There's some interesting ideas with "Dog Men", particularly the drive to survive, despite the challenges that you are faced with. The lead character, Chris, is put through literal hell throughout this novel, highlighted by the brutality that these men are willing to inflict on a total stranger. The characterization of the brutes throughout the novel is interesting, focusing on their physical attributes to define them, sacrificing their names to become pieces of meat, rather than genuine characters. That was one of my biggest issues with this novel - none of these characters felt remotely like anyone you'd experience on a day-to-day basis. Granted, this is an extreme horror novel, but even from the others that I have read, there is some grounding in reality with the characters, even if they're some of the most despicable people around. Chris is the only character that has any sort of backstory, and even that story isn't fully fleshed out, as we're given bare-bones details of his life before entering into this hell. As the story went along, I found myself unfortunately getting a little tired of the redundancy. Every chapter seemed to have a "villain-of-the-week" vibe, where you knew something else was likely coming in the next chapter, which he'd prevail through, then have to go through another trail. It became a bit exhausting to know what might come next, rather than be surprised at what was to come. The only thing that kept this novel truly interesting was the last quarter, which explained what was happening, making the rest of the events feel a bit more connected. Still, it took a majority of the novel to genuinely become interesting, and was something that I personally saw coming. Overall, "Dog Men" has an interesting premise, and does have potential with the concept, but the final outcome left a bit to be desired. I'd still love to read more from Torvik, since he does have interesting ideas, they just unfortunately did not seem to come to fruition here.

I was hooked from the cover and so glad I was able to read this, it had everything that I was hoping for a survival element. I thought it was great that this was based on a true story and that it worked with the story. It uses the horror perfectly and glad I was able to read this.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. Is this a debut? I must admit, while parts read fast, this felt like a feeble attempt.

This book started with a good premise and I enjoyed the first third. It's a story of a man who gets kidnapped, brutally tortured, and I was thinking it was going to be a revenge horror story.

And, for awhile, that's what it is. This is a bloody, gritty, vicious novella that gives those awesome revenge tale vibes. Until...

It turns into a fight club meets dog worshipping cult meets one man against dozens and it just...falls into superhero like tropes with no real resolution.

I love a good extreme horror book but this one focused so much on the various torture techniques that the narrative suffered for it. Our protagonist meets a female friend at the beginning and she is in the truck with the men who eventually kidnap him. But we never hear from her again. I was waiting for a twist with her at the end, but nothing.

The author uses homophobic slurs throughout the book. And, yeah, I get it. They're bad guys and they're supposed to say messed up things. But those particular slurs were overused and unnecessary most of the time. It just felt lazy going to the same well over and over.

This book has a great set up, works well for the first third, but ultimately wanders off into violence for the sake of violence and tropes with no real ending.

I finished this in one sitting and really enjoyed it. Excellent, brutal horror, soberly written and deftly plotted. It's mainly a portrayal of the violence visited upon a man who gets kidnapped and used for very sinister purposes. The emphasis, however, should be on "portrayal": do not expect so much a story with closure, as a description of what this man has to endure, till what's really going on is finally revealed. And that's it: the author pushes no boundaries, this is the kind of humorless, extreme horror experienced readers of the genre have seen before, though without all that much gore but with much better writting than usual, with nuance and attention to detail.

I received a free ARC, and this review is voluntary.

From the get-go we meet Chris, learning about his travels in vagabond fashion. Misfortