Brute

by Eric LaRocca

The Shining meets The Truman Show filtered through a tech lens in this splatterpunk horror novel from the award-winning author of Wretch and the Burnt Sparrow trilogy, following a queer wedding planner whose past comes back to haunt him when he's forced to arrange his first gay marriage. This edition comes with French flaps and exclusive bonus content from the author.

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner unlike any other. It's not just the all-black outfits or the strange, wide-brimmed hat he loves wearing. In the privacy of his cottage, Ephraim dreams of planning a different kind of an execution.

When Nicholas and Sebastian decide to hire Ephraim for their special day, it becomes harder for Ephraim to leave his "at home" thoughts where they belong. With a mysterious man hovering around town, seemingly everywhere Ephraim goes, everything threatens to come apart at the seams.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, LGBT, Adult, Queer, Horror Thriller

Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 23, 2027

About the author

Eric LaRocca (he/they) is a 3x Bram Stoker Award® finalist, a Shirley Jackson Award nominee, and a 2x Splatterpunk Award winner. He was named by Esquire as one of the “Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age” and praised by Locus as “one of the strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fiction.” LaRocca’s notable works include Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Everything the Darkness Eats, and At Dark, I Become Loathsome. He currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts with his partner.

Reviews

[Elle G. Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read this author for a long time, and I think I did myself a solid by choosing this as my first book from him! This is a raw and brutal read and kept my attention the whole way though. The way the author weaves this story and the thoughts of his characters are extremely visceral. I enjoyed it very much!

[Matty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel follows Ephraim Mayerling, an unusual wedding planner whose outwardly professional life hides a disturbing fascination with human executions. When Nicholas and Sebastian hire him to organize their wedding, Ephraim finds it increasingly difficult to keep his private thoughts separate from his work.

At the same time, a mysterious man begins appearing around Ephraim, seemingly wherever he goes. This causes Ephraim’s carefully controlled life to start unraveling and suggests that his past may be catching up with him.

The premise sounded promising, but I had a hard time enjoying this novel. I found portions of the book to be just rambling repetitive thoughts within the mind of the main character. The novel jumps back and forth in time which can be a bit confusing. Could use chapter titles to help navigate through the story.

Overall I was not a huge fan of Brute, giving it 2 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC which will be published March 23 2007.

[Braden Books · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

After reading WRETCH last year, I was intrigued by the logline for BRUTE. Ephraim is a queer wedding planner with a proclivity for executions and unsavory bloodlust. Up until this point, he's done a decent job of balancing his professional life with his hidden morbid obsessions, until he's hired to plan his first gay wedding. La Rocca crafts a dark and unsettling story with vivid imagery that is nauseating, unflinching and sacrilegious. I won't say that I enjoyed reading this book, but I was dumbfounded by the audacity of Ephraim's perversions. This book will not be for everyone because being in this kind of headspace feels downright icky, but for those that aren't as squeamish with their themes or triggers, it certainly provides some interesting social commentary.

Thanks to Saga and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Brandon Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larocca is the master when it comes to the raw and twisted. Each page leaves you filthy and wondering if cruelty like this can possibly exist in our world. The emotions he explores in Brute are visceral and do not shy away from taboos. In fact, he opens the door to darkness and invites all things unclean into your soul. Beware reader, you never know who's actually hiding behind the mask society forces us to wear.


I inhaled this. It was twisted, raw, and beyond addicting. By the time the twist hit, I was completely blind-sided because of how engrossed I was with the story. The ending was a chefs kiss.

Extreme horror enthusiasts are in for a treat.

[Brenda Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

LaRocca is an auto buy for me - hands down, every time. So of course I've already pre-ordered Brute, thankfully!

Ephraim Mayerling has problems. Like Problems. As a wedding planner, Ephraim gets to experience all the couples. In walks Sebastian and Nicholas. And his next obsession.

His after work activities and obsessions - artifacts from horrendous killings and executions, a high risk online community, a potential stalker. Oh yeah a childhood friend who went missing.

LaRocca has an incredible ability to set a story, get in the groove and flip the story. One of my top reads for the year.

