This is one of those books where the title alone already decides whether you want to read the book or not. I definitely was lured into taking a closer look, and reading the author's name and the short description sealed the deal for me.
The first hundred pages or so strongly reminded me of 'Blood Cruise', but that changed soon. While I did not care for some lengthy discussions that did not really push the story forward I eagerly rushed through the pages that were filled with action and the highly expected and expertly delivered bloodbath. Some minor characters felt stereotypical and their exaggerated way of speaking made me cringe, but the elaborate plot definitely made up for that. Ancient vampire lore and the modern world went very well together, and each of the main characters had his or her own fascinating detailed history, giving the story depth and making it more than just your average gore feast.
If you don't shy away from with trigger warnings - and this book almost has them all - you are in for a very entertaining time.

I have been a huge Duncan Ralston fan until I picked this up. I think it is mainly just my mood wasn't jibing with the book. I think I will try to pick this up another time just not anytime soon.

After seeing this title, I definitely wanted to read how the pedos would be punished for their disgusting crimes. I haven’t read a vampire book in a while, and this book didn’t disappoint me at all. It was satirical, gory, and fun. It wasn’t fast-paced initially, but I enjoyed getting to know the characters. Clarissa is my favorite. She risks everything to find her younger sister, who had gone missing when they were children. I was just as surprised as Clarissa when she revealed secrets aboard the Ceres, a yacht that sails the worst types of people to Little Pearl Island. The plot moves at a neck-breaking pace as soon as we discover the truth, and I enjoyed the homage to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I highly recommend this book!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Duncan Ralston, and Shadow Work Publishing for the eARC of Pedo Island Bloodbath in exchange for an honest review.

At a first glance at the cover and the title you’d think this would be an extreme horror where pedophiles die in a terrible vampire bloodbath, especially with Ralston as the author. Thats what I thought at least.

However he decided he wanted to dip into old horror roots and write something out of his comfort zone. Vampires, Vampire Hunters, and young girls and pedophiles thrown into that mix, makes for a slow burn horror story. Very, very slow burn. I’d like to add that it’s not bad it is simply not what I was expecting.

The story follows several characters starting with Clarissa a 17 year old girl on a quest to find her missing twin sister who after ten years after being kidnapped spoke in her head and led her to board the boat to Little Pearl Island. There she meets a young man named Gabe. Gabe is a worker on the ship and has never gotten off onto the island, he’s in for a rude awakening when our third protagonist Coltrane shows up with information on the kids, the island, and the man who runs it all.

Trigger warnings for: pedophilia, sex trafficking, kidnapping, grooming, sexual assault, child abuse, sex slaves, parent death, child death, body horror, drugging

Lastly; Epstein didn’t kill himself.

I was obsessed with Duncan’s Puzzle House! I had to try this one out and boy was it a wild and fun ride! The combination of current events/issues and vampires makes for an exciting and intriguing read!

This was a wild time. Violence gore and amazing twists. Loved this one. The characters were strong and well written. The story was unique. Definitely worth the read for horror

Okay, let's get this out of the way. Epstein didn't kill himself, and I will always read a Duncan Ralston book. I was expecting gore and violence, because I am already a fan, but I was pleasantly surprised that there are vampires. Vampires are great as long as there is something original, and adding them to an Epstein island story was a lot of horrible gory fun.
If you don't want to read something with these elements, stay from this book. But if you enjoy horror and revenge, do yourself a favor and read this.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced copy

Well...that was NOT quite what I expected.

I'm not quite sure how to describe the story without spoiling it, but here goes:

Emory Jackman and his wife, Tess, are famous (infamous?) for the lavish parties on their yacht, en route to an even more lavish party on Little Pearl Island. While the crew is mostly unaware of the happenings on the ship, there are rumors that some unsavory things are going on behind the scenes. Like the large crates in the ship's hold, filled with dirt... Gabe, a porter, stumbles across Clarissa, a beautiful young stowaway. She has been lured to the ship by her sister, who disappeared 10 years earlier. But why is she sleeping in the hold in one of the crates filled with dirt? While security is chasing Clarissa, she encounters Abraham, an elderly gentleman who claims she is his niece and takes her in. Abraham seems to know a lot of what is going on, and has some interesting items in his custom luggage marked prominently with his initials, VH. And then there's Sven, the investigative reporter who is supposedly writing a puff piece on Jackman, who is about to get a bigger story than he could've ever hoped for...

Admittedly, I am not a huge vampire fan. All that stupid sparkly vampire crap from the mid-2000s really knocked whatever interest I had in them out. But this was a very different take on the vampire mythos, and I can't say enough good things about it. It is actually genius - instead of kidnapping girls and selling them to predators for a few years, now they can stay young forever instead of aging out. (I know, nasty to think about, but it is a smart plan.) And don't worry - I, too, am thoroughly grossed out at the thought of this, but just keep reading and it will be worth it. After all it is called Pedo Island Bloodbath. And trust me, that ending is incredibly satisfying.

Without a doubt, one of the best vampire novels I have read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

When reading the name, you know that Pedo Island Bloodbath will be unique.

However, it offers so much entertainment and so many surprises that I could not stop reading.

Not for the faint of heart.

I went into this book not fully knowing the plot. So I won't say much in case they're meant to be twists. But it 100% is Epstein Island meets the supernatural.

Some things, in my opinion, could have been omitted. I definitely cringed (my problem) at some of the sex scenes because it did have to do with pedophilia and I didn't really want to be reading the descriptions, but again, my problem since I was reading a book on pedophilia. But I absolutely loved the twists and turns. I was able to figure one out, but that didn't change how i felt. I enjoy trying to figure out the twists, so that's not ever a deal breaker for me.

This book made me sad, mad, hopeful, grossed out, and everything in between. The ending was perfect. Loved it.

First off, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Second off, there's a list of trigger warnings in the book. If you have strong triggers I recommend you check the list.

I loved this book and had a blast reading it, but the title combined with a lack of professional reviews make it a difficult purchase for public libraries. While the author doesn't necessarily make it political, and it's clearly a fictional book for adults, the title alone could dissuade readers and invite complaints from the general public. I wish that wasn't true, because I would love to have it in my collection... and honestly? I love the title. It's a pretty good litmus test for whether the book is for you.

When you read/heard the title, did you involuntarily laugh out loud before you could stifle yourself? Then you'll probably enjoy this! Otherwise... probably not.

This is not QUITE as extreme as Woom was, or other books in the extreme horror / splatter genre like Slob or Dead Inside. It reads like an author who usually writes that, but is attempting something more mainstream. I don't mean that as a bad thing! The genre needs on-ramps for traditional horror readers, and this is a great one.

This book reminds me of subversive/extreme satire comics, but again on the milder end. Tonally similar to something like Brat Pack by Veitch or Kick-Ass by Millar, but for vampire lore instead of superhero. I look forward to more, and I hope it does find its way into library collections somewhere, but I don't think it would suit the community I serve. Ah well. I'll buy it for me.

Well, that was a treat.

I’ve read a lot of vampire stories and seen a lot of vampire flicks, but not one quite like this.

There’s some editing that needs to be done,..clearing up some misspelled names and double sentences and the odd minor narrative inconsistency but I assume that will be done prior to actual publication.

The story itself is a unique one. Pedophilia is disgusting and wrong and I don’t want people thinking I’m some sort of perv for enjoying the story, but it really was good. The revealing of Gabe’s backstory was fun. It’s gory but not over the top. Even if it was, it wouldn’t bother me.

Along the way I found myself rooting for the vamp girls. Who wouldn’t? The connection between Clarissa and Gabe was fun to see blossom. And can I just say how cute Digby and Cheery are?

This was the first book by this author I read and I don’t think it’ll be my last. Check it out.

Before reading this, be sure to check the trigger warnings! Splatterpunk as a whole isn't family friendly genre so there tends to be a good bit of graphic and generally appalling scenes. With that being said, this is only my third or fourth book to come out of this genre so I'm still fairly new to this world of horror novels. One of the other books being another by Duncan Ralston.

I took me a minute to get through this book because it started off a good bit slower than other splatterpunk novels I've read so I was a bit bored initially. But as it picked up near the about 30-40 percent mark, I really started to enjoy it. This definitely is not a book intended for everyone because as the title suggests it can be a bit of a "bloodbath". This for sure is not a book to dive into blind.

