Destroy All Monsters
John DeGuire
Independently Published (2024)
ISBN: 979-8990870949
Reviewed by Leslie Anne Smith for Reader Views (01/2025)
In John DeGuire’s “Destroy All Monsters,” Holiday Spirit book 2, readers are in for a wild ride. Our protagonist, Aoife, is a motorcycle-riding werewolf who’s on a mission to save her husband, Count Dracula. Dracula has been abducted by the Church of Latter Day Monster Hunters, a home-grown militia group led by the late Bishop Van Helsing. This group is on a holy mission to destroy all monsters, the likes of which include Aoife and her husband, as well as a few of their close friends like Saul Frankenstein and Hendrix, and the other creatures they meet along the way. Lovers of creature feature films will find a lot of fan favorites in the characters, including Kong (King Kong).
This novel starts with high-octane action, introducing us to Aoife as she races her motorcycle down the top of a speeding train. The action rarely lets up from here, taking us from a helicopter rescue near Niagara Falls to a battle at the Eiffel Tower, and acts of revenge. There’s no time to be bored with this story!
DeGuire creates fun, compelling characters in this novel. I found myself immediately rooting for and engaging with Aoife as a character and appreciated the time given to her and Dracula’s relationship. They are both loyal characters who do their best to protect one another. Their relationship is delightfully unconventional but shows how love inspires loyalty, devotion, and transformation. Dracula is always confident in Aoife’s abilities and never seeks to change her impulsive nature. They complement each other well, acting as one another’s support and adding something new to their partnership. This inversion of the “damsel in distress” trope using a recognizably powerful character like Count Dracula is really refreshing.
In many ways, the novel really challenges what it means to be human. We are left asking ourselves, what makes a monster, and what makes a hero? DeGuire explores the complexity of our human nature while also pulling from pulp fiction and creature feature roots. It just goes to show how we can find meaning in any genre and with any monster fiction. Because of this, “Destroy All Monsters” by John DeGuire will suit readers who enjoy wild, supernatural adventure stories, and those who look for deeper meaning in their narratives.