[Jason Greeno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Wow! What an amazing read. I just now finished, and am a bit short of breath. Eric LaRocca has written his most compelling and accessible book yet. Ephraim is such a fantastic protagonist. I was immediately hooked and wanted to know what he’d do next. Love how the story goes back and forth between Ephraim’s past and present. The ending is totally bonkers and owes a lot to one of my very favorite writers of American fiction. What an insane way of bringing the past into the present. Ain’t too many people doing it like LaRocca’s doing it these days. He’s truly a master of his craft, and again I thank NetGalley for allowing me to get an early look at this.

[booked.with.julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a disturbing, twisted horror read, and I was flying through it!!

Ephraim is a wedding planner who has a pretty dark side. He secretly fantasizes about planning something MUCH more sinister than a wedding, so when Nicholas and Sebastian hire him to plan their wedding, things start getting verrrryy weird. Especially when someone starts following him.

This was so uncomfortable and unpredictable. I kept wondering just how far things were going to go… and let’s just say, they GO. If you like your horror on the darker and more unsettling side definitely pick this one up.

[DaniPhantom · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️, thank you to NetGalley & Saga Press for the ARC!!!

Gosh this premise was perfect. It’s so unique, while still providing the gore and hatred that LaRocca’s characters have. I read this shortly after Aron Beauregards’ Modern Hysteria, and there’s a lot of parallels between the two. I unfortunately grew up during the unregulated internet age where you did see beheadings and rapes casually on Facebook, and it does alter a young mind into being indifferent to everything.
I also liked seeing Ephraim’s constant struggle over him being gay and how he expected gay relationships to be, and how his obsession with trauma and gore coming into that. Really dark stuff but it was interesting!!

[Justin Soderberg · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

When opening up an Eric LaRocca story, I tend to want to emotionally buckle up for a wild ride and that is exactly what we get with his latest novel, Brute . LaRocca crafts a brutal, visceral, and dirty tale that continues to prove he is a master of his craft in the horror genre.

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner unlike any other. It’s not just the all-black outfits or the strange, wide-brimmed hat he loves wearing. In the privacy of his cottage, Ephraim dreams of planning a different kind of event: an execution.

When Nicholas and Sebastian decide to hire Ephraim for their special day, it becomes harder for Ephraim to leave his “at home” thoughts where they belong. With a mysterious man hovering around town, seemingly everywhere Ephraim goes, everything threatens to come apart at the seams.

The simple fact of someone hiding a double life, one where your front facing life is something pristine and proper only to have a passion for death, is fascinating to me. Both in real life and in fictional stories. You never really know who someone is when no one is watching, which when you think of it is someone's real life and their outside portrayal is a facade. Hiding one's passions with a surface life that seems normal to most people but a secret obsession that others might find appalling.

LaRocca has this amazing ability to put down on paper the thoughts and feelings most would be afraid to write: the raw, dark, and unsettling, but does so with a true sense of filthy elegance. Brute continues this with a twisted and visceral story that doesn't shy away from taboos. There is an emotional core that goes beyond the brutal aspects of the story, making it potentially a bit more accessible than other of the author's novels.

As I mentioned, Brute its twisted, but really its twisted in many ways. The largest being when the crescendo finally hit its peak and dropped, the big twist was a delight, yet surprising at the same time. The ending of this story is fitting for the tale at hand, but also for the author. LaRocca is not for the faint of heart, with Eric proudly wears on his sleeve.

This book is told between Ephraim's past and present which made the story a bit more interesting, see how his past might come back to haunt him in the present. While it might be confusing to some, the back and forth, to me it only added to the depth of the story and the overall reading experience.

Brute is a raw psychological horror that will make you feel uncomfortable in the best possible way. Eric LaRocca delivers on an unsettling and visceral tale that left me feeling dirty in the best possible way. LaRocca might not be everyone's cup of tea, but don't think I won't drink up his stories, each and every time.

Brute hits bookstores everywhere on March 23, 2027 from Saga Press. The audiobook is available via Libro.fm!

NOTE: We received an advance copy of Brute from the publisher. Opinions are our own.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, Saga Press and Eric LaRocca for the ARC of Brute! So excited to have this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own!

Described as The Shining meets The Truman Show, Brute revolves around eccentric wedding planner, Ephraim, who is about to plan his first gay wedding. Ephraim’s enthusiasm for weddings hides a darker, more sinister side of him; one that may come out at Nicholas and Sebastian’s special day. While the grooms are expecting a lavish day filled with love and happiness, Ephraim has other plans in mind.

