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The Unhinged
Under the control of a madman...with no way out.
Aaron Dupree has turned his life around. After serving six years in prison for his part in an armed robbery, he’s released on parole. He’s gotten a job and met a girl. Things are looking up...until he’s pulled over for speeding—a parole violation—and blackmailed by the officer. He’s forced to do terrible things to avoid going back to prison.
Aaron soon learns how truly deranged and sick the officer is as he’s dragged under a tide of ever-escalating horror. He thinks he’s seen the worst the cop has to offer until he meets the man with the scar, a vicious and twisted monster who lives only to deal pain.
Aaron Dupree has turned his life around. After serving six years in prison for his part in an armed robbery, he’s released on parole. He’s gotten a job and met a girl. Things are looking up...until he’s pulled over for speeding—a parole violation—and blackmailed by the officer. He’s forced to do terrible things to avoid going back to prison.
Aaron soon learns how truly deranged and sick the officer is as he’s dragged under a tide of ever-escalating horror. He thinks he’s seen the worst the cop has to offer until he meets the man with the scar, a vicious and twisted monster who lives only to deal pain.
- GenresHorror
185 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2014
2 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 2, 2014
This was an intense read! Here is the set up:
Under the control of a madman...with no way out.
Aaron Dupree has turned his life around. After serving six years in prison for his part in an armed robbery, he’s released on parole. He’s gotten a job and met a girl. Things are looking up...until he’s pulled over for speeding—a parole violation—and blackmailed by the officer. He’s forced to do terrible things to avoid going back to prison.
Aaron soon learns how truly deranged and sick the officer is as he’s dragged under a tide of ever-escalating horror. He thinks he’s seen the worst the cop has to offer until he meets the man with the scar, a vicious and twisted monster who lives only to deal pain.
I enjoyed the first half of this book the best, even though it wasn't the most original premise. I knew what I was getting into from the description.
However, the second half of this story was a bit too much for my personal tastes. As a horror fan, there isn't much that surprises me. The depravity of certain torturers/killers, in real life and in fiction, is something I have gotten used to over the years. In stories like "The Girl Next Door" by Jack Ketchum and "The Summer I Died" by Ryan C. Thomas, the worst of humanity is on display. The same is true for this book-plus some.
I was able to deal with this depravity more easily in the two books that I mentioned because one was a true story, and the other had a bond between the characters that made the story rise above. This story lacked that in my opinion. It morphed into something that I was no longer interested in reading. It was mostly well written, the editing was fantastic and the imagination and creativity were off the charts, but this just wasn't for me in the end. I did finish it and I have rated it three stars for the above reasons.
If this story sounds interesting to you, please-go for it! It will deliver all of things you enjoy-and deliver it in spades. My rating only represents my opinion, and you know what they say about those. (Like assholes, everyone has one!) I will continue to read the work of Mr. Bernstein, because I believe he is one of the up and coming horror authors of today.
Recommended for fans of torture and revenge stories!
I was provided a free copy of this book by Mr. Bernstein in exchange for my honest review. This is it.
Under the control of a madman...with no way out.
Aaron Dupree has turned his life around. After serving six years in prison for his part in an armed robbery, he’s released on parole. He’s gotten a job and met a girl. Things are looking up...until he’s pulled over for speeding—a parole violation—and blackmailed by the officer. He’s forced to do terrible things to avoid going back to prison.
Aaron soon learns how truly deranged and sick the officer is as he’s dragged under a tide of ever-escalating horror. He thinks he’s seen the worst the cop has to offer until he meets the man with the scar, a vicious and twisted monster who lives only to deal pain.
I enjoyed the first half of this book the best, even though it wasn't the most original premise. I knew what I was getting into from the description.
However, the second half of this story was a bit too much for my personal tastes. As a horror fan, there isn't much that surprises me. The depravity of certain torturers/killers, in real life and in fiction, is something I have gotten used to over the years. In stories like "The Girl Next Door" by Jack Ketchum and "The Summer I Died" by Ryan C. Thomas, the worst of humanity is on display. The same is true for this book-plus some.
