i had such a hard time focusing when i was reading this book and im upset about it bc i think it could have been really great!! maybe ill reread this another time to give it a fair shot

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I found that this book awkwardly straddles two genres. There’s definitely hints of the splatterpunk book that this was clearly modelled to be, interspersed with a more mainline thriller approach that was a little awkward to see running alongside.

I do wish that it took things further or pulled things back- the awkward middle ground resulted in the gore being not quite gory enough, and the thriller being not quite thrilling enough. Schroeder is explained, but he was explained at the end, and the whole novel builds up to him speaking to all his traumas. That’s great and does help to provide context, but it’s a bit little a bit late.

The book does have some messy kills and some interesting turns, but it just wasn’t quite there for me. I’d love to see this firmly seated this into one genre or another, and to see the reasoning behind the main character be a little less trauma show and a bit more believable.

This was an odd little book. The description captivated me as I'm always up for a unique and twisted novel, and mostly, this delivered.

Schroeder - really an unnamed narrator but it's the dang name of the novel so I stand by that I'm not giving anything away! - starts his day like any other with his exercises and breakfast. We learn quickly that he's a quirky fellow who likes his structure and routines. His quirkiness and inner monologue makes him nearly likable. But then he embarks on a journey of sheer terror.

Schroeder has a well-crafted plan to murder several people and he takes the reader on that journey. Each death is graphic, over the top, completely personal, and wholly unique. In between the gruesome murders, Schroeder casually rides his bike, eats his lunch, and people watches. It's truly odd and the mundane-ness of much of the novel is unsettling.

Throughout Schroeder's killing spree, we learn nothing of his victims. It's clear to the reader they are quite intentional and they all know Schroeder, but he gives us no indication of why he selected who he did. He also never goes out of his way to kill anyone who wasn't part of his original plan. For a while, I wondered if we'd be left hanging, but the novel does end with Schroeder's personal diary through boyhood detailing the traumatic events of his past. It's left to the reader to put the pieces together as to which victim was which.

The novel really ended with a bang and I appreciated the diary entries. You're left feeling hurt and sad for this tortured boy, despite reading about the torture and mutilation he just afflicted on several people as they painfully departed this earth at his hands.

This book won't be for everyone and if you have trigger warnings (any) that make you shy away from books, just don't even try! But, if you like books that are graphic, very unique, and entirely unsettling, this will be perfect for you.

Thank you to M&S Publishing and NetGalley for the copy of this book.

First of all, a trigger warning: 'Schroeder' contains extremely graphic descriptions of a string of murders. If you can handle that, Neal Cassidy's book is a quite riveting read, following a trail of slaughter and the thoughts, lifestyle and circumstances of the killer.

The author adds social, political and religious context to the character's mindset, and there's an awful lot that makes sense when you consider the world today.

You may well be scratching your head, wondering how an individual who can appreciate kindness and compassion whenever he sees it can sink to such an apparent disregard for human life. The answer makes for a harrowing read in itself.

'Schroeder' is beautifully written, full of acute observations on the life of this loner and the way he views this essentially planet in turmoil ,and makes the killer's short bicycle journeys fascinating as past, present and future are presented in often poetic detail.
Certainly not a book for the fainthearted, but I found it a compelling read and a 5 star experience.

Which readers will love it? Those who love detailed descriptions and at the same time they like to read about terrible tragedy. There are indeed many details - harmless and gory. And there's some insight in the mind of an outsider with OCD who meticulously planned his revenge.

I am so glad I was able to give this one a read! I have recently read all of Cassidy's books and this one is by far my favorite. A more in-depth review coming ASAP!

Neal Cassidy's Schroeder follows one man's methodical journey through his city by bicycle, tracking his movements from dawn to dusk. Through stream-of-consciousness narration, we experience both Schroeder's carefully planned acts of violence and his running commentary on the world around him - from quiet suburban streets to bustling downtown corridors. As he moves from location to location, his thoughts drift between present observations and past memories, building toward diary entries that illuminate his history. Cassidy employs an intimate first-person perspective that keeps us close to Schroeder's thoughts as he catalogs both the beauty and decay he sees in his surroundings, pondering everything from urban development to human nature. Through this narrative style, we witness both the calculated precision of his actions and the chaotic swirl of his inner monologue.

