers that explore the most human of monsters

Steven L. Kent and Nicholas Kaufmann are the authors of the bestselling horror novel 100 Fathoms Below.

At CrimeReads they tagged six favorite literary human monsters, including:

Major Sergei Sergeevich Pribuluda: Gorky Park by Martin Cruz-Smith

Three bodies are found in Gorky Park, in Moscow, in 1981—a decade before the fall of the Soviet Union. The bodies have been buried in snow. No telling how long they’ve been dead. Their faces have been cut. Their teeth are kicked in. Their fingers have been snipped off. In the pre-DNA days of the 1980s, they are unidentifiable. Only, a lowly inspector is assigned to identify them and catch the killer.

During the investigation the lowly policeman crosses paths with Major Pribluda of the KGB. These boys know each other, but they aren’t pals. They both enforce the law, more or less, but Pribluda’s definition of law enforcement includes driving “criminals” to the lake, stuffing rubber balls in their mouths so they can’t scream for help, and shooting them. . .all to protect the proletariat.

As monsters go, Pribluda is a chubby, dangerous sociopath with a heart. No joke. He is one of the more interesting and noble monsters we have encountered in our reading.

Read about another entry on the list.

Gorky Park is among John Verdon's ten best whodunits and Ann Shevchenko's top ten novels set in Moscow.

--Marshal Zeringue