I was able to deal with this depravity more easily in the two books that I mentioned because one was a true story, and the other had a bond between the characters that made the story rise above. This story lacked that in my opinion. It morphed into something that I was no longer interested in reading. It was mostly well written, the editing was fantastic and the imagination and creativity were off the charts, but this just wasn't for me in the end. I did finish it and I have rated it three stars for the above reasons.
If this story sounds interesting to you, please-go for it! It will deliver all of things you enjoy-and deliver it in spades. My rating only represents my opinion, and you know what they say about those. (Like assholes, everyone has one!) I will continue to read the work of Mr. Bernstein, because I believe he is one of the up and coming horror authors of today.
Recommended for fans of torture and revenge stories!
I was provided a free copy of this book by Mr. Bernstein in exchange for my honest review. This is it.
Want to read
February 11, 2017This hardcover copy is 14 of 52 copies signed by David Bernstein.
November 5, 2014
Review copy
And the award for the darkest book of 2014 goes to The Unhinged by David Bernstein. Wow. I know there are still two months left in the year, but I can't imagine reading anything darker than this one.
Kelley's out with her girlfriends and meets a guy who seems kinda nice, but when she learns he's a cop, she quickly loses interest. The cop, Kyle takes offense. You can tell by the way he's acting that he might have anger issues, at the very least.
Aaron Dupree has paid his debt to society. Six-years served on a fifteen-year sentence for armed robbery, on parole, and doing his best to get his life together. Aaron has a run-in with the same cop and that's when things start to go bad, very bad.
David Bernstein has crafted something special here. What happens to his characters is truly horrible. The Unhinged is not for anyone who is easily offended, but at times I got a Richard Layman feel with his story-telling. It reminded me a bit of the tension present in Layman's Blood Games. By the time it was over it was like the author was channeling Jack Ketchum when he was writing Off Season. If anything, David has gone even further than Jack.
There is nothing supernatural in this book. It's just got some very bad people in it. What I'm saying is The Unhinged is dark...no darker than that...even darker.
Just released this week from Samhain Horror, The Unhinged is available in paperback and e-book formats.
If you can handle the worst humanity has to offer, then I can highly recommend you get this book.
And the award for the darkest book of 2014 goes to The Unhinged by David Bernstein. Wow. I know there are still two months left in the year, but I can't imagine reading anything darker than this one.
Kelley's out with her girlfriends and meets a guy who seems kinda nice, but when she learns he's a cop, she quickly loses interest. The cop, Kyle takes offense. You can tell by the way he's acting that he might have anger issues, at the very least.
Aaron Dupree has paid his debt to society. Six-years served on a fifteen-year sentence for armed robbery, on parole, and doing his best to get his life together. Aaron has a run-in with the same cop and that's when things start to go bad, very bad.
David Bernstein has crafted something special here. What happens to his characters is truly horrible. The Unhinged is not for anyone who is easily offended, but at times I got a Richard Layman feel with his story-telling. It reminded me a bit of the tension present in Layman's Blood Games. By the time it was over it was like the author was channeling Jack Ketchum when he was writing Off Season. If anything, David has gone even further than Jack.
There is nothing supernatural in this book. It's just got some very bad people in it. What I'm saying is The Unhinged is dark...no darker than that...even darker.
Just released this week from Samhain Horror, The Unhinged is available in paperback and e-book formats.
If you can handle the worst humanity has to offer, then I can highly recommend you get this book.
September 23, 2016
Holy fuck stick. The increasing tension in this one is suffocating. When you think the villains can't get any worse things take a turn into much nastier and disturbing territory. I have only read Goblins by Bernstein before this and that was a fun, bloody, pulp horror novel. This is a not so fun, bloody, psychologically disturbing horror novel.
October 20, 2014
David Bernstein is a prolific writer and a popular man on my book shelf. Since I reviewed his excellent The Tree Man back in January, I've been keen to get a hold of more of his work. I succeeded with Relic of Death, but wasn't quite so impressed with the supernatural threat he outlined in that novella. So I was eager to see how his newest novel, The Unhinged, fared when pitted against those two works.
