I am a big fan of Jack Bantry’s work, starting with the first issue of Splatterpunk Zine all the way to his previous collaboration with Robert Essig, Ain’t Worth A Shit. Both Essig and Bantry wrote Insatiable, the book in which I am going to discuss, and it truly pains me to see such a generic output from these two authors. That is not to say that Insatiable is a bad book, that is not the case, it just isn’t compelling, especially for a splatterpunk story.
Following a gig at the local punk bar, several friends and bandmates happen to cross paths with sex-crazed maniacs roaming the streets of their small town. Fights with cops, animal activists unleashing unknown biological terror, and scientists trying to control the damage, Insatiable is a quick pitch premise that wraps up just as soon as it begins.
Sounds fun, right? Unfortunately, the story feels dragged out beyond a simple premise. On top of that, as mentioned earlier, it is not very exciting given the genre that this lives in. There are certainly moments of guts, gore, and unwanted sexual violence, but most of that happens towards the end, at least the punchiest stuff does, and many of the events are undercut by characters stumbling into resolution and a need to tidily wrap things up. If you are a fan of Bantry and Essig’s work, go for it. Otherwise, you may want to pass this one up.