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The Groomer
Andrew McCarthy grows concerned for his family after he catches a young man, Zachary Denton, photographing his daughter, Grace McCarthy, and other children at a park. To his dismay, Zachary talks his way out of trouble when he’s confronted by the police. He hopes that’s the end of it. Then he finds Zachary at a diner and then at a grocery store. He knows their encounters aren't coincidences. And just as Andrew prepares to defend his family, Grace vanishes . As the police search stalls and the leads dry up, Andrew decides to take matters into his own hands. He starts by searching for sex offenders in the area and researching enhanced interrogation techniques... He convinces himself he’ll do anything to rescue his daughter, unaware of the pure evil he'll face in his journey. He’s willing to hurt— to torture —anyone to save his family. Jon Athan, the author of Into the Wolves’ Den and The Abuse of Ashley Collins , delves into the underworld of internet predators in this disturbing horror novel. Are your children safe? This book contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.
350 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,959 reviews
February 20, 2022
Wow!!!
One word, Brutal!!!
I think, each parents and futur ones, should read this book!!
I was horrified, to read how easy it is, for sexual predators, to stole and manipulated children or teenagers.
The Groomer is a very good revenge story.
This story isn’t, for sensitive readers . It’s very violent! There are tortures, and deviant, disturbing behaviors, against children.
After reading this, you will see internet in a different way. A more, sinister way for sure .
I highly recommend, this, Jon Athan’s book !
One word, Brutal!!!
I think, each parents and futur ones, should read this book!!
I was horrified, to read how easy it is, for sexual predators, to stole and manipulated children or teenagers.
The Groomer is a very good revenge story.
This story isn’t, for sensitive readers . It’s very violent! There are tortures, and deviant, disturbing behaviors, against children.
After reading this, you will see internet in a different way. A more, sinister way for sure .
I highly recommend, this, Jon Athan’s book !
August 9, 2022
An extreme horror which starts focused on hurtcore, a thing I didn’t know existed, and then centers on a father. whose daughter has been abducted. He works his way, vigilante style, through a list of sex offenders to get closer to the perpetrators. Torture and brutality are at the center of the book, and it’s not just about taking revenge on the guilty, but also inflicting suffering on anyone who happens on the scene. I am not a fan of vigilante justice and found this novel to have nothing more to offer than page after page of violent description. There are enough writers these days that write extreme horror within an inventive and interesting plot-line. This one was not for me!
March 24, 2023
The sheer brutality of Jon Athan's THE GROOMER had me squirming multiple times, particularly in the first third and last third. This is a story of a man pushed to do terrible things by the actions of the most horrible people imaginable. If you can stomach it, you'll find a bleak, riveting tale of revenge that pulls no punches and doesn't let up until the very end.
April 21, 2025
A dark, extreme and deep dive into the seemingly otherworldly waters of hurtcore, psychopaths, sociopaths and the minds of psychologically deviant people;
A father's struggle with loss, inadequacy and redemption tinted with vengeance and the path he chose to take in confronting his loss...
A very disturbing read indeed, full of human evils, plans and conceits that seem just a tangential, orthogonal and inadvertent step away from our daily norm.
Highly recommended for Extreme Horror enthusiasts. *Be warned of Extreme content, not for the faint of heart.
2022 Read
A father's struggle with loss, inadequacy and redemption tinted with vengeance and the path he chose to take in confronting his loss...
A very disturbing read indeed, full of human evils, plans and conceits that seem just a tangential, orthogonal and inadvertent step away from our daily norm.
Highly recommended for Extreme Horror enthusiasts. *Be warned of Extreme content, not for the faint of heart.
2022 Read
August 15, 2022
Holy crap what did I just read? This was a very, very graphic book. It deals with child pornography and not even that, it deals with children being abused in snuff films. The book starts out with nine year old Liam Hansen video gaming online with a person he knows is older. He is manipulated/groomed into meeting this person at a park. Liam ends up disappearing. Very early on an 18 month old goes missing as well. We are then sadly shown what happens to the 18 month old and young Liam. It is so sick and disturbing to see both these children so graphically abused. It was vile and sadistic. I still can't believe I read it.
Then we are quickly exposed to another groomer - Zachary Denton (mid 20's, good looking, friendly) poses as a photographer and has a legit website and everything. He comes across Andrew McCarthy and his family at a park. McCarthy confronts him as he naturally doesn't like the idea of this guy taking pictures of his kids. The police are called after a heated and physical exchange between the two but the police find no pics on Denton's camera due to the fact Denton hid them. The issue is resolved.
Well McCarthy's daughter is five. She has a condition where one eye is different in color than the other. This makes her extra special in the child porn world. Denton had befriended her in the park and keeps bumping into her thereafter. She too eventually goes missing.
The book then changes gears centering on the police investigation or lack thereof. With the police having no leads Andrew McCarthy decides to look into it himself. He uses the sex registry to identify and then approach these sexual offenders. It's not hard for him to do and any one of us could do it if you were so inclined. Andrew runs into three such individuals while tracking his daughter and what he does to these sick ***** was more than fine with me. I so liked how he deals with Denton! Again it was all very graphic to say the least. This part of the book dragged a bit though and I kept wondering about Grace and why she wasn't the focus though I wanted a happy ending somehow and definitely not one like Liam and the 18 month old endured.
So Andrew's unique investigative skills (approaches that the police could never use) actually leads him to where his daughter was being kept. What happens when he runs into the lead guy who produces these vile films for sale was again oh so graphic and unique. Totally enjoyable as well because this guy gets what he deserves.
I was going to rate this book a four. It is well written and Jon Athan can hold his own with anyone. My four star rating was only because of the subject matter. Then I read his letter to the reader at the very end. I almost missed it as the kindle skipped over it but somehow I lucked into it and I still don't know how. He describes how he got so mad at seeing the pedophiles calling themselves MAP's. Minor attracted person. Like a cool moniker which sounds so fn politically correct. Then there is the other moniker NOMAP. Non offender minor attracted person. So these people are ok in their eyes as they won't offend. They just visually rape kids and masturbate to that fantasy - guess that's all good. Athan goes on to admit how graphic and sick it was to write about what happened to Liam and the 18 month old. How he had wrote in what happened to Grace and then got rid of it choosing to handle what happens to her in a very different and better way. The letter to the reader is so sincere and explains so much about how he came to write the book and how disturbing it was for him to research it. He mentions the Southpark episode dealing with NAMBLA when Cartmen unknowingly joins the North American Man Boy Love association or something similar to that. The clips from that episode serve as an icebreaker in dealing with the issue of child porn in law enforcement. Yet the pedophile/MAP/NOMAP argument remains - there is nothing wrong with our love towards children - REALLY?????????
This book is not for everyone. Yet I think when the issue hits home it hits home hard. I live in an affluent suburb - a town really. The police notified this small "L" liberal town years ago that a pedophile was moving into the neighbourhood. The police had to as these sick nuts are predators - that's what they do - trick and lure children and then hurt them in the most sick of ways. There is a public registry for these offenders and there is not for others including murderer's. I am not a small L liberal in any way. I loved it when the outrage of the community came together over this and kind of smirked at how our small L liberal society could do very little to prevent our new hunter to join his new hunting ground - our parks and schools, our frickin neighbourhood! Though so graphic and sick at points I think this book is well done and am rating it a five. It is a book too, not a novella. It comes in at 77,000 words - he states this in his letter to us, I didn't count :) Tread carefully here though and consider yourself forewarned!
Then we are quickly exposed to another groomer - Zachary Denton (mid 20's, good looking, friendly) poses as a photographer and has a legit website and everything. He comes across Andrew McCarthy and his family at a park. McCarthy confronts him as he naturally doesn't like the idea of this guy taking pictures of his kids. The police are called after a heated and physical exchange between the two but the police find no pics on Denton's camera due to the fact Denton hid them. The issue is resolved.
Well McCarthy's daughter is five. She has a condition where one eye is different in color than the other. This makes her extra special in the child porn world. Denton had befriended her in the park and keeps bumping into her thereafter. She too eventually goes missing.
The book then changes gears centering on the police investigation or lack thereof. With the police having no leads Andrew McCarthy decides to look into it himself. He uses the sex registry to identify and then approach these sexual offenders. It's not hard for him to do and any one of us could do it if you were so inclined. Andrew runs into three such individuals while tracking his daughter and what he does to these sick ***** was more than fine with me. I so liked how he deals with Denton! Again it was all very graphic to say the least. This part of the book dragged a bit though and I kept wondering about Grace and why she wasn't the focus though I wanted a happy ending somehow and definitely not one like Liam and the 18 month old endured.
So Andrew's unique investigative skills (approaches that the police could never use) actually leads him to where his daughter was being kept. What happens when he runs into the lead guy who produces these vile films for sale was again oh so graphic and unique. Totally enjoyable as well because this guy gets what he deserves.