Okay, let me start with if you have any triggers at all please check the trigger warnings!!!!

Very interesting book. It starts off a tad slow but picks up eventually. There is so much happening in this story. I loved it. Can’t wait to see what Duncan comes up with next!!

I couldn't put this book down, it was my last read of 2023 and my first read of 2024 and a heck of a way to start off a new year of reading.
I was a little put off when certain characters were introduced, feeling it was going to fall into just retelling stories...but I was wrong. Yes, you will meet characters that are already known but it's in a fresh new light.
Vampire stories seem so overplayed (same as zombies or werewolves) but this book stands out and creates its own path through vampire myths and legends.

Thank you, Duncan Ralston NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

I am truly starting to get into this authors books. The more I read from him, the more I love! This book didn't disappoint, far from the vampires you know, they are vicious! They don't want love. They don't sparkle or want to share their feelings. Like a great line from Fright Night: He's like the freaking shark from JAWS! This is full of blood, gore, language, pesos, and so much more. What's even better is Karma is a bitch and everyone is getting what they deserve and more.

Of course there are a few characters you'll absolutely love and hope like hell nothing will happen, or in a better sense nothing worse will happen. You want them to succeed and get to the end unscathed as much as possible. But let's get real with monsters on both sides of the board there will be damage to someone even the characters you don't want hurt.

The lore in this is very interesting and I wish we could learn more about these monsters. From the journal Gabeal and Clarissa read we don't get to hear very much about them or the history which is sad but what little bits we do learn is interesting.

I'll continue to read more books from this author and I'm certain I'll enjoy more the deeper I go.

This is a gorefest all about a bunch of disgusting predators getting the fate they deserve. Going on a cruise on the Little Pearl to expose the wealthy's degeneracy, Sven the investigative journalist finds out even more insidious and strange incidents that keep the crimes going, and this is a clear reference to what Jeffrey Epstein did. The novel also focuses on Clarissa and a few other characters throughout the book, who's on the lookout for her sister Ava.

In terms of vileness, this book definitely achieved that — while I think the book is not as gratuitous as expected (as a horror fan), be sure to check all the trigger warnings because there were still a lot of graphic scenes. And there is quite a bit of bloodshed as expected. My main gripe is the amount of action that happens consecutively to the point where I got bored halfway through, and the plot simply didn't sustain my interest enough and ended up being a little banal.

Ironically the first few parts with the investigative aspects where things were a little more slow paced captured my attention more, and even though I usually respect horror references in horror books, the ones in this book didn't flow as smoothly to me. As far as splatterpunk books go, this didn't quite do it for me.

Ultra-rich Emory Jackman is known for hosting parties where the famous and wealthy can indulge in debauchery. He is hosting a cruise to Pearl Island but things fall apart during the journey.
I went into Pedo Island Bloodbath blind and feel that's the best way to do it- buckle up for a wild ride.
The concept of this book was genius and takes sex trafficking, which is already one of the most evil acts that humans commit to a horrific new level. There were some stomach-turning pedophilia sex scenes that I could have done without, but in the afterword the author mentions they were originally worse so I guess that's something? The beginning started off a little slowly, but the plot picks up around a third in. Most of the gore is at the end and is not as gross as some of Ralston's other offerings, but this book has MAJOR trigger warnings and is plenty disturbing.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Pedo Island is harbouring its own secret. There is blood and gore. Clarissa is trying to find her sister who has been taken by a creature. The book is mysterious and suspenseful. The closer she gets to her sister, the more she gets tangled in the mystery of the island. There are vampires and so many things happens in the plot. There was a mystery about Duke. And it’s such a dilemma for Clarissa who should she trust? As people have facades and they are not what they appears to be. Will she be able to find her sister? The mystery is so deep and frightening.

Many Thanks to Author, Publisher and Netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. I’ve read other work by Duncan Ralston and I’m rarely ever disappointed. This was another great story from Ralston about touchy topics with a twist. I really enjoyed the theme, and there might have been some filler in there I could have done without but the premise of the story held true. The time spent on the boat held my attention but I was also hoping to get to the main attraction sooner. I look forward to read other books by Ralston in the future!