Ill Be the Monster - Sean Gilbert, Duckworth Books

'The White Lotus&amp,nbsp,meets&amp,nbsp,My&amp,nbsp,Sister, the Serial Killer:&amp,nbsp,I’ll Be The Monster&amp,nbsp,is&amp,nbsp,a menacingly funny, daring debut&amp,nbsp,that deserves a spot at the top of every 2026 TBR pile.&amp,nbsp,With humour so biting and unease this sun soaked, this brilliantly vile pager turner cements Sean Gilbert as a bold new voice in literary fiction'&amp,nbsp,Lucy Rose, author of&amp,nbsp,The Lamb ------------ A homicidal couple embarks on a luxury holiday to save their marriage. After years of secrets and self-restraint, they’ve reached breaking point. But three days into the trip, they run into Benny, an acquaintance from their Cambridge days. And Benny is desperate to reminisce about a time – and a person – they would rather forget. Darkly funny and razor-sharp,&amp,nbsp,I’ll Be The Monster&amp,nbsp,follows a dangerous game of cat and mouse as it plays out under the&amp,nbsp,stifling heat of the Mediterranean sun. From a major new talent in literary fiction, this gripping debut is a love story about the worst people you know – and of what happens when a change of heart occurs too late. ------------ PRAISE FOR I'LL BE THE MONSTER 'From the moment I read the opening of&amp,nbsp,I'll Be The Monster&amp,nbsp,I was&amp,nbsp,gripped. An&amp,nbsp,ingenious premise, backed up with&amp,nbsp,pitch-perfect dialogue, arresting scenes, and a caustic humour...&amp,nbsp,one of our most promising emerging writers' Sophie&amp,nbsp,Mackintosh, author of&amp,nbsp,Cursed Bread ‘Gilbert’s narrative voice is&amp,nbsp,cool and superbly controlled, overlaying a filter of nihilism on a twisted young couple’s glossy Turkish vacation. Reading this daring novel is&amp,nbsp,like watching a cat toying with its prey before the kill&amp,nbsp,– it is&amp,nbsp,as if the elitist indolence of Donna Tartt’s&amp,nbsp,Secret History&amp,nbsp,met the millennial malaise of&amp,nbsp,Perfection&amp,nbsp,by Vincenzo Latronico’&amp,nbsp,Aube Rey Lescure, author of&amp,nbsp,River East, River West ‘Dazzling. Gilbert’s&amp,nbsp,extraordinary&amp,nbsp,prose&amp,nbsp,will take an emphatic hold of you until the last page’ Julia Raeside, author of&amp,nbsp,Don't Make me Laugh ‘Sexy, seductive, and very very dark,&amp,nbsp,I’ll Be The Monster&amp,nbsp,takes you deep into the company of people you don’t want to be with&amp,nbsp,and yet cannot resist’ Andrew Cowan, author of&amp,nbsp,Your Fault 'I'll be the Monster is a virtuoso debut. A gripping plot, brilliant dialogue, completely real characters and very, very funny. It's hard to know what more you could ask for' Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, author of The End of Nightwork