I was going to rate this book a four. It is well written and Jon Athan can hold his own with anyone. My four star rating was only because of the subject matter. Then I read his letter to the reader at the very end. I almost missed it as the kindle skipped over it but somehow I lucked into it and I still don't know how. He describes how he got so mad at seeing the pedophiles calling themselves MAP's. Minor attracted person. Like a cool moniker which sounds so fn politically correct. Then there is the other moniker NOMAP. Non offender minor attracted person. So these people are ok in their eyes as they won't offend. They just visually rape kids and masturbate to that fantasy - guess that's all good. Athan goes on to admit how graphic and sick it was to write about what happened to Liam and the 18 month old. How he had wrote in what happened to Grace and then got rid of it choosing to handle what happens to her in a very different and better way. The letter to the reader is so sincere and explains so much about how he came to write the book and how disturbing it was for him to research it. He mentions the Southpark episode dealing with NAMBLA when Cartmen unknowingly joins the North American Man Boy Love association or something similar to that. The clips from that episode serve as an icebreaker in dealing with the issue of child porn in law enforcement. Yet the pedophile/MAP/NOMAP argument remains - there is nothing wrong with our love towards children - REALLY?????????
This book is not for everyone. Yet I think when the issue hits home it hits home hard. I live in an affluent suburb - a town really. The police notified this small "L" liberal town years ago that a pedophile was moving into the neighbourhood. The police had to as these sick nuts are predators - that's what they do - trick and lure children and then hurt them in the most sick of ways. There is a public registry for these offenders and there is not for others including murderer's. I am not a small L liberal in any way. I loved it when the outrage of the community came together over this and kind of smirked at how our small L liberal society could do very little to prevent our new hunter to join his new hunting ground - our parks and schools, our frickin neighbourhood! Though so graphic and sick at points I think this book is well done and am rating it a five. It is a book too, not a novella. It comes in at 77,000 words - he states this in his letter to us, I didn't count :) Tread carefully here though and consider yourself forewarned!
February 15, 2023
Disturbing. Brutal. Perverted.
I've read a lot of books similar to The Groomer and I can say that no graphic violence could possibly horrify me anymore. But this kinda shook me a bit because it involves young children—if that wasn't barbaric enough, I don't know what is.
Just to keep it a 100 for this review, I didn't expect anything different from this book, I understood the message, the warning and the caution that the plot would make me feel sick, it would make me uncomfortable. That was the purpose of this book—recapitulate reality of child porn and abuse.
A very powerful word to the wise: Protect your children, be vigilant, be aware of the people around you and trust your instincts. The world is a scary place, especially for the little ones who cannot protect themselves.
I've read a lot of books similar to The Groomer and I can say that no graphic violence could possibly horrify me anymore. But this kinda shook me a bit because it involves young children—if that wasn't barbaric enough, I don't know what is.
Just to keep it a 100 for this review, I didn't expect anything different from this book, I understood the message, the warning and the caution that the plot would make me feel sick, it would make me uncomfortable. That was the purpose of this book—recapitulate reality of child porn and abuse.
A very powerful word to the wise: Protect your children, be vigilant, be aware of the people around you and trust your instincts. The world is a scary place, especially for the little ones who cannot protect themselves.
January 2, 2021
My mind tells me to NOT review or even like this book....however, it was very well written, but if you can stomach reading about extreme Child Predators and Child Trafficking, murder, suicide and torture, then this book is for you.
So, do you remember the first time you ever saw 'Death Wish'? Well, this will take you back to that time....but be ready because this book made that movie, seem very tame, and PG rated!!! This book takes the subject of Child Predators and sex trafficking and torture of a child, and even an 18 month old infant and teens to a whole new level. Now, being a victim of extreme abuse myself as a child in the late 60's, I was totally surprised that I found myself rooting this father (of an abducted 5 year old child) on to kill these bastards and perverts like I was....BUT when they got what was coming to them.....it made up for all the stomach turning disgust and harrowing story lines I had to read to finally get there. Now, if you have a small child or even a teen ager at home, and they use sites such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and or Facebook or Instagram, you will not walk away from this reading experience unphased!!! Believe me, it is THAT shocking of a read. Don't get me wrong, there are warnings all OVER this books covers warning of this subject matter, but it at least did not dwell on the torture scenes and rape scenes, however what it did extemely well was show 'if you wanna fuck with me as a parent, and think you are going to get away with it.....you have GOT another thing coming!!!'
The way that this predator and his 'group' lure, and take and trap these victims is so diabolical and scary that it really makes me wonder how much more often this stuff actually does go on like in this story. In a society when child abusers think that kids are put on this earth for their enjoyment, and that they can do what they want, and think they are not going to get caught, this is when I say we really need to be aware of this and do more to stop these predators.
Once you crack this book open, be ready to read it in one sitting, I read it over a 6 hour span, however there were times that I really surprised myself that i did not put it down in TEARS and disgust. As I said before.....THIS IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY WITH ITS SUBJECT MATTER!!! IT IS EXTREME HORROR AND ABUSE LIKE NONE OTHER. If you are brave enough TO put yourself thru this, read the authors comments on how and WHY he wrote it.....it made it easier that way.
Jon Athan brought back my childhood in a complete different way, and forced me to look at life and what it means to be a parent of a child in today's world.
People compared this to horror classics(?) as 'The Girl Next Door' and others, however this is going on in front of our own eyes. LOOK AROUND YOU PEOPLE! This is when I tell my self there was a damn good reason that I was not blessed with kids.
3.5 Stabbys
It could have gotten a higher rating even, however I DID NOT think that it's last page should have been in it......it made me sick to my stomach.
So, do you remember the first time you ever saw 'Death Wish'? Well, this will take you back to that time....but be ready because this book made that movie, seem very tame, and PG rated!!! This book takes the subject of Child Predators and sex trafficking and torture of a child, and even an 18 month old infant and teens to a whole new level. Now, being a victim of extreme abuse myself as a child in the late 60's, I was totally surprised that I found myself rooting this father (of an abducted 5 year old child) on to kill these bastards and perverts like I was....BUT when they got what was coming to them.....it made up for all the stomach turning disgust and harrowing story lines I had to read to finally get there. Now, if you have a small child or even a teen ager at home, and they use sites such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and or Facebook or Instagram, you will not walk away from this reading experience unphased!!! Believe me, it is THAT shocking of a read. Don't get me wrong, there are warnings all OVER this books covers warning of this subject matter, but it at least did not dwell on the torture scenes and rape scenes, however what it did extemely well was show 'if you wanna fuck with me as a parent, and think you are going to get away with it.....you have GOT another thing coming!!!'
The way that this predator and his 'group' lure, and take and trap these victims is so diabolical and scary that it really makes me wonder how much more often this stuff actually does go on like in this story. In a society when child abusers think that kids are put on this earth for their enjoyment, and that they can do what they want, and think they are not going to get caught, this is when I say we really need to be aware of this and do more to stop these predators.
Once you crack this book open, be ready to read it in one sitting, I read it over a 6 hour span, however there were times that I really surprised myself that i did not put it down in TEARS and disgust. As I said before.....THIS IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY WITH ITS SUBJECT MATTER!!! IT IS EXTREME HORROR AND ABUSE LIKE NONE OTHER. If you are brave enough TO put yourself thru this, read the authors comments on how and WHY he wrote it.....it made it easier that way.
Jon Athan brought back my childhood in a complete different way, and forced me to look at life and what it means to be a parent of a child in today's world.
People compared this to horror classics(?) as 'The Girl Next Door' and others, however this is going on in front of our own eyes. LOOK AROUND YOU PEOPLE! This is when I tell my self there was a damn good reason that I was not blessed with kids.
3.5 Stabbys
It could have gotten a higher rating even, however I DID NOT think that it's last page should have been in it......it made me sick to my stomach.
July 7, 2020
This is without a doubt the most fucked up, disgusting book I have ever read. Do not read this. I say that as someone who usually seeks out content like that that people say don’t read/watch. Seriously, I wish I had never heard of this book.
I finished this book about 10 minutes ago. I’ve been processing what I just read. After a few chapters, I nearly quit reading. There are GRAPHIC, disgusting depictions of child abuse, mind games, manipulation, extortion, blackmail, torture, mutilation, and murder. Torture is putting it too lightly. What was done to the child characters in this book is unspeakably heinous. I feel so depressed, upset, disgusted, and sick to my stomach right now. I’ve been nauseated ever since I got to the final showdown at the end of the book.
Spoilers ahead:
I wanted the pedophiles to die. I NEEDED them to die to give me closure on this fucked up story. For some reason, even though I know how low the odds are in real life and how monstrously the book characters treated their previous victims, I really thought Grace would somehow make it. As unbelievable as it might have been, I so badly wanted her Dad to find her. She would probably be completely emotionally destroyed and horrifically damaged for the rest of her life, but I wanted her to survive so much. After a few chapters, I nearly stopped reading. The graphic depictions of child torture and murder were sickening. But I felt like I needed to know how the story ended. Parts of this book are so suspenseful and hooking, but dear God parts of it are just fucking horrific.