Well, a few days on from finishing it, I'm still somewhat uncertain how I feel about The Unhinged. Which is odd, because the story is very straight forward: Aaron, a recently released parolee is mercilessly manipulated by a corrupt police officer, who has his own bone to pick with Aaron's mother. Events predictably spin out of control until Aaron and everyone he cares about is in the firing line...
So Bernstein here trades away the realm of the supernatural for a much more reality-based horror. In fact, the first three quarters of this one read more like a standard thriller than a horror novel. But then Bernstein unleashes his inner beast and twists the tale in a direction one hundred and eighty degrees from the opening scenes. It's so significant, it almost feels like two different stories have been edited together.
And it's this part I'm not sure about. On the one hand, the tonal inconsistency is jarring. I mean, From Dusk Til Dawn type jarring. But on the other, it works because it knocked me straight out of the comfort zone I was lazing in as I sped through the tale. I was too busy congratulating myself on spotting the earlier twist as it was set up that I totally misjudged where Bernstein was going to go with this one.
I suspect the final quarter of this short novel is going to prove divisive. Some will hate what unfolds and criticise the shock tactics employed; others will love those very same tactics and praise Bernstein for going there. I'm going to get splinters from sitting on the fence, but for me, The Unhinged - whilst very readable and a definite page turner - spent too long setting up its characters and not long enough on what eventually unfolds (I'm remaining vague here to avoid spoilers). And I wish there had have been more of the final quarter of the story. In fact, as much as it scares me, I'd prefer to read a whole novel of this type over one where it's all held back until the end.
Bernstein remains a talented author and a name to watch in the horror field, but The Unhinged falls into the realm of like rather than love for me.
3 Lessons That Need to be Taught for The Unhinged.
The preceding is based on an advanced copy provided by the author in an exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed for Horror After Dark.
Well, a few days on from finishing it, I'm still somewhat uncertain how I feel about The Unhinged. Which is odd, because the story is very straight forward: Aaron, a recently released parolee is mercilessly manipulated by a corrupt police officer, who has his own bone to pick with Aaron's mother. Events predictably spin out of control until Aaron and everyone he cares about is in the firing line...
So Bernstein here trades away the realm of the supernatural for a much more reality-based horror. In fact, the first three quarters of this one read more like a standard thriller than a horror novel. But then Bernstein unleashes his inner beast and twists the tale in a direction one hundred and eighty degrees from the opening scenes. It's so significant, it almost feels like two different stories have been edited together.
And it's this part I'm not sure about. On the one hand, the tonal inconsistency is jarring. I mean, From Dusk Til Dawn type jarring. But on the other, it works because it knocked me straight out of the comfort zone I was lazing in as I sped through the tale. I was too busy congratulating myself on spotting the earlier twist as it was set up that I totally misjudged where Bernstein was going to go with this one.
I suspect the final quarter of this short novel is going to prove divisive. Some will hate what unfolds and criticise the shock tactics employed; others will love those very same tactics and praise Bernstein for going there. I'm going to get splinters from sitting on the fence, but for me, The Unhinged - whilst very readable and a definite page turner - spent too long setting up its characters and not long enough on what eventually unfolds (I'm remaining vague here to avoid spoilers). And I wish there had have been more of the final quarter of the story. In fact, as much as it scares me, I'd prefer to read a whole novel of this type over one where it's all held back until the end.
Bernstein remains a talented author and a name to watch in the horror field, but The Unhinged falls into the realm of like rather than love for me.
3 Lessons That Need to be Taught for The Unhinged.
The preceding is based on an advanced copy provided by the author in an exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed for Horror After Dark.
January 16, 2016
Wow, this was a sick one. Aaron is a guy looking to start his life over again after making a stupid mistake at 18. He winds up in prison and does hard time. He makes parole and works at cleaning up his act.
But things just don't seem to be going his way. A dirty cop comes into his life and Aaron's world spirals out of control affecting everyone he knows and and loves.
David Bernstein writes all types of horror. This one is definitely extreme horror. There are sexual situations and it is extremely graphic. Like all of Bernstein's stories I loved it!
