The Stray Reader

Author:	Matt Shaw
Genre(s):	➡️ Extreme Horror ➡️ Splatterpunk ➡️ Dystopia
Series? Series Order:	✅ Yes Book 1 of 3
Goodreads Rating:	⭐ 3.57 (2.9k ratings; 454 reviews)
Personal Rating:	⭐ 4.5 / 5 Overall

BLURB

WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREME HORROR NOVEL. There is gore. There is bad language. There are scenes of a sexual nature. But hidden underneath it all is also a chilling story. Please do not purchase this book if you are easily shocked, disgusted or offended. This book is not for you.

A family will do anything to survive after a nuclear attack has left their world in ruins. Actions which even surprise them…

Source: Goodreads

🌟Review (4.5/5) 🌟

I think I’m gonna throw up now. Or read the sequel to throw up even more? What is sanity?

It’s always an excellent feeling when you go into a book and it gives you a reaction not even 10 pages in. It’s even better when that reaction gets more and more intense as the story goes on.

A family of four barricades themselves in a house after waking up in a world that seems to have been taken over by nuclear warfare. Zombie-like creatures roam the woods. The question is: what does humanity resort to in an isolated place like this?

Cannibalism and incest.

Yep, this is not an easy book to stomach. Being inside one of the family member’s heads as he and his family lose a little bit of their humanity as the story progresses is a difficult journey to read. The scarier thing is that the decision-making process that led to every one of those scenarios aren’t even farfetched from what actual humans would do here in the real world. Perhaps seeing all that play out and knowing that this could be a totally real story today and sometime in the future adds to the horror. The psychological warfare going on inside the brother’s head as he tries to clutch at every bit of humanity left in him was hard to witness.

Recommendation

The book promised to shock, disgust, and offend… and it DELIVERED! If you’re looking for the kind of horror that would make you squirm from excessive violence, sexual acts, and psychological warfare, then I highly recommend this one! Be warned: this isn’t for the easily triggered.

Grab a copy of ‘Sick Bastards’ by Matt Shaw from Amazon! It’s free to read from Kindle Unlimited.