My research and training involve forensic psychology and forensic science. I have read so many horrible depictions of real-life events. I have seen so many disturbing crime scene photos. And I still feel so physically sick to my stomach about what I just read. Don’t read this book. I know it has high ratings on here and on Amazon, but please just do yourself a favor and don’t read it. Yes, it depicts things that quite disgustingly and unfortunately do happen to children. But I have no fucking clue why someone would write this book. I read the author’s explanation for why he wrote it. I’m not buying it. Nothing good comes out of reading this.
I finished this book about 10 minutes ago. I’ve been processing what I just read. After a few chapters, I nearly quit reading. There are GRAPHIC, disgusting depictions of child abuse, mind games, manipulation, extortion, blackmail, torture, mutilation, and murder. Torture is putting it too lightly. What was done to the child characters in this book is unspeakably heinous. I feel so depressed, upset, disgusted, and sick to my stomach right now. I’ve been nauseated ever since I got to the final showdown at the end of the book.
Spoilers ahead:
I wanted the pedophiles to die. I NEEDED them to die to give me closure on this fucked up story. For some reason, even though I know how low the odds are in real life and how monstrously the book characters treated their previous victims, I really thought Grace would somehow make it. As unbelievable as it might have been, I so badly wanted her Dad to find her. She would probably be completely emotionally destroyed and horrifically damaged for the rest of her life, but I wanted her to survive so much. After a few chapters, I nearly stopped reading. The graphic depictions of child torture and murder were sickening. But I felt like I needed to know how the story ended. Parts of this book are so suspenseful and hooking, but dear God parts of it are just fucking horrific.
My research and training involve forensic psychology and forensic science. I have read so many horrible depictions of real-life events. I have seen so many disturbing crime scene photos. And I still feel so physically sick to my stomach about what I just read. Don’t read this book. I know it has high ratings on here and on Amazon, but please just do yourself a favor and don’t read it. Yes, it depicts things that quite disgustingly and unfortunately do happen to children. But I have no fucking clue why someone would write this book. I read the author’s explanation for why he wrote it. I’m not buying it. Nothing good comes out of reading this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2021
Mindblown!!!
Wow!! I didn’t think I’d be able to continue with this book after the first several chapters. The beginning of this book is hard work and very emotional. Jon Athan is a brilliant writer, and whereas the beginning is very graphic, and deals with very sick content, it is also a very intelligent and raw portrayal of the evil world we live in. My heart broke and I had tears running down my face, but I kept going as I wanted to know that these vile sickos get what they deserved. I’m glad I have read it, as it deals with ‘real’ life and any parent would deal with this exactly how Andrew does. If you can stomach the first part of the book, and continue to the end, you will not be disappointed. But it’s not for the faint hearted!!Andrew is a superhero!!
Wow!! I didn’t think I’d be able to continue with this book after the first several chapters. The beginning of this book is hard work and very emotional. Jon Athan is a brilliant writer, and whereas the beginning is very graphic, and deals with very sick content, it is also a very intelligent and raw portrayal of the evil world we live in. My heart broke and I had tears running down my face, but I kept going as I wanted to know that these vile sickos get what they deserved. I’m glad I have read it, as it deals with ‘real’ life and any parent would deal with this exactly how Andrew does. If you can stomach the first part of the book, and continue to the end, you will not be disappointed. But it’s not for the faint hearted!!Andrew is a superhero!!
January 3, 2023
Let me start by saying I knew what this book was about. And it was brutal. Sickening. I pretty much skimmed chapters 4 - 10 as I couldn't stomach it. It's bad. Horrible. And so truthfully hurtful. It's a very sensitive topic we all shy away from, but it's out there and it happens. 3 stars for neutrality. That is all..
June 4, 2022
Ah, so this is what it feels like to unconsciously dig my nails into my kneecaps in a state of actual fear and dread! This is such a rare occurrence for me, because books that actually succeed at freaking me out are rare beasts. Yet here it is, a book that depicts such an ugly side of humanity… one that kept pushing my eyes away from the page, yet enticing me to abandon all caution and keep reading.
This is a gritty, suspenseful, and punishing revenge story that requires a stomach of steel and an iron disposition to endure. Some may be revolted and not want anything to do with this because of the book’s premise itself–and I wouldn’t blame them. We follow Andrew, a man desperate to find his abducted daughter, Grace. Sounds familiar, eh? Think again.
The Groomer, at first glance, fits the mold of a suspense-thriller, yet it’s undoubtedly an extreme horror book. The perpetrators of this abduction are a bunch of sick fucks who make money off wealthy people who pay for snuff films… and who are willing to pay extra for (very) young victims. Grace is just starting off in preschool. Do the math.
Yes, there are lots of violent scenes, but the true scares come from the violence not seen on the page. Every second young Grace is missing is painful to endure… and almost the entire second act of this book follows just Andrew. Athan leaves us just as clueless and afraid as Andrew is, and gives us enough clues to get our minds to conjure up the worst possible scenarios. Man, when I say I was fucking SCARED… 😟
To suggest that shocking actions are committed is an understatement; this book *goes there* as far as gruesomeness–with a purpose?– is concerned. The criminal psychology Athan explores in Lovesick is expanded here to look at the aberrant psychology that drives us all. The book asks you how far you’d go in order to save a loved one in a world where law enforcement takes their sweet time, all while every second feels like an eternity in hell. And it’s frankly one of the best of its genre that I’ve read.
This is a gritty, suspenseful, and punishing revenge story that requires a stomach of steel and an iron disposition to endure. Some may be revolted and not want anything to do with this because of the book’s premise itself–and I wouldn’t blame them. We follow Andrew, a man desperate to find his abducted daughter, Grace. Sounds familiar, eh? Think again.
The Groomer, at first glance, fits the mold of a suspense-thriller, yet it’s undoubtedly an extreme horror book. The perpetrators of this abduction are a bunch of sick fucks who make money off wealthy people who pay for snuff films… and who are willing to pay extra for (very) young victims. Grace is just starting off in preschool. Do the math.
Yes, there are lots of violent scenes, but the true scares come from the violence not seen on the page. Every second young Grace is missing is painful to endure… and almost the entire second act of this book follows just Andrew. Athan leaves us just as clueless and afraid as Andrew is, and gives us enough clues to get our minds to conjure up the worst possible scenarios. Man, when I say I was fucking SCARED… 😟
To suggest that shocking actions are committed is an understatement; this book *goes there* as far as gruesomeness–with a purpose?– is concerned. The criminal psychology Athan explores in Lovesick is expanded here to look at the aberrant psychology that drives us all. The book asks you how far you’d go in order to save a loved one in a world where law enforcement takes their sweet time, all while every second feels like an eternity in hell. And it’s frankly one of the best of its genre that I’ve read.
June 30, 2022
Very badly written. If this were a movie, I would have been scanning forward past the insane behaviors of the characters (insane and unrealistic) looking for the actual kid trafficking part where we are supposed to see what happens after the kids get taken. All the while biching and moaning about how stupid these people are. I am not an author, and I applaud anyone who attempts it, but come one, get some beta readers you can trust. I might have run-on sentences or mistakes in my reviews, but I am not trying to make money from people.
This book is full of plot holes, bad dialogue, and mixed character motivations and actions. It’s like the author couldn’t make up his mind on whether the father was a normal suburban dad who had a shred of intelligence or an idiot who is grasping at straws looking for his daughter, and has overnight become an expert in torture gore. The other characters were just as badly written.
We are given the actually kid scenes in the form of a random abduction in the first couple of chapters. They are set up to give the reader an idea of what "grooming" is, and it does show a bit of kid torture, but it is as unrealistic as possible. The damage incurred doesn't match up with what inflicted it. Darts thrown by hand from a distance will not crack and break bones. Kicking and stomping repeatedly a 10-year-old boy will not let him continue to groan and cry. This was the extent of what happens after the kids were taken. This was two chapters and did not include the main story
.
There is another chapter that is intended to inform about the type of internet trapping of young girls who are manipulated into sending in increasingly disturbing pictures of themselves in order to prevent the initially tame nude photographs that were taken under false pretenses from getting out.
The child taken from the main story was apparently not told about the bad man who was stalking her. Her father knew about it, he confronted the guy multiple times, and even installed a security system. However, when it came down to it, no one bothered telling the girl to stay away from strangers because the guy had no problem getting her to go with him. This was the end of what we see or hear from the girl. Nothing else until a third person retelling of the events at the final chapter.