LaRocca’s writing is so sharp and engaging. The dark prose and unsettling subject matter seem to flow so easily that you forget you’re reading depraved and horrific imaginings. The darkest side of the human psyche is explored in this with little to no apology and I love the way that this darkness was so unabashedly described throughout.

Told on a dual timeline, from present day to Ephraim’s teen years, we understand Ephraim more as a person, and why he has become who he is today. The jump from present to past is so pertinent to the story, and flows so well, adding a lot of depth to the narrative. I love that this is also told with mixed media interspersed throughout. I think that adds so much fun and adds an extra layer of suspense and darkness.

Overall, this is a depiction of psychological horror and coming of age, as well as deep depravity and madness. It is well written, horrifying at times and one of those stories that you can’t look away from because it’s so tragic, vile and unique. Be prepared to grimace and feel uncomfortable (in the best way possible) throughout this whole journey. The ending was excellently performed.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press, but especially thank you to Eric LaRocca, who after I whined on social media about not getting an ARC, sent me a link. Very much appreciated!

I will start this review off by confessing that I am a huge fan of LaRocca and his work. I devour every book he releases, and am always astounded by his attention to detail, to characters, and his commitment to presenting what is not comfortable. Within the myriad subgenres of horror, he stands out for his transgressive works.

However, it's not transgressive for the sake of being so, or shocking for the sake of shock. There is so much more, and Brute displays that perfectly. Ephraim is monstrous at times. His desires, his thoughts, his actions are not "normal" but are such an intrinsic part of who he is, who he was made to become. He laments being unable to have relationships, but gains happiness, however one wants to define it, from the things that please him, arouse him, and push him forward in life. He is a deep thinker, and we spend a great deal of time in his head.

The magic of LaRocca is that he does not treat his characters like monsters, and Ephraim is no exception. He is real, and human, and written with so much empathy. Thus, one can understand why he behaves the way he does and understand why he becomes who he is.

Without giving away too much, the ending is a bit of a gut punch, and a surprise in many ways.

Now that I have gushed on, I encourage you to pick this up when it comes out in March. It's horror that challenges you, that doesn't present the standard tropes, but shows the horror in the everyday, the alienation, sadness, and obsession that drives humans to become the brutes they really are, and it's a gorgeous ride.

[litch! (cryptidcasanova) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review courtesy of an ARC provided by NetGalley

Devoured this in two sittings.

Ephraim, a wedding planner who lives in a picture-perfect cottage on the grounds of a beautiful garden estate, spends his time creating perfect ceremonies for those who seek him out to plan their big day. I found myself addicted to this character, from the description of his physical androgyny to the way his inner monologue contrasted so delightfully with his clients’ perceptions of his disposition. Early in the story, he explains his peculiar preference for dressing entirely in black by likening weddings to funerals, a test he utilizes to judge his compatibility with a couple from the jump.

Quickly, you’re made aware that Ephraim’s morbid proclivities are more than an aesthetic choice - he is plagued by a fetishistic obsession with public executions and secretly yearns to orchestrate one himself.

What unfolds throughout Brute is a bizarre roller coaster of sinister paranoia, trauma, and the feeling of displacement that so many queer people struggle to navigate within polite society. I found it evocative of Poppy Z. Brite’s Exquisite Corpse at many points, in a way I’ve never encountered elsewhere.

I had the immense pleasure of meeting LaRocca at an event celebrating the launch of their previous novel, Wretch, and I was thrilled to learn that the planned Saga Press trilogy would share connections with the character Porcelain Khaw. There are certainly whispers of Wretch within Brute that made me think, “Oh, oh!” in the moment, but I want more!! I can’t wait for the third installment. 🤞

[Kate Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5


As with all LaRocca novels, heavy trigger warnings, for the following: child abuse, death, gore, religious trauma, murder, torture, and violence.

I definitely see The Truman Show aspects from the comparisons but don’t see anything related to The Shining so not clear on where that comparison comes from. This is such a dark look into someone’s brain that some of the more shocking points are when the main character holds himself back from doing something even crazier. As with LaRocca’s other novels enjoy isn’t quite the term I would use but this was truly unique.

