Now a young man of 19, Ry did not escape unscathed from the nightmare of ten years ago. When he isn’t “on stage” his presence is felt. The ensuing action takes place in about 24 hours – and the portrayal of Martin Burke is so convincing that the purest evil of this monstrous psychopath comes alive in every sentence. In a freak meteorite shower – and I realize this sounds really lame, but believe me it fits perfectly within the story – Martin escapes from prison and returns home and terrorizes his family.

Ry is 19, still living at home with his mother and younger sister.

Most of the action in the book takes place ten years after the incident leading to Martin’s arrest (which is dramatically and effectively told in flashback). Ry is brutally beaten by his father as result, but still manages to disable his father long enough (in an incredibly unnerving passage) so that his father is arrested and imprisoned for ten years. When he goes one step too far with an act perpetrated against his wife that is so repugnant and horrific, his then nine year old son Ry risks his own life to rescue his mother. Martin Burke is a brutally abusive man, capable of inflicting torture-like abuse of his wife and children. I hope his relationship with his own father is or was better than the characters in his books. Scowler has a similar father-son dynamic, and it is clear that pathological relationships between fathers and their teenage sons is a central theme for Mr. Kraus had another novel out, I jumped at the chance to read it. The story was imaginative and unforgettable. I think this is the only book that actively engaged by sense of smell – a putrid, decaying scent was ever present. Rotters involves a present-day, father-son grave-robbing team, and scenes were gruesome but compelling. They are definitely the creepiest and most haunting stories I have ever encountered.

I suppose they can be classified as thrillers or even coming-of-age stories, but these labels wouldn’t do the books justice either. Both works can be easily classified as horror – but there is nothing supernatural or other-worldly in the plots. This is the second novel I have read by Daniel Kraus – the first being Rotters published in 2011. The novel is promoted as YA fiction, although this title deserves a place in an adult reader’s shelf as well.

Scowler book