The book is about the father and his descent into madness while going about trying to find his missing daughter. Trying to locate the guy who took her. This is where the torture happens. The whole setup is very bad. It’s as if the author spent all his time and energy writing torture and gore scenes and needed a story to tell them. Since the story is about one girl being taken, that wouldn’t cover all the gore. Plus, no one really wants to write about torturing little girls for pages on end. So, the author decided he needed some adult, and unlikeable characters. Cue the sex offenders listed online. The father is the character who is tapped to perform all the gore. His motivation is to locate his missing girl. He simply goes on the sex offender website and starts randomly checking out guys who “seem” to fit a profile that would make sense if they were going after his daughter. He totally forgot about the guy who he confronted multiple times about perving on his daughter. But, oh well, the author needed some fall guys and these random offenders made the cut. Don’t even get me going on how the father actually is able to find the guy. Seriously? A website that they guy had set up as cover for him taking kid pictures at the park, and he puts his actual name and address for it. The father goes to the website, looks up contact information and goes there. The guy is actually there.
I don't know how this book got such good reviews. It's a split between great reviews and one-star ratings denouncing this as a disgusting read. I don't know about the gore part because I skipped it. Yeah, that's what was supposed to be the main draw, but I didn't care to read about tedious ways to extracting information. I wanted to read about what happens to a kid after he gets taken. I initially thought that this was going to be featured, but it turns out that it isn't the case.
Whatever.
This book is full of plot holes, bad dialogue, and mixed character motivations and actions. It’s like the author couldn’t make up his mind on whether the father was a normal suburban dad who had a shred of intelligence or an idiot who is grasping at straws looking for his daughter, and has overnight become an expert in torture gore. The other characters were just as badly written.
We are given the actually kid scenes in the form of a random abduction in the first couple of chapters. They are set up to give the reader an idea of what "grooming" is, and it does show a bit of kid torture, but it is as unrealistic as possible. The damage incurred doesn't match up with what inflicted it. Darts thrown by hand from a distance will not crack and break bones. Kicking and stomping repeatedly a 10-year-old boy will not let him continue to groan and cry. This was the extent of what happens after the kids were taken. This was two chapters and did not include the main story
.
There is another chapter that is intended to inform about the type of internet trapping of young girls who are manipulated into sending in increasingly disturbing pictures of themselves in order to prevent the initially tame nude photographs that were taken under false pretenses from getting out.
The child taken from the main story was apparently not told about the bad man who was stalking her. Her father knew about it, he confronted the guy multiple times, and even installed a security system. However, when it came down to it, no one bothered telling the girl to stay away from strangers because the guy had no problem getting her to go with him. This was the end of what we see or hear from the girl. Nothing else until a third person retelling of the events at the final chapter.
The book is about the father and his descent into madness while going about trying to find his missing daughter. Trying to locate the guy who took her. This is where the torture happens. The whole setup is very bad. It’s as if the author spent all his time and energy writing torture and gore scenes and needed a story to tell them. Since the story is about one girl being taken, that wouldn’t cover all the gore. Plus, no one really wants to write about torturing little girls for pages on end. So, the author decided he needed some adult, and unlikeable characters. Cue the sex offenders listed online. The father is the character who is tapped to perform all the gore. His motivation is to locate his missing girl. He simply goes on the sex offender website and starts randomly checking out guys who “seem” to fit a profile that would make sense if they were going after his daughter. He totally forgot about the guy who he confronted multiple times about perving on his daughter. But, oh well, the author needed some fall guys and these random offenders made the cut. Don’t even get me going on how the father actually is able to find the guy. Seriously? A website that they guy had set up as cover for him taking kid pictures at the park, and he puts his actual name and address for it. The father goes to the website, looks up contact information and goes there. The guy is actually there.
I don't know how this book got such good reviews. It's a split between great reviews and one-star ratings denouncing this as a disgusting read. I don't know about the gore part because I skipped it. Yeah, that's what was supposed to be the main draw, but I didn't care to read about tedious ways to extracting information. I wanted to read about what happens to a kid after he gets taken. I initially thought that this was going to be featured, but it turns out that it isn't the case.
Whatever.
January 10, 2022
Omg this book was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. At first it was hard to get through with some of the scenes but once you get passed it the intensity of the scenes are mind blowing. I cringed I gagged on certain scenes especially the porn shoot involving the two men and a women (yuk) but I love crazy stuff so it was right up my alley for extreme horror genre. I liked how it ended. The only thing is the epilogue I would of like to have more info on certain things but I wont give any spoilers.
This is a intense read and so worth it.
Bravo 5 stars from me
This is a intense read and so worth it.
Bravo 5 stars from me
October 14, 2022
This will be marked as a DNF and I’ll never touch it again. Chapter 3 is absolutely horrifying and way too graphic (my opinion). I’m not naive, I know stuff like that happens in real life but to have the imagination to sit down and write it is just… I have no words. Those 3 chapters made me never want to allow my kids to play video games again. I just want to cry, throw up and cuddle my kids all night. Good luck to those who attempt to read this and Ty to prepare yourself for the worst.
March 21, 2023
Think John Wick crossed with Prisoners and then add a big sprinkling of paedophilia = The Groomer.
'His cries danced through the desolate woods, serenading the woodland critters with a melancholic tune.'
The groomer is a sick and twisted revenge drama with underlying social themes. This is not a book for the faint of heart.
This was an extremely violent, gory and sadistic read.
My only real annoyances were that the plot became predictable early on and overall, the writing style was relatively simplistic for the most part, although there were a few stand-out passages and moments within this book. This led me to only give a 3-star rating.
'Then the sky turned red—blood-red—and the clouds crimson. The berries in the bushes looked like drops of blood. Mangled animal carcasses hung from the tree branches and littered the ground. He saw an apocalyptic vision. His world was ending.'
A sick yet very enjoyable read.
'His cries danced through the desolate woods, serenading the woodland critters with a melancholic tune.'
The groomer is a sick and twisted revenge drama with underlying social themes. This is not a book for the faint of heart.
This was an extremely violent, gory and sadistic read.
My only real annoyances were that the plot became predictable early on and overall, the writing style was relatively simplistic for the most part, although there were a few stand-out passages and moments within this book. This led me to only give a 3-star rating.
'Then the sky turned red—blood-red—and the clouds crimson. The berries in the bushes looked like drops of blood. Mangled animal carcasses hung from the tree branches and littered the ground. He saw an apocalyptic vision. His world was ending.'
A sick yet very enjoyable read.
January 20, 2024
I've read quite a few books that are classified as 'extreme' horror, but in terms of making me feel genuinely uneasy (and feeling like I need to check behind the shower curtain before going to bed at night), nothing I've ever read has even come remotely close to this. This was a 5-star read the entire way through. Normally I give a brief summary of the plot in my reviews on here, but given the title of this and knowing that you probably are already aware that it contains graphic depictions of torture, murder, rape and pedophilia, there isn't really much of a need. This one really achieved new heights for me in the matter of being both disturbing as hell while actually telling a compelling story. My only complaint is that there were three proof-reading mistakes I noticed, all three of which were the character's names being mixed up. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for an intense, edge-of-your-seat, page-turning thrill ride, but consider yourself warned. Author 'Jon Athan' has clearly done his research on some of the darkest things that happen in the world and this book holds nothing back. An absolute masterpiece.
March 10, 2021
The groomer is a disturbingly brutal violent ride that doesn't let up. This book is scary because it shows how easy technology is\can be used by the real monsters in this world for pure evil. This is a book of vigilante justice with over the top violence and brutality. I think I liked this book more than into the wolves den. If you want a violent read this one definitely doesn't disappoint.
November 22, 2024
What a terrible book!!! All I could think about was what is wrong with the author? I'm not even sure if I should mark it as read since I skipped so many parts. Many people assured me it would get better after chapter 5, but it didn't. I reached the last page only to find out if the girl was found.
April 25, 2023
A normal day at the park takes a horrific turn when Andrew McCarthy catches the handsome and charismatic Zachary Denton taking pictures of his daughter for his photography website. It seems to be nothing more than an innocent misunderstanding at first, but once Andrew begins to bump into Zachary watching him and his family from a distance wherever he goes with his camera in hand, he begins to accept that this is no mere coincidence. Andrew's daughter Grace is being targeted by a ring of perverts running a sick business for child snuff films on the deep web, and Zachary's interest in his family might just be the tip of a far more depraved iceberg. When the police fail to protect his daughter from the encroaching evil, Andrew takes matters into his own hands.
Wow! I had this book pitched to me as being more disturbing than Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door (which I personally think is the most painful and upsetting book I've ever read), so me being the masochistic simpleton I am saw that as a challenge. While I personally found Girl Next Door to be slightly more disturbing because of the fact that it was based on a real crime that actually happened, this book is definitely a strong contender for most disturbing thing I've ever read.
While the subject matter is extremely upsetting, the writing, tension and character work are all absolutely phenomenal. Not only is it a page turner with tons of shock, grotesque violence and intense emotions, it also draws a lot of attention to how predators operate in modern society and all the tactics they employ to prey on children. From pretending to be online friends, virtual blackmailing, forming media-sharing rings on Twitter or even meeting through online gaming, it shows how easy technology makes it for evil people to get away with doing terrible things and even turning profit from it.