You can read an interview with David as well as a longer review of UNHINGED as well as another of Bernstein's novella's at catafterdark.WordPress.com the week of 12/1/14.
Or...buy it and read it yourself when it comes out in November. ;)
But things just don't seem to be going his way. A dirty cop comes into his life and Aaron's world spirals out of control affecting everyone he knows and and loves.
David Bernstein writes all types of horror. This one is definitely extreme horror. There are sexual situations and it is extremely graphic. Like all of Bernstein's stories I loved it!
You can read an interview with David as well as a longer review of UNHINGED as well as another of Bernstein's novella's at catafterdark.WordPress.com the week of 12/1/14.
Or...buy it and read it yourself when it comes out in November. ;)
November 8, 2023
This book is a wild thriller. Aaron is trying to turn his life around after being released from prison. He ends up in the sights of a crooked cop. The cop makes Aaron do messed up stuff for him to avoid breaking his parole. The book gets very dark. The book is very graphic. Highly recommend this one to fans of extreme horror.
December 3, 2014
Sick twisted tale. Loved it. My 1st David Bernstein book but it won't be my last
February 28, 2017
WOW! Bernstein rocks this serial killer novel. Edge of the seat suspense from the first to the last page. The shadowy man with a scar is brutal in ways that would make Rex Miller's Chaingang wince. I really would like to read a sequel to The Unhinged. Very highly recommended.
January 18, 2015
Review copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review
The Unhinged starts off with a fairly simple premise and one that many readers will immediately write off as not being horror. Aaron Dupree is a 24-year-old man who was recently released from prison on parole after serving a six-year sentence for his role as a getaway driver in an armed robbery attempt. Having cleaned up his act while in prison and looking for a fresh start in life, having gotten an honest job and a budding romance with a girl he met while working there. However, his plan for redemption hits a road bump when he is pulled over for speeding. Aaron pleads with the cop and thinks it is his lucky day when the cop agrees to let him off with a warning with one minor stipulation - that he gives the cop his number and does whatever he asks when he calls, no questions asked. When the cop finally calls Aaron with a job, it seems simple enough and Aaron has no choice but to go along with the cop's demands. The job makes Aaron uncomfortable, but he follows through assuring himself that no one will get hurt and that when he is finished, he will be free of the cop and able to re-focus himself on turning his life round. However, Aaron quickly realizes that he is in over his head and that the world of horrors the cop unleashes puts him and every one he cares about in grave danger.
The Unhinged is one hell of a novel and Bernstein excels at crafting tension that kept me riveted all the way until the novel's explosive conclusion. Throughout reading the novel, I couldn't help but let my mind wander at how Bernstein would tie everything together. Would Aaron get caught while completing the jobs given to him and head back to prison? Would he somehow disengage himself from the cop through a clever plan? Just when it seems clear where the story is going, Bernstein throws a curveball and it takes the reader to totally unexpected places.
Bernstein also does an excellent job of building his characters throughout the novel, particularly the juxtaposition between the cop and the man with the scar. Despite them only being referred to by their descriptive monikers, they have distinct personalities. The cop, for all of his brutality and twisted plots, is more of a chameleon. He is able to blend into society and mask his violent tendencies which makes him a formidable adversary. The man with the scar is the polar opposite. There is little to no attempt to mask his personality and he is fueled solely by the need to hand out pain through sadistic violence. Bernstein forces the reader to question which is more terrifying - a man whose evil is concealed to a degree by charm or someone with absolutely no moral compass?
The Unhinged is a bleak novel and the descriptions of the antagonists' brutality are pretty horrific. However, if you are a fan of extreme horror, this is one novel you will definitely want to add to your collection! I was unfamiliar with Bernstein's work prior to reading The Unhinged, but after finishing the novel, I definitely plan on checking out his other books.
