How a Monster is Made by RaShell Lashbrook

How a Monster is Made by RaShell Lashbrook

Nature or nurture? Are monsters born or created?

Born post-WWII, Randy Carter is the middle child of an alcoholic father and a mother who suffers from bouts of psychosis. Bright and spirited, he is forced to navigate the world through a filter of violence and poverty.

Sandwiched between Janie, his big sister who never seems to do anything wrong, and Rosie, the baby, Randy is a mischievous little boy. Manipulated by his father and neglected by his mother, he quickly develops into a calculating young man with a growing need for control. Caught between his father’s narcissistic rage and his mother’s mental illness, Randy’s bad deeds go mostly unnoticed. 

As a young adult, Randy vows to be different than his old man. Charming and polished, he has a respectable job, a pretty wife, and a brand-new baby girl. He has everything a man could want, but it won’t be enough to stop him from committing unimaginable crimes against the most vulnerable in society.

Is Randy evil incarnate or just a broken child? Sociopath or victim? What is undeniable is the path of destruction left in his wake.