It's definitely a must-read for parents who have small children and aren't up-to-date on modern technology and the many horrors of the internet. Just be ready for a relentlessly brutal and depressing story that doesn't pull punches and doesn't try to cover these terrible things up with pretty words. It goes all in on the tragedies of human trafficking, child abduction, murder for profit and evil people triumphing over the innocent more than we care to admit. The book is very gripping and informative, but there's little light or happiness to be found within its pages.
My rating: 4.5/5
Wow! I had this book pitched to me as being more disturbing than Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door (which I personally think is the most painful and upsetting book I've ever read), so me being the masochistic simpleton I am saw that as a challenge. While I personally found Girl Next Door to be slightly more disturbing because of the fact that it was based on a real crime that actually happened, this book is definitely a strong contender for most disturbing thing I've ever read.
While the subject matter is extremely upsetting, the writing, tension and character work are all absolutely phenomenal. Not only is it a page turner with tons of shock, grotesque violence and intense emotions, it also draws a lot of attention to how predators operate in modern society and all the tactics they employ to prey on children. From pretending to be online friends, virtual blackmailing, forming media-sharing rings on Twitter or even meeting through online gaming, it shows how easy technology makes it for evil people to get away with doing terrible things and even turning profit from it.
It's definitely a must-read for parents who have small children and aren't up-to-date on modern technology and the many horrors of the internet. Just be ready for a relentlessly brutal and depressing story that doesn't pull punches and doesn't try to cover these terrible things up with pretty words. It goes all in on the tragedies of human trafficking, child abduction, murder for profit and evil people triumphing over the innocent more than we care to admit. The book is very gripping and informative, but there's little light or happiness to be found within its pages.
My rating: 4.5/5
June 13, 2022
One of the easiest 5 stars I have ever given a book in my life. I felt the same way reading this book as I did Survivor. Please be mindful of the trigger warnings as there are some graphic scenes involving children. These mostly happen towards the beginning of the book. We then follow a father throughout the book searching for his daughter after she was abducted. It was heartbreaking and anxiety inducing and I FELT his pain throughout the book. Extremely realistic look into child abductions, trafficking, snuff films, etc. This was extremely well done and I could not put it down. I highly recommend if you liked Survivor to read this one. An absolute masterpiece in my eyes.
April 21, 2025
Books read & reviewed: 1️⃣7️⃣9️⃣🥖4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Word Count: 78k Words, average length novel
╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ My 30th read this month (^-^ )
3️⃣🌟, you tried to do a plot, you desperately tried to do a plot but you just failed miserably — as much as i would say this, i don't even think this term exists, but this is what i would call "Splatterpunk Bait"
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗
Splatterpunk is one of my most beloved genres in literature (dont ask me why) but this one just stood out as one that tries too hard.. tries too hard to do what? Tries too hard to write a plot.
When looking at the blurb, the plot is simple, Andrew's daughter gets kidnapped and goes missing, the police can't do anything about it because their investigation is very dry, so ma boi Andrew decides to "take the matters into his own hands".. and looks for the kidnapper himself. Which pretty much reminds me of a book that i absolutely hated and the ideas seems pretty copy paste (it's 'Good girl, bad blood, which is the second book of A good girl's guide to murder by Holly Jackson') but instead of a mystery genre, we have splatterpunk.
This is my 2nd Jon Athan book and with the first one being The Harbinger of Vengeance, i expected this author to be a one that writes well written splatterpunk since the short story The Harbinger of Vengeance, but sadly to say that his most popular work is not one that deserves praise.
I said that this is splatterpunk bait because of the supposed 'extreme' scenes, splatterpunk is primarily known for its no boundaries, no limits writing of the most disgusting experiences and actions done by the human race and this book certainly delivers that but the thing is its frequency and placement. The child rape scenes, that blackmail scene and that revenge scene which all feature gruesome depictions only appeared on chapter 3, 5 and 24, and I'm saying that because the placement of chapter 3 is suspiciously a deliberate choice... Just early enough for 'normal' readers (who definitely wouldn't want to read a book about child rape), to DNF this and consider this to be one of the most disturbing things they've read (which is one of the goals of splatterpunk books, even if that's kinda contradicting to traditional books, cuz you wrote that book for ppl to read, why would people dnf'ing it be a goal?). This sets up a expectation to normal readers that 'since theres literally child rape and im only on chapter three, i expect that the rest of the book would only be of the same level or even higher and more extreme than that'. So you can only imagine my reaction when this author tried to do.. "a plot" that strays away from the genre of this book which is splatterpunk, since splatterpunk and a 'plot' definitely doesn't go together. It's a great risk with low rewards for someone to even try to write a plot in a splatterpunk book since well the only thing that people will have conversations about in this book ARE THE DISTURBING PARTS ONLY AND NOT THE PLOT.
So that great risk of writing a plot pretty much failed this time, cuz hell this plot is a literal goose chase, its sooo repetitive. If i were to tell you what a literal goose chase is when it comes to a story, i would tell you this one. Because he basically goes around the entire city looking for ex-convicts, just saying "hey did you kidnap my daughter?" "no?" "well i don't care because i'm still going to kill you". That is literally the summary of the middle part of the book, it may be just the entire book itself.
When the author even tried to do a mysterious puzzle for the readers to also tune in and discover who this mysterious person named "Cheese" who kidnaps Andrew's daughter, we're left stunned because this puzzle just ends with no climax and just "ok so this random guy that you've never even heard the name of throughout this entire book is the mastermind who kidnapped Andrew's daughter".
It's not that hard to write splatterpunk (just write the most disturbing, most disgusting things you can ever think of and that's it), but the risk of what you did by trying to write a "plot" or if you can even call that a plot complementary to that indisputably backfired in this book.
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Word Count: 78k Words, average length novel
╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ My 30th read this month (^-^ )
3️⃣🌟, you tried to do a plot, you desperately tried to do a plot but you just failed miserably — as much as i would say this, i don't even think this term exists, but this is what i would call "Splatterpunk Bait"
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗
Splatterpunk is one of my most beloved genres in literature (dont ask me why) but this one just stood out as one that tries too hard.. tries too hard to do what? Tries too hard to write a plot.
When looking at the blurb, the plot is simple, Andrew's daughter gets kidnapped and goes missing, the police can't do anything about it because their investigation is very dry, so ma boi Andrew decides to "take the matters into his own hands".. and looks for the kidnapper himself. Which pretty much reminds me of a book that i absolutely hated and the ideas seems pretty copy paste (it's 'Good girl, bad blood, which is the second book of A good girl's guide to murder by Holly Jackson') but instead of a mystery genre, we have splatterpunk.
This is my 2nd Jon Athan book and with the first one being The Harbinger of Vengeance, i expected this author to be a one that writes well written splatterpunk since the short story The Harbinger of Vengeance, but sadly to say that his most popular work is not one that deserves praise.
I said that this is splatterpunk bait because of the supposed 'extreme' scenes, splatterpunk is primarily known for its no boundaries, no limits writing of the most disgusting experiences and actions done by the human race and this book certainly delivers that but the thing is its frequency and placement. The child rape scenes, that blackmail scene and that revenge scene which all feature gruesome depictions only appeared on chapter 3, 5 and 24, and I'm saying that because the placement of chapter 3 is suspiciously a deliberate choice... Just early enough for 'normal' readers (who definitely wouldn't want to read a book about child rape), to DNF this and consider this to be one of the most disturbing things they've read (which is one of the goals of splatterpunk books, even if that's kinda contradicting to traditional books, cuz you wrote that book for ppl to read, why would people dnf'ing it be a goal?). This sets up a expectation to normal readers that 'since theres literally child rape and im only on chapter three, i expect that the rest of the book would only be of the same level or even higher and more extreme than that'. So you can only imagine my reaction when this author tried to do.. "a plot" that strays away from the genre of this book which is splatterpunk, since splatterpunk and a 'plot' definitely doesn't go together. It's a great risk with low rewards for someone to even try to write a plot in a splatterpunk book since well the only thing that people will have conversations about in this book ARE THE DISTURBING PARTS ONLY AND NOT THE PLOT.
So that great risk of writing a plot pretty much failed this time, cuz hell this plot is a literal goose chase, its sooo repetitive. If i were to tell you what a literal goose chase is when it comes to a story, i would tell you this one. Because he basically goes around the entire city looking for ex-convicts, just saying "hey did you kidnap my daughter?" "no?" "well i don't care because i'm still going to kill you". That is literally the summary of the middle part of the book, it may be just the entire book itself.
When the author even tried to do a mysterious puzzle for the readers to also tune in and discover who this mysterious person named "Cheese" who kidnaps Andrew's daughter, we're left stunned because this puzzle just ends with no climax and just "ok so this random guy that you've never even heard the name of throughout this entire book is the mastermind who kidnapped Andrew's daughter".