This book has a great combination of pacing, storytelling, and characters. It was thrilling, horrifying, fun, and so much more to read. I greatly enjoyed it.

Completely out of my comfort zone, but I'm glad I tried it. Excellent pacing and peeling back the layers that create a spree killer while living uncomfortably in his head as he drags us along to exact revenge. Fans of Catcher in the Rye will find a new anti-hero in Shroeder and will appreciate the stark, stream-of-consciousness style of the narrative.

DNF at 26%.

I don't think this type of narration is for me. I wouldn't call this a psychological thriller but I see it being called "stream-of-consciousness narration" and social commentary. So far it's been jumbled mess of thoughts with no context. And I find it unbelievable that someone would go around leisurely killing people and no one cares or takes notice?

Whatever the book, I would've liked to know the background more. We do get a glimpse of who he is behind his thoughts but they've just been glimpses and more of a narration of his day.

But thanks to Netgalley and M & S Publishing for the e-copy!

This book was utterly bizarre. I kept reading for quite a while, trying to see if there was a point to the entire thing, by eventually reach the point that I couldn’t tolerate it anymore. It wasn’t for lack of trying. It just made roughly no sense and I couldn’t stand the egregious run-on sentences.

This book is absolutely incredible at leading you down a road you don’t want to go down, and yet you just can’t help but keep going. I’ve never encountered a serial killer/horror novel before that so perfectly balances the horrifying and monstrous parts with some deeply human and often quite poignant parts of our main character’s psyche.

Schroeder isn’t humanised for entertainment value, to give you a villain you can root for, he’s humanised because every mass murderer, villain and sadist has been exactly that. Human. And that to me was the scariest part of all. The way that every disturbing figure in true crime documentaries also have mundane parts of their day, have experienced grief, had families and still went on to commit horrendous acts of violence against other people. It’s terrifying.

I went in with no expectations for this one and came out very pleasantly surprised. Would definitely recommend this read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Neal Cassidy for this ARC!

Schroeder Review: Gore for a Reason

Neal Cassidy’s Schroeder presents a man’s one-day killing spree. Although at first the book doesn’t quite explain what is happening, it never slows down or goes easy on the violence. The novel begins with Schroeder starting his daily routine, but it is quickly established this is no ordinary day. Schroeder leaves his house, cruises through his neighborhood in his bike, arrives at his former job, and brutally murders two black men. He calmly jots it down in a notebook, and it’s all downhill from there.
The book is written as a stream of consciousness that is deliberately confusing from the beginning. There are some glimpses that indicate Schroeder might not be in his right mind, but his calm and calculated demeanor all but screams he is nothing but a psychopath who knows exactly what he is doing. He jumps from thought to thought, muses over how terrible humanity is, how much suffering there is for no reason, and takes the reader down into a deep rabbit hole.
The narrative at times is very clear, showing Schroeder’s regular state of mind and switches to a more unhinged and detached tone once he is out of it again. As the book progressed, I was starting to wonder that maybe the people Schroeder was killing actually deserved it. The narration invites you to put the pieces together and figure out who these people are and maybe start rooting for Schroeder and hope he doesn’t get caught.
The driving force behind the novel is revenge. However, the book got me thinking about violence. Yes, it is a gore and horror book and I went in knowing that, but I still ponder a question: Can violence ever be justified? The book does present evidence behind Schroeder’s killings by the end, but it never moralizes his acts—just presents them as they are, as they happened.
Inserted in a society where mass shootings happen almost daily and serial killers are mystified—and almost venerated—how poignant is this novel really? Is that the point? Or is the point simply to write out a revenge fantasy? Which underdogs are allowed to tell their revenge stories? Should we, as readers, be wary of certain narratives?

Schroeder gives a very disquieting and unique insight into the mind of a killer, where a stream-of-consciousness narrative catapults the reader into disjointed thoughts and disturbing actions of the protagonist. Spanning just one day, the novel catches Schroeder riding his bike through different cityscapes-from mansions to projects-all representative of the bleak perspective he holds on the world-on a spree of killings he has planned. There is the book structure of violent acts interwoven with moments of ordinary, passing pleasure—as if to create a polarity, and in this man who was pushed to such extreme measures, one can see a broken mind.

