Heroes and Monsters: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be Human

Every one of us is both a hero and a monster, and the world we inhabit is both beautiful and twisted. We are shaken by changes, losses, gains, insights, desires, mistakes, and transitions. And just when we've gotten settled back down, things get shaken up again. This is the life we've been given. So how do we make sense of life's unexpected nature, find a way to embrace the tension, and live with a sense of peace despite pain?

In this stunningly honest, compelling, and ultimately hopeful book, Josh James Riebock explores issues of trust, obedience, intimacy, dreams, grief, purpose, and the unexpected stops along the journey that form us into the people we are. In a creative way, he shows readers that pain and beauty are so inextricably linked that to lose the former costs us the latter.

Those grappling with life's inconsistencies and trials will especially find a welcome resonance between their lives and Heroes and Monsters. Riebock both validates their experiences and challenges them to live beyond them in this ever-changing life.

From the Back Cover

Heroes and Monsters is an unforgettable memoir of passion and redemption, a ragged look into a world at once wildly twisted and profoundly beautiful, an exposé of both the hero and the monster within all of us.

In this stunningly honest, thoroughly unconventional, and ultimately hopeful book, Josh James Riebock explores issues that form us into the people we are--issues of family, love, intimacy, dreams, grief, purpose, and the unexpected stops along the journey. With artful prose and vivid storytelling, he shows that pain and beauty are so inextricably linked that to lose the former costs us the latter.

If you're grappling with life's inconsistencies and trials,
If you're searching for an encounter with something real,
If you're craving a story that's just a wee bit odd . . .

Heroes and Monsters is a fresh and exhilarating perspective on the uneven nature of life, and the equally uneven people who inhabit it.


"A wonderful story on life's struggles with grief, sacrifice, and redemption."--Fred Burton, author of Chasing Shadows

"Josh's storyline is the great storyline of history: God in pursuit of his beloved. Josh narrates God's grace in the white spaces of his life."--Dave Goetz, author of Death by Suburb

"Heroes and Monsters is a beautiful book--and an ugly one. Beautiful because it's so honest, and ugly for precisely the same reason. Josh tells his life story with lively prose that explores the paradox of human splendor and wretchedness while dangling hints of redemption. As you read, don't be surprised to find your story in his story, and the divine companion who interrupts his life--the same one who has broken into yours. For Josh, the road traveled with God is twisting, bumpy, potholed . . . and well worth the ride."--Drew Dyck, managing editor of Leadership Journal; author of Generation Ex-Christian


Josh James Riebock is a sought-after speaker at conferences, colleges, and churches across the country. The author of mY Generation, he lives with his wife, Kristen, in Texas.