It's not that hard to write splatterpunk (just write the most disturbing, most disgusting things you can ever think of and that's it), but the risk of what you did by trying to write a "plot" or if you can even call that a plot complementary to that indisputably backfired in this book.
July 31, 2023
Honestly, I thought this book was fantastic. I sat down to read it due to the controversy, but it's way more than that. it's brilliantly written, massively tense, hugely emotional, and repeatedly punches you in the gut. Highly recommend to anyone who can stomach the subject matter.
June 19, 2022
TW: Suicide, rape, bullying, blackmailing, molestation, gory scenes, torture, baby death, children's death, etc......
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Andrew McCarthy grows concerned for his family after he catches a young man, Zachary Denton, photographing his daughter, Grace McCarthy, and other children at a park. To his dismay, Zachary talks his way out of trouble when he’s confronted by the police. He hopes that’s the end of it. Then he finds Zachary at a diner and then at a grocery store. He knows their encounters aren't coincidences. And just as Andrew prepares to defend his family, Grace vanishes. As the police search stalls and the leads dry up, Andrew decides to take matters into his own hands. He starts by searching for sex offenders in the area and researching enhanced interrogation techniques... He convinces himself he’ll do anything to rescue his daughter, unaware of the pure evil he'll face in his journey. He’s willing to hurt—to torture—anyone to save his family.
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
Genre: Gore porn Horror
Pages: 346
Rating: ⭐
What I Liked:
1. The writing is nice
2. I was sucked into this story
3. Some messed up stuff that I even had to gasp at
4. The gory was completely over the top & extreme
What I Didn't Like:
1. The countless plot holes
2. Would it be 2020 if there wasn't a mention of coronavirus?
3. Weird political stances
4. The ending
Overall Thoughts:
I devoured this book in a day. I liked the book and the writing was good in that self published kind of way. There are a lot of plot holes. I kept trying to reason that this book is kind of horror but I have a rule that if a book is set in reality then it's up for me sinning it.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #1:
Zach takes a bunch of photos of the kids in the sandbox then after talking to Max and Grace hurries away. In the time it takes Max to get back to his parents to tell them what happened somehow Zach has managed to take hundreds of good photos. Not only that but he hides the photos of Grace with the ones he took of them in a sandbox and trees, but that makes no sense since the sandbox photo happens before he takes photos of her alone.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #2:
The book is so villain forward that even cameras can't touch them. A baby is stolen from a Walmart parking lot and it's caught on camera, but they have no idea who the guy is. The kids are talking to Zach in the grocery store again no one does anything about the cameras catching this on film. They probably have film of him following them around the store. Next that there was zero camera action in the front of the school! The way schools are now there is no way something wasn't caught on film.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #3:
Grace and Max's parents have zero common sense. They have noticed and acknowledged that they are being stalked. They know that their daughter was photographed by this person in the park. After the issue in the park and then seeing him in the restaurant she let's the kids wander off to get groceries alone. She let's her 5 and 8 year leave her... Also what weird store has Poptarts and cereal in different aisles. I wouldn't shop there. Then after she sees him in the store she is freaking out but at school it's the same old stuff of leaving the kids outside to wait for her to finish work. If these were my kids you best believe they would now be in my classroom while I finish up my work. Oh and then the parents forgetting the dudes name that had been stalking them. Like no. No. There is no way that would happen.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #4:
Zach talks about how people are creatures of habit and do the same old stuff. That it's easy to talk someone once you know their routine. Well you can't make that statement in the book and then go to the school and take Grace and have me belief that NO ONE notices that this is different than the kids routine. If everyone is used to the kids waiting under this tree and there suddenly she is talking to a random dude that no one has seen around before they will notice. She even manages to walk past the crossing guard but all she can remember is her smile. Like no. This book treats teachers and crossing guards like they are idiots. How would she not notice that just one child is walking off with a grown man and the other one is still sitting around. Plus Holly is a teacher here so her kids aren't just random kids. The teachers are going to watch out more for the kids since they know them better and they are kids that stay later. I started thinking maybe the crossing guard is on the kidnappings 🤷🏻♀️
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #5:
Soon after the abduction Max has friends over. I find this so odd who would send their kids over to a house where a child has been abducted? No parent in their right mind would.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #6:
Somehow Andrew finds out that Caleb is homeless. No idea how he would know that. It is never explained. It's not like homeless people leave behind a forwarding address. Then we get some social commentary about how we treat the homeless and we should help them.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #7:
That Zachs home address is just listed on his website. Who would do that? He's out there stealing children and filming them and his home address is just available for anyone to have. Oh and him selling out the other dude(s). Like Zack is a smart dude that knows that IF Andrew doesn't kill him then all the other people working with each other will kill the snitch.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #8:
Getting the address for Cheese. That was so easy. The cringe way Andrew sweet talks the rich wife into thinking about her insurance policy. Is ridiculous. I'm so sure in his mini van she'd be like yep. Rich people don't care about a few extra thousands for a small vacation. They pay people to deal with insurance stuff.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #9:
Timeline of this book jumps around and around. One minute Andrew is walking on crunching autumn leaves, then it's January and then he makes a comment at Damien's home that the pool was calm and no parties going on and no visitors for months. I was completely lost at what season we are in.
SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS:
I have to laugh at the fact that Andrew comes home covered in blood and no one is home. Rather than taking the opportunity to wash the clothes or get rid of them (bury or burn) he decides he's just going to hide them. Do men really hate laundry that much they'd rather leave evidence around for his family to find?
Speaking of Andrew I have no idea how to take him as a person. One minute he's too weak to do anything about things happening to his family and the next he's out there tormenting pedos. One second he's enjoying torturing Diego and the next he's saving his life. Skip to at home him smiling at blood in his beard. Is this dude a Gemini? Also I'm confused why he went to one dudes house when he was 100% certain it was Zach who did it. Then he continues this torturing but back & force.
I love how easy it is to just get Zack, auto shop, and Cheeses addresses. Also how Andrew doesn't need a break to rest or anything between all the murders. This is some John Wick energy. He's not covered in blood even when he goes to Cheese's house and he was even near a man who's head was smashed in.
Having read the ending I'm confused. So the parents knew nothing about what he did. How did he get the kids in and out of the house? Weren't they covered in blood when they would leave the house to burying the bodies? How did they get the dead kids out? I get the dad not seeing but how do you sneak this past his mom when she's a homemaker? Then he's this pathetic, weak, man that shits and pisses his pants at the sight of his being murdered. So I'm supposed to believe that he is able to torture and dismember kids and babies, but that sight is what makes him loose his shit (literally)? I'm not buying it. He doesn't prepare to defend even though he clearly knows someone is coming. He doesn't hide. He doesn't get a weapon. He just stands there. Dumbest ending. It made ZERO sense to torment Hailey for what ger brother did. Why punish her? I get that perhaps Andrew is just pushed to the limits so he's only in one mode but it was at that point ridiculous to the story.
Final Thoughts: I'm very disappointed in this book. It started out a solid 5 stars and then as I read on it was a 3 star. 3/4th of the way to the ending it dropped down to 1 star. Like what happened??
I did love that this book had an actual story to tell. Most gore books just want to shock you to shock you, but this book had a story. I was sucked into knowing what was going to happen.
Recommended For:
• Love tons & tons of gore
• Pedos getting killed
• Story of a fathers love
• Revenge stories
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Andrew McCarthy grows concerned for his family after he catches a young man, Zachary Denton, photographing his daughter, Grace McCarthy, and other children at a park. To his dismay, Zachary talks his way out of trouble when he’s confronted by the police. He hopes that’s the end of it. Then he finds Zachary at a diner and then at a grocery store. He knows their encounters aren't coincidences. And just as Andrew prepares to defend his family, Grace vanishes. As the police search stalls and the leads dry up, Andrew decides to take matters into his own hands. He starts by searching for sex offenders in the area and researching enhanced interrogation techniques... He convinces himself he’ll do anything to rescue his daughter, unaware of the pure evil he'll face in his journey. He’s willing to hurt—to torture—anyone to save his family.
