I would firstly like to thank RDS Publishing , David Bernstein and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of ' Episodes of Violence. Due for publication at the end of March . This is definitely not a book to be overlooked .
I have been an avid reader of splatterpunk for many years , but this is the first novel by David Bernstein I have read .

In all honesty the book is an uncomfortable read in the sense that it is very realistic at times ( The best ones always are ) The murder scenes are brutal and sadistic as the book follows a small group of undesirables and loners with a kinship for violence and terror whatever the cost .
I loved the way the book seemed to tell two completely different stories that merged together to intertwine for the conclusion .

It is certainly not a read for the Squeamish and faint of heart and belongs in the niche genre of extreme and graphic horror . The ending is action packed as the book embarks in a cat and mouse game of the hunter being hunted concluding in the anticipation that a sequel maybe still to come . A brilliant fast paced read and highly recommended #EpisodesofViolence #NetGalley

I have started getting into Splatterpunk books so the plot of this drew me in instantly. The gore and growing violence adding to the need to survive was exhilarating.

I received a free ARC, and this review is voluntary

There's some build-up before we meet the protagonist of the story (referenced in the synopsis), which occurs about a third of the way through. From that point forward within the plot, we see the rest of the synopsis unfold. After having read the description, I initially felt that there was some type of supernatural element present causing this "brutal violence," but that was inaccurate. Just folks in the story going to the extreme. Each character is very much driven by personality, with the story being sketched in around that point. In psychological terms, it's as if Freud's id was given 100% control, and let loose with a kitchen knife.

Certain aspects of the story felt drawn out, or weren't necessary because it did not add much value to the plot itself, which again, was more or less dictated by whichever character's personality was in-charge at that scene, or chain of events. Not the most original idea, especially in the horror genre, and the direction could have been a bit better if it dedicated more time to the atmosphere of the scene, rather than relying on the character to move things forward. Overall, it wasn't bad.

In this extreme horror novel, a trio of psychopathic killers target victims at random and kill with no conscience or mercy. Another woman is raped at her sorority and leaves college when nobody will believe or help her. She falls into an angry depression and barely keeps it together.

When her young brother falls prey to the killers, she snaps and exacts a bloody brutal revenge against the trio.

That's what this book is about. I realize there are a lot of people who like their horror as dark and twisted as can be and I'm not faulting them for it. But, in my case, this is a book with lots of violence and gore and disgusting things just for the sake of it. The characters and what little actual plot there is could have come from "casting 101".

It's a book that gets repetitive after a while because every kind of perversion is thrown in that it loses whatever shock value was there to begin with.

Kill people, have sex while covered in gore, get high. Repeat. And that's basically the entire book.

Now, there are some very creative kills in here and the story arc with Amber was much better realized and created than the trio of psychopathic killers. At least Amber's sections were believable for the most part. And I liked how when she snapped, she gave in to her dark side for the sake of revenge.

Overall, for me personally, this was a standard extreme horror story that could have used some character development and narrative instead of just killing and gore.