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner, even though his all-black attire and large wide-brimmed hat would fit more comfortably into a mortuary. Ephraim himself would be more comfortable there, he has a strong interest in the macabre, specifically executions. He collects weapons used in executions throughout history, both the famous and the unknown.

When Ephraim has to help plan his first queer wedding, he is forced to face his own long ignored queer identity, and his desire to take action on his darker interests increase. As he begins to notice a man following him everywhere he goes and gets threatening messages on the chat sites he frequents, Ephraim wonders who could he watching him. As his suspicions turn to the grooms whose wedding he is planning, memories from his past come back to haunt him as Ephraim must decide if it is time to finally enact his darkest desires.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The latest form Eric LaRocca proves that even when he’s not exceptional, he’s still interesting.

This story follows a fastidious wedding planner, the delightfully named Ephriam Mayerling, who leads a dark double life as a fan of human executions and collector of murder memorabilia in his spare time. When he’s tasked with planning the wedding of an idyllic gay couple, the barrier between these two sides of himself begins to thin and shred with harrowing consequences.

I liked some aspects of Brute, but I felt it lacked the cohesion of LaRocca’s other works. Without giving away spoilers, the story too felt a little disjointed and rambling. LaRocca’s books usually have a unified and simple, if often disturbing, cohesion to them that was absent in this title.
I wish the author had leaned more into Ephriam’s identity as a wedding planner as a morbid outgrowth of his severe mental issues and dark tastes. There’s some work in that direction towards the beginning of the book but it’s never really used to its full potential. A tremendous shame since it’s one of the most interesting aspects of the story.

While I don’t regret my reading by any means, this book didn’t exactly grip or shock me in quite the way I've come to expect from this author.

[Katie Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner with dark fantasies. When he begins to plan his first gay wedding things begin to take a turn and he may not be able to leave his fantasies inside his head…

This was a very intriguing read! Ephraim was a character with a darkness living inside of him, he relished the suffering of others and craved being the one to cause it himself.

I enjoyed the mixture the story presented, there was a blend of past and present pieces along with online correspondence and media, it all painted an excellent picture of the type of character Ephraim was and set the reveal up very nicely.

Despite his darkness, Ephraim carried a lot of shame inside him too. His inner turmoil is painted well with the past sections referencing the short friendships he made, and how disconnected he was from his parents. In adulthood, Ephraim found a way to express his desires but when he learned his privacy was no longer safe, he slowly began to unravel.

The reveal at the end was predictable but satisfying, I don’t think there would have been a way to keep the mystery without the plot suffering. This was definitely on par with the style and material of LaRocca’s other books. Really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the opportunity to arc read this!

[B K178 · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Brute* is one of those books that I can appreciate, even if I don't think I was the ideal reader for every aspect of it. Eric LaRocca delivers a relentlessly dark, transgressive horror novel that never shies away from discomfort.

The pacing kept me engaged from beginning to end, and I flew through it because I genuinely needed to know where the story was headed. The horror is visceral, unsettling, and psychologically driven, creating an atmosphere that feels oppressive in the best way.

That said, I think the extremity of some of the content pushed the novel just beyond my personal comfort zone. That's less a criticism of the book than an acknowledgment of my own tastes.

If you're a fan of splatterpunk or horror that fully commits to exploring the darkest corners of the human psyche, I can absolutely see this being a standout read.

Even though it wasn't a perfect fit for me, I admire how uncompromising it is. *Brute* knows exactly what it wants to be and never pulls its punches. I suspect readers who gravitate toward transgressive horror will have a much stronger reaction than I did, and I'm excited to see what others think once it's released.

[Darrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the author's previous novel, Wretch, chatroom transcripts are a big part of this novel. Early on, there are references (such as to a Jesus with mirror eyes) which seem to callback to Wretch, but it ends up not tying in to the previous novel like I was expecting.

The narrator Ephraim is aroused by snuff films and has his first experience when he's 13. It's pretty disturbing. He likes to collect murder memorabilia complete with certificates of authenticity. He does a live stream for similarly-inclined people. He tries to keep his identity secret, but he gets doxed and gains a stalker.

Since he enjoys watching other people suffer, he's not a sympathetic character. I didn't care when bad things happened to him. Maybe I wasn't supposed to, but it's hard to read a novel in which you don't care about any of the characters. Also, Ephraim often compares himself to Christ, but I failed to see how they're comparable.

The descriptions of snuff websites were unpleasant and disgusting. I found the ending highly implausible. This one just wasn't for me. I enjoyed his previous novel Wretch much more. It felt more unique and actually had something interesting to say.

[Kelly Dienes · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Oh I loved this and was engrossed all the way through--thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner, but his real passion is executions; since being shown a snuff film at age 13 by his friend, it's almost all he can think about. After a falling out with that friend, he lost access to the dark web, and settled for reading about human cruelty and suffering in history books, only becoming more obsessed with these topics. Then a mysterious thing happened between him and a boy at his school, who then went missing and was never found.

As an adult, Ephraim collects weapons and other artifacts used to torture and kill people, and he livestreams to an audience of goreheads, showing off his collection while wearing an executioner's mask. Then he gets an unsettling message from user/guillotineandsympathy and... things start unraveling.

I enjoyed the jumping back and forth in time, and I was only partly right about the twist. Ephraim is very well-written, and I got disturbed when I found myself feeling sympathy for him. Really I just thought this novel was super fun. It's LaRocca though, so proceed with caution.

[Julia Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit taken aback by the narrative from the expectation created by the summary: I didn't think Ephraim was forced to plan the wedding at all (?) and I was anticipating there to be some added tension in that respect - but that's an issue for the publisher or who wrote the blurb, not the author.

To the point: there's artful rambling and there's repetitiveness, and this for me fell into the latter. Ephraim's inner monologue swiftly exhausted the bounds of the characterization and then turned dull, and it felt sometimes like the horror was cheap and just there for the shock value, like with the weapon purchases. I think this could have been a lot more impactful as a short story. Additionally, with such a small cast of characters, the identity of the stranger was not a surprise. I did enjoy some of the more vignette-esque scenes from the flashbacks and the writing was more than serviceable.

[Steph1216 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner with a double life- he has an online following for his livestreams where he showcases dark artifacts. He has always had a fascination with dark and disturbed history and dreams of planning an execution. The book alternates between his past and present; from a budding attraction to violence and how it grew to his current wedding he’s planning for a gay couple. Many events between the past and present intertwine leading up to the big day that create a lot of twists and turns. I will say this book won’t be for everyone because it is dark. I found it completely different than anything else I’ve read and that’s why I found the story captivating. I had an idea of where it was all going and had to keep reading. I received an ARC copy of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.

[Jesy Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two words: Holy. Shit.

This one had me absolutely enraptured from page one. I know a lot of people find LaRocca's work to be too perverse or too violent but this one, for me, had the exaxt right amount of both, along with the perfect amout of emotion. It was so easy to both synpathize with and feel repulsed by the main character at the same time. His internal struggle comes across so completely. Each little piece of evidence, each chat conversation and each walk down the lane of Ephraim's memory clearly pulls you towards the explosive ending. I was absolutely speechless when I finished this book, except to message Eric and tell him it was one of the most brilliantly written things I have ever written. Wretch will always be my favorite, I think, but this one was barely behind. Completely perfect, no notes.

[Sean S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brute is a suffocating horror novel that delves into the mind of Ephraim, a wedding planner with deranged ideologies and a sinister past. As he plans the wedding for a gay couple, he devises a separate menacing scheme to satiate his lust for blood.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It explores the disgusting and gruesome character that is Ephraim, and how he came to be the way that he is. The author does an excellent job conveying the thoughts of a very disturbed individual while balancing a plot that is able to both draw readers in and repel them simultaneously.

My thanks to the publisher and the author for sending me an Advance Reader Copy of this book. It was provided to me through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Everything stated in my review is my own opinion written in my own words.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have got to stop reading LaRocca's so early, because I always love them, then have to wait so long for the next one! I know I know what a problem to have.

But yall this was so good and well brutal..

Ephraim is a wedding planner and the best but odd..grest at planning weddings but a bidding underlying desire that is always there whispering, begging to come true, for him to plan a execution, what a grand party that would be.

I felt like as I read this and the book slowly cracked and spiraled, it was the same way Ephraim was feeling as he slowly lost control of his mind, it was jarring but added amazing layers to the story and a vibe I loved.