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
Genre: Gore porn Horror
Pages: 346
Rating: ⭐
What I Liked:
1. The writing is nice
2. I was sucked into this story
3. Some messed up stuff that I even had to gasp at
4. The gory was completely over the top & extreme
What I Didn't Like:
1. The countless plot holes
2. Would it be 2020 if there wasn't a mention of coronavirus?
3. Weird political stances
4. The ending
Overall Thoughts:
I devoured this book in a day. I liked the book and the writing was good in that self published kind of way. There are a lot of plot holes. I kept trying to reason that this book is kind of horror but I have a rule that if a book is set in reality then it's up for me sinning it.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #1:
Zach takes a bunch of photos of the kids in the sandbox then after talking to Max and Grace hurries away. In the time it takes Max to get back to his parents to tell them what happened somehow Zach has managed to take hundreds of good photos. Not only that but he hides the photos of Grace with the ones he took of them in a sandbox and trees, but that makes no sense since the sandbox photo happens before he takes photos of her alone.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #2:
The book is so villain forward that even cameras can't touch them. A baby is stolen from a Walmart parking lot and it's caught on camera, but they have no idea who the guy is. The kids are talking to Zach in the grocery store again no one does anything about the cameras catching this on film. They probably have film of him following them around the store. Next that there was zero camera action in the front of the school! The way schools are now there is no way something wasn't caught on film.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #3:
Grace and Max's parents have zero common sense. They have noticed and acknowledged that they are being stalked. They know that their daughter was photographed by this person in the park. After the issue in the park and then seeing him in the restaurant she let's the kids wander off to get groceries alone. She let's her 5 and 8 year leave her... Also what weird store has Poptarts and cereal in different aisles. I wouldn't shop there. Then after she sees him in the store she is freaking out but at school it's the same old stuff of leaving the kids outside to wait for her to finish work. If these were my kids you best believe they would now be in my classroom while I finish up my work. Oh and then the parents forgetting the dudes name that had been stalking them. Like no. No. There is no way that would happen.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #4:
Zach talks about how people are creatures of habit and do the same old stuff. That it's easy to talk someone once you know their routine. Well you can't make that statement in the book and then go to the school and take Grace and have me belief that NO ONE notices that this is different than the kids routine. If everyone is used to the kids waiting under this tree and there suddenly she is talking to a random dude that no one has seen around before they will notice. She even manages to walk past the crossing guard but all she can remember is her smile. Like no. This book treats teachers and crossing guards like they are idiots. How would she not notice that just one child is walking off with a grown man and the other one is still sitting around. Plus Holly is a teacher here so her kids aren't just random kids. The teachers are going to watch out more for the kids since they know them better and they are kids that stay later. I started thinking maybe the crossing guard is on the kidnappings 🤷🏻♀️
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #5:
Soon after the abduction Max has friends over. I find this so odd who would send their kids over to a house where a child has been abducted? No parent in their right mind would.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #6:
Somehow Andrew finds out that Caleb is homeless. No idea how he would know that. It is never explained. It's not like homeless people leave behind a forwarding address. Then we get some social commentary about how we treat the homeless and we should help them.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #7:
That Zachs home address is just listed on his website. Who would do that? He's out there stealing children and filming them and his home address is just available for anyone to have. Oh and him selling out the other dude(s). Like Zack is a smart dude that knows that IF Andrew doesn't kill him then all the other people working with each other will kill the snitch.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #8:
Getting the address for Cheese. That was so easy. The cringe way Andrew sweet talks the rich wife into thinking about her insurance policy. Is ridiculous. I'm so sure in his mini van she'd be like yep. Rich people don't care about a few extra thousands for a small vacation. They pay people to deal with insurance stuff.
PLOT HOLE ISSUE #9:
Timeline of this book jumps around and around. One minute Andrew is walking on crunching autumn leaves, then it's January and then he makes a comment at Damien's home that the pool was calm and no parties going on and no visitors for months. I was completely lost at what season we are in.
SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS:
I have to laugh at the fact that Andrew comes home covered in blood and no one is home. Rather than taking the opportunity to wash the clothes or get rid of them (bury or burn) he decides he's just going to hide them. Do men really hate laundry that much they'd rather leave evidence around for his family to find?
Speaking of Andrew I have no idea how to take him as a person. One minute he's too weak to do anything about things happening to his family and the next he's out there tormenting pedos. One second he's enjoying torturing Diego and the next he's saving his life. Skip to at home him smiling at blood in his beard. Is this dude a Gemini? Also I'm confused why he went to one dudes house when he was 100% certain it was Zach who did it. Then he continues this torturing but back & force.
I love how easy it is to just get Zack, auto shop, and Cheeses addresses. Also how Andrew doesn't need a break to rest or anything between all the murders. This is some John Wick energy. He's not covered in blood even when he goes to Cheese's house and he was even near a man who's head was smashed in.
Having read the ending I'm confused. So the parents knew nothing about what he did. How did he get the kids in and out of the house? Weren't they covered in blood when they would leave the house to burying the bodies? How did they get the dead kids out? I get the dad not seeing but how do you sneak this past his mom when she's a homemaker? Then he's this pathetic, weak, man that shits and pisses his pants at the sight of his being murdered. So I'm supposed to believe that he is able to torture and dismember kids and babies, but that sight is what makes him loose his shit (literally)? I'm not buying it. He doesn't prepare to defend even though he clearly knows someone is coming. He doesn't hide. He doesn't get a weapon. He just stands there. Dumbest ending. It made ZERO sense to torment Hailey for what ger brother did. Why punish her? I get that perhaps Andrew is just pushed to the limits so he's only in one mode but it was at that point ridiculous to the story.
Final Thoughts: I'm very disappointed in this book. It started out a solid 5 stars and then as I read on it was a 3 star. 3/4th of the way to the ending it dropped down to 1 star. Like what happened??
I did love that this book had an actual story to tell. Most gore books just want to shock you to shock you, but this book had a story. I was sucked into knowing what was going to happen.
Recommended For:
• Love tons & tons of gore
• Pedos getting killed
• Story of a fathers love
• Revenge stories
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dnf
March 20, 2025DNF at 50%
This book had a blurb that immediately caught my attention. The plot was very promising and I was super excited to start reading it.
Before delving into my full review, let me tell you something. A disclaimer, so to say: Extreme horror is totally my thing, I love it. My favourite book is Playground, so it isn’t as if I mind reading about violence against children. The first few chapters, I read with ease.
So, let’s start with my biggest vice: I did not find the main character, Andrew, likable at all. His way of thinking, and that of the other parents in this book, put me on edge. It felt like the characters weren’t really fleshed out. This is something I expect from a 100 page novella, not a 300 page full book. Except for Max, I did not like any other characters in this book. It just felt off to me. Now, I don’t mind unlikable main characters, but an emotional connection needs to be established. I felt no said connection with the characters in The Groomer, which made the book very flat for me. The parents felt as if they had a very rushed black & white thinking. I get why they were worried in the park scene, but the assault on a guy they had only seen taking pictures of trees & flowers in a public park felt out of place and as a overreaction.
The writing style was also a complete miss for me. At some point in the book I began noticing how many times a sentence started with a name. There was very little variation in words & sentences being used. It felt very repetitive and it almost became a chore to read. Some sentences felt like they were added to meet a word count. Especially in chapter 14, after which I decided to dnf. It came to a point where it downright annoyed me, it was occuring so often.
Personally, I think the writer would have been better off writing the Groomer as a novella. Because that’s what it felt like I was reading: An overly stretched out novella.
On a positive note: I did love the gore in this book. There is definitely potentional for this writer in extreme horror. I may try a shorter book of this writer, if i can find a novella of his, to see if his writing style is better suited for shorter novels.
Like always; Please check your triggers! This is my opninion, and it may vary from yours. And that’s okay 🫶🏻
This book had a blurb that immediately caught my attention. The plot was very promising and I was super excited to start reading it.
Before delving into my full review, let me tell you something. A disclaimer, so to say: Extreme horror is totally my thing, I love it. My favourite book is Playground, so it isn’t as if I mind reading about violence against children. The first few chapters, I read with ease.
So, let’s start with my biggest vice: I did not find the main character, Andrew, likable at all. His way of thinking, and that of the other parents in this book, put me on edge. It felt like the characters weren’t really fleshed out. This is something I expect from a 100 page novella, not a 300 page full book. Except for Max, I did not like any other characters in this book. It just felt off to me. Now, I don’t mind unlikable main characters, but an emotional connection needs to be established. I felt no said connection with the characters in The Groomer, which made the book very flat for me. The parents felt as if they had a very rushed black & white thinking. I get why they were worried in the park scene, but the assault on a guy they had only seen taking pictures of trees & flowers in a public park felt out of place and as a overreaction.
The writing style was also a complete miss for me. At some point in the book I began noticing how many times a sentence started with a name. There was very little variation in words & sentences being used. It felt very repetitive and it almost became a chore to read. Some sentences felt like they were added to meet a word count. Especially in chapter 14, after which I decided to dnf. It came to a point where it downright annoyed me, it was occuring so often.
Personally, I think the writer would have been better off writing the Groomer as a novella. Because that’s what it felt like I was reading: An overly stretched out novella.
On a positive note: I did love the gore in this book. There is definitely potentional for this writer in extreme horror. I may try a shorter book of this writer, if i can find a novella of his, to see if his writing style is better suited for shorter novels.
Like always; Please check your triggers! This is my opninion, and it may vary from yours. And that’s okay 🫶🏻
December 1, 2021
Holy moly this was so brutal and the feet thing.. yikes! Such great details during this whole book. At the end I read that some of these ummm… methods were ones he read about from true crime, but didn’t mention which killer it was. There sure are some sick monsters among us.
March 28, 2023
There is a big difference between gore in a book to advance the plot and bring some emotion out of the reader…and gore in a book for the simple fact of putting as much gory detail into a story as humanly possible.