Schroeder is the character, undoubtedly a killer, but oddly enough, strangely relatable. The observations he makes on society, politics, and human nature are sound, almost too reasonable, which makes his death tragic, even inevitable. There is great depth of contradiction in his character-intelligent and contemplative, yet horrifically violent. Violence not gratuitous but over-the-top with a splatterpunk vibe accentuating the brutality of his revenge, though little doubt that none of his victims will be shown to be innocent. The book keeps one thinking, "Do they deserve this?

The writing style of the novel may not suit everyone's taste, especially considering it's in the first person and has a stream-of-consciousness structure that can be disorienting at times. This manner of narration, however, is crucial in understanding Schroeder's fractured psyche and provides the readers with a raw look at the man driven to madness by his experiences.

Although the voice of the child in the last chapter is a bit too exerted at times, and the violence perhaps a bit too heavy, the disturbing tone of the whole story combined with social commentary makes it unforgettable. Ultimately, Schroeder is a very thoughtful and chilling read; a peering into the mind of a man whose broken spirit carries him along an irreversible path. This is not an easy book to read, but its compelling, sad-and-slightly self-reflective about the nature of violence and the human capacity for cruelty kind of reader is the sort of person who finds themselves mopping up tears after finishing it. This is neither a good/evil nor a simple bad book but instead a story of what happens when a person is trampled under the injustices of society and their own inner turmoil.

Requested this because I thought it was a different author, and stuck with it because I really wanted to. Solid enough murder rampage in between highly eloquent borderline overwrought stream of consciousness writing, and a diary that reframes the whole thing at the end. Solid enough read, not for me personally.

3.5 ⭐️ This book left me speechless.

While at first it might be a difficult read, once I got used to the writing style, the book became quite captivating.

Certain parts were hard to follow as I got lost in the stream of consciousness of the main character, but other parts of the book were real hidden gems.

The author majestically guides your through the mind of the main character, Schroeder, and while at first you might not like him (or understand him, or both), eventually you will.
That’s why I genuinely loved the last two chapters, in which everything was revealed and I could finally emphasise with the main character.

I think this book is work of art, which might not be for anyone, but when understood, it can be appreciate it.

Genuinely heart wrenching. This book is like the car wreck you don't want to look at but cannot help but to steal a glance. I wanted to stop reading so many times but couldn't. It had my stomach in knots and my heart beating rapidly.

2.5 stars As a psychologist, I was interested in this take on the stream of consciousness perspective of an individual on a killing spree. It was an uncomfortable ride. It was immediately clear that Schroeder was a damaged person, done very wrong. What didn’t line up for me were the inconsistencies in deep-rooted character: Schroeder is so childlike (almost seemingly “slow” , yet he can mastermind his varied methods of murder; the switches from pure enjoyment of nature and people (down to saving a ladybug) to no reaction to wreaking bloody violence against someone. I get what the author was going for…this was a “nice guy”, pushed too far and he snapped, but it all just felt too unbelievable for me.

SCHROEDER by Neal Cassidy is a psychological horror novel that published on October 15th. It was 💯 the creepy minimalist cover that caught my attention.

The story follows a man as he bicycles about town one day, committing brutal and heinous acts. It’s all told through his deranged stream of consciousness, explaining to the reader why his victims are on his list.

I enjoyed this one; it’s a deep dive into ‘hurt people, hurt people’.

Written in a dense stream of consciousness were given the perspective inside the mind of Schroeder as he sets out on a city wide killing spree on his bicycle.

Very stylistic, the writing ebbs and flows through mundane musings before escalating rapidly into delectable ultraviolence. The twisted worldview of Schroeder reminded me of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver or Rorschach in Watchmen even a little bit of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. We're dealing with a deeply disillusioned man observing the world around him as he goes from stop to stop committing violent gory murder

Once this story got into its groove, it began to flow rapidly. The juxtaposition of ordinary thoughts interlaced with graphic descriptive murder made for an interesting yet unsettling story