This was a roller coaster of chaos, gore, and things you might need to bleach from your brain, but in the best way possible.

Loved this, hate parties, I get it.

[twoey (rachel q.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Eric LaRocca’s best work so far. You can really see them maturing as a writer with every book they put out. Eric is very good at writing characters that are fleshed out, that you truly feel sympathy for, before utterly destroying them. That is where the horror comes from. This is splatterpunk for sure, but LaRocca doesn’t have to rely on intricate, grotesque descriptions of blood and gore like other splatterpunk authors do. He can conjure up a sense of dread just by pushing the level of depravity that the characters in the book have, to the absolute recesses of humanity. It’s a very effective book, with a twist you won’t see coming. Gives you deep-seated fear that will make you want to hug your kids.

[Shilo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not for the faint of heart. I genuinely feel nauseous right now because this was just ... a lot, in the sense of graphic/twisted events. I've read this author before, but for some reason this book shocked me a bit. I found myself skimming some paragraphs because it was too much for me, but at the same time I was completely hooked and wanted to keep reading.

I read quite a few reviews of people who were shocked by the twists/ending and I can't say I felt the same; I wouldn't call it predictable, but it was like "well yeah duh", if that makes any sense at all. I would have liked this a lot better if we had learned what happened to Percy. Where did he go, where has he been, was he kidnapped?? Etc.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Venneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed LaRocca's stand alones more than I have his connected stories to this point, and frankly, this knocks them all out of the park. We get the specific, private cruelty of our main character, a wedding planner, the voyeuristic/exhibitionist thrills of sharing weird, dark things with an audience online, a mysterious group that our main is dying to find out more about and enjoy, and the darkness and fascination of finding someone that might be just as fucked up as you online. Oh, and the ending twist is absolutely exquisite. This is a special one, and comes out next March. I highly recommend going and preordering this now.

[Zoe Lipman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

This cover really caught my eye (I do think there needs to be a bit more contrast within the suit because it took me a while to see it, but it looks so cool).

I liked this book better that Wretch (the other book I've read from this author). But I still wanted a bit more to it, more oomph.

This is such an interesting and unique kind of main character, but I wanted that dug into a bit more. I think that was something that had so much to it and had so much potential for opening up the story and motivations more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

[Josh Escandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, thank you to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free e-copy of Brute by Eric LaRocca for review. Brute was a fantastic addition to the extreme horror LaRocca has been turning out lately. The novel almost feels like a slow descent into madness based on the rendering of main character Ephraim as he tries to straddle his overwhelming private obsessions with his day-to-day life and job. I was completely transfixed the entire time as I kept reading ahead to see how Ephraim would continue trying to balance all the desperate sides of his life.

[Kaycee McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read and yet another example of why I keep coming back to LaRocca’s work! While the book was categorized as splatterpunk, I’m not entirely sure that’s where I’d personally place it. There are definitely disturbing and dark moments, but it doesn’t lean as heavily into the constant extreme depravity that I typically see and expect from the splatterpunk genre. I really enjoyed how the different timelines, storylines, and characters gradually connect by the end. The book introduces a lot of questions along the way, particularly surrounding the dark corners of the internet, the chat rooms, and the livestreams. I loved watching those pieces slowly fall into place, and I was especially satisfied that the story actually answered all the questions it raised. Overall, this was another great horror story by LaRocca!

Longer review on https://disturbinglywellread.tumblr.com/ <3

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’ve been cordially invited to the most… interesting wedding of the year🔪
Ephraim Mayerling is a queer wedding planner who gets to plan his first gay wedding! Behind closed doors, Ephraim is a different type of planner, and he is planning an execution. He notices his at home thoughts are starting to mesh with his wedding planning. His past comes back to haunt him and now a man is following him around town that knows about his secrets…
I got an early look at Brute and I demolished it in one sitting. Eric Larocca is one of my favorite authors and Brute did not disappoint. Another deep grief, messed up story of a queer man who fights between living a normal life and the disgusting world he lives behind his closed doors which includes the love of human execution. I loved watching the main character become more paranoid about who knows his secrets throughout the novel- even the ones from his childhood that made him who he is🖤 This is told between narration from the main character, instant messaging, and newspaper articles/investigative interviews.
Thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster for letting me read Brute early!