This book was sad, disgusting, and horrific. While I believe there can be books out there that go to the topic of human trafficking, rape, child abuse, etc that have a place in the reading community…a book like this one is not one of them.
The gore and plot line offered no real value or resolution. The story was pretty pointless and Andrew is an enigma.
*possible small spoilers ahead*
How can one grown man who was scared to even approach a 20-something in a diner suddenly become trained, overpowering, and skilled in torture after a week? I’ve seen movies that use revenge and hate to fuel this type of change in a person, but never that quick and never that violently.
And cheese - dude, how can you be depicted as one of the most notorious human traffickers who do the type of things described in the story to little kids but then piss yourself and act like a scared toddler in front of an angry grown man? There’s no way.
Andrew was used as a way to just allow to writer to write gore gore gore…has anyone checked on this man?
Sir, we do not need 4 different detailed metaphors for a head getting crushed by a car…
I decided to go out of my element and read a horror/gore book…I’ll be taking a well needed long break from it now.
This book was sad, disgusting, and horrific. While I believe there can be books out there that go to the topic of human trafficking, rape, child abuse, etc that have a place in the reading community…a book like this one is not one of them.
The gore and plot line offered no real value or resolution. The story was pretty pointless and Andrew is an enigma.
*possible small spoilers ahead*
How can one grown man who was scared to even approach a 20-something in a diner suddenly become trained, overpowering, and skilled in torture after a week? I’ve seen movies that use revenge and hate to fuel this type of change in a person, but never that quick and never that violently.
And cheese - dude, how can you be depicted as one of the most notorious human traffickers who do the type of things described in the story to little kids but then piss yourself and act like a scared toddler in front of an angry grown man? There’s no way.
Andrew was used as a way to just allow to writer to write gore gore gore…has anyone checked on this man?
Sir, we do not need 4 different detailed metaphors for a head getting crushed by a car…
I decided to go out of my element and read a horror/gore book…I’ll be taking a well needed long break from it now.
August 10, 2021
I'm so used to Jon Athans bloody slashers (love them!) that The Groomer took me a bit by surprise, in a good way. It's deep, it's brutal, and it's mimicking a truth that's far too terrifying for most parents to think about. This book is very well written and absolutely pulled at my heartstrings, while also being savage and violent. Definitely a 5/5 skull read 💀
December 9, 2021
The Brutality and pure Evil portrayed in the opening chapters set this book up well. if you are squeamish in anyway your in for a torrid time, as we follow a desperate farther hunting for his daughter. we watch him slide from happy home loving dad into a no holds barred wreaking machine.
The only reason i didn't give this 5 stars was i just felt the slide was to quick and easy, either way great read and a warning to all parents of the evil that lurks in the world.
The only reason i didn't give this 5 stars was i just felt the slide was to quick and easy, either way great read and a warning to all parents of the evil that lurks in the world.
January 5, 2022
I don’t even have the words to describe how disturbing this book is. Even if you read extreme horror regularly like I do, make sure you can handle the subject matter covered in this book. I’ll probably write more after I’ve had time to digest what I just read. For now I’ll just say I’m glad I read it and I definitely plan on reading more of Athan’s books.
July 19, 2020
The Best/Worst Novel I’ve Read Since Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door!
The Groomer by Jon Athan is the most terrifying and heartbreaking novel I have read since Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door! This book hit very close to home, as Jon Athan does, die to the fact it tackles a topic that is VERY real in society today. The Groomer is a book that deals with a touchy subject, and one we do not like to think about… the human trafficking of children.
Now, with that said I must commend Jon Athan for his tack in writing this book. Although, the subject matter is dark the portions with children were not detailed, and left out for the most part. I am extremely grateful for this. Nevertheless, if you are faint of heart for torture of any kind you should avoid this book! It is brutal!
To summarize in short the pedophiles that target children put their hooks into them through popular games such as Fortnite and Minecraft, as well as social media platforms. Although, this is the base to the story, the plot revolves around a father whose love will stop at nothing!
As Andrew and his lovely family seemed to be being stalked by a potential creep he does everything in his power to avert danger. This, Zachary Denton, is bad news all around! He seeming shows up where the family is with his camera, and always seems to have a silver tongue of talking his way out of suspicion with everyone but Andrew.
As Andrew’s youngest, five year old daughter Grace, is abducted from her school the story begins a downward spiral. The police seem to not doing enough, at least in Andrew’s eyes. His family is falling apart, and he is becoming more distant with his wife Holly and son Max. Andrew, understandably, is Devastated and begins to drink himself into a stupor regularly. That is not to last long though.
Andrew finally has enough! He cannot stand the law enforcement’s incompetence, and he decided to take matters into his own hands! Vigilante justice! Andrew doesn’t know where to begin, but he soon searches the web.
With information gathered Andrew sets out on a vigilante path of destruction that no one can stop his burning rage and hurt as a father! As he slowly gains more leads and leaves a river of blood in his wake will he be able to save his daughter? Save his family from falling completely apart? Gain revenge on the ones who abducted his perfect five year old angel?
In this race against time novel it twists your guts into unimaginable contortions! I felt the hurt of Andrew, Holly, and Max. I literally became vested in Andrew’s cause, and was completely immersed in this book! I could not put it down. Even in the most disturbing segments I persevered. I was shocked at the end of this novel, and had to process everything before writing this review. I can honestly say Jon Athan reached a new height with The Groomer, and in my book captured or possibly surpassed Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door!
Overall, I give The Groomer by Jon Athan 5 stars out of 5 stars! This was magnificently written! Jon Athan knows his anatomy! I cannot stress the fact that he lives up to the works of the greats like Jack Ketchum! I have never been torn after a book except The Girl Next Door, but The Groomer really attacked my heart. Jon Athan also can just simply weave words, mental images, and dialogue like a professional (because he is)! I will gladly read anything he puts to press, and look forward to reading his back log as well! I loved The Good, The Bad, and The Sadistic. So maybe it is time for A Fistful of Guts? Although, I really want to read Do Not Disturb! So many choices! Keep up the amazing work Jon Athan!
The Groomer by Jon Athan is the most terrifying and heartbreaking novel I have read since Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door! This book hit very close to home, as Jon Athan does, die to the fact it tackles a topic that is VERY real in society today. The Groomer is a book that deals with a touchy subject, and one we do not like to think about… the human trafficking of children.
Now, with that said I must commend Jon Athan for his tack in writing this book. Although, the subject matter is dark the portions with children were not detailed, and left out for the most part. I am extremely grateful for this. Nevertheless, if you are faint of heart for torture of any kind you should avoid this book! It is brutal!
To summarize in short the pedophiles that target children put their hooks into them through popular games such as Fortnite and Minecraft, as well as social media platforms. Although, this is the base to the story, the plot revolves around a father whose love will stop at nothing!
As Andrew and his lovely family seemed to be being stalked by a potential creep he does everything in his power to avert danger. This, Zachary Denton, is bad news all around! He seeming shows up where the family is with his camera, and always seems to have a silver tongue of talking his way out of suspicion with everyone but Andrew.
As Andrew’s youngest, five year old daughter Grace, is abducted from her school the story begins a downward spiral. The police seem to not doing enough, at least in Andrew’s eyes. His family is falling apart, and he is becoming more distant with his wife Holly and son Max. Andrew, understandably, is Devastated and begins to drink himself into a stupor regularly. That is not to last long though.
Andrew finally has enough! He cannot stand the law enforcement’s incompetence, and he decided to take matters into his own hands! Vigilante justice! Andrew doesn’t know where to begin, but he soon searches the web.
With information gathered Andrew sets out on a vigilante path of destruction that no one can stop his burning rage and hurt as a father! As he slowly gains more leads and leaves a river of blood in his wake will he be able to save his daughter? Save his family from falling completely apart? Gain revenge on the ones who abducted his perfect five year old angel?
In this race against time novel it twists your guts into unimaginable contortions! I felt the hurt of Andrew, Holly, and Max. I literally became vested in Andrew’s cause, and was completely immersed in this book! I could not put it down. Even in the most disturbing segments I persevered. I was shocked at the end of this novel, and had to process everything before writing this review. I can honestly say Jon Athan reached a new height with The Groomer, and in my book captured or possibly surpassed Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door!
Overall, I give The Groomer by Jon Athan 5 stars out of 5 stars! This was magnificently written! Jon Athan knows his anatomy! I cannot stress the fact that he lives up to the works of the greats like Jack Ketchum! I have never been torn after a book except The Girl Next Door, but The Groomer really attacked my heart. Jon Athan also can just simply weave words, mental images, and dialogue like a professional (because he is)! I will gladly read anything he puts to press, and look forward to reading his back log as well! I loved The Good, The Bad, and The Sadistic. So maybe it is time for A Fistful of Guts? Although, I really want to read Do Not Disturb! So many choices! Keep up the amazing work Jon Athan!
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