The Unhinged starts off with a fairly simple premise and one that many readers will immediately write off as not being horror. Aaron Dupree is a 24-year-old man who was recently released from prison on parole after serving a six-year sentence for his role as a getaway driver in an armed robbery attempt. Having cleaned up his act while in prison and looking for a fresh start in life, having gotten an honest job and a budding romance with a girl he met while working there. However, his plan for redemption hits a road bump when he is pulled over for speeding. Aaron pleads with the cop and thinks it is his lucky day when the cop agrees to let him off with a warning with one minor stipulation - that he gives the cop his number and does whatever he asks when he calls, no questions asked. When the cop finally calls Aaron with a job, it seems simple enough and Aaron has no choice but to go along with the cop's demands. The job makes Aaron uncomfortable, but he follows through assuring himself that no one will get hurt and that when he is finished, he will be free of the cop and able to re-focus himself on turning his life round. However, Aaron quickly realizes that he is in over his head and that the world of horrors the cop unleashes puts him and every one he cares about in grave danger.
The Unhinged is one hell of a novel and Bernstein excels at crafting tension that kept me riveted all the way until the novel's explosive conclusion. Throughout reading the novel, I couldn't help but let my mind wander at how Bernstein would tie everything together. Would Aaron get caught while completing the jobs given to him and head back to prison? Would he somehow disengage himself from the cop through a clever plan? Just when it seems clear where the story is going, Bernstein throws a curveball and it takes the reader to totally unexpected places.
Bernstein also does an excellent job of building his characters throughout the novel, particularly the juxtaposition between the cop and the man with the scar. Despite them only being referred to by their descriptive monikers, they have distinct personalities. The cop, for all of his brutality and twisted plots, is more of a chameleon. He is able to blend into society and mask his violent tendencies which makes him a formidable adversary. The man with the scar is the polar opposite. There is little to no attempt to mask his personality and he is fueled solely by the need to hand out pain through sadistic violence. Bernstein forces the reader to question which is more terrifying - a man whose evil is concealed to a degree by charm or someone with absolutely no moral compass?
The Unhinged is a bleak novel and the descriptions of the antagonists' brutality are pretty horrific. However, if you are a fan of extreme horror, this is one novel you will definitely want to add to your collection! I was unfamiliar with Bernstein's work prior to reading The Unhinged, but after finishing the novel, I definitely plan on checking out his other books.
December 7, 2014
THE UNHINGED is a great, brutal horror novel from David Bernstein that calls to mind the things that made the splatter-punk movement what it was. The author opens the story with a hint at the extreme horror that the story will contain, but then pulls back to introduce his characters. The main protagonists are very well rendered and the reader becomes quickly invested in their situations. The bulk of the story revolves around Aaron, a recently paroled 24-year-old man who has turned his life around, coming out of prison much better off them he went in. He has to walk the razor-fine line that is parole while still living as normal a life as he can, realizing that even a speeding ticket could send him back to prison. As with the best horror, or really any fiction, the story forces it's audience to answer the same questions that it's characters must: What would I do in this situation? What place does morality and obeying the law have in my life? What might cause me to act immoral? From the start the book is a morality play and it makes the most of the narrative device. And, about halfway through, when the brutality of the story explodes onto the page, the reader won't be able to put the book down. What would I do to stay out of jail, to save my life, to save my family? The questions of just how much can you take will be with you until the last page. I don't like to compare books and movies and I won't here, but the nastiness and grittiness of THE UNHINGED made me feel like I should be reading it in a 42nd Street grindhouse in 1978.
February 28, 2015
Just when you thought life couldn't get any worse, it does. At least for the unfortunate main character in David Bernstein's latest gory offering. This is, by far, the best I have read from the mind of Mr Bernstein and has ensured that everything he releases from here on will be on my pre-order list immediately.
This book was relentless and kept me totally on the edge of my seat for the duration of the story. The surprises and the twists just keep on coming and there is room for a equally fantastic sequel.
David Bernstein at his very best, but definitely not for the faint hearted. This is pretty extreme horror.
This book was relentless and kept me totally on the edge of my seat for the duration of the story. The surprises and the twists just keep on coming and there is room for a equally fantastic sequel.
David Bernstein at his very best, but definitely not for the faint hearted. This is pretty extreme horror.
September 25, 2016
Really good, I enjoy when there is constant action going on but for some reason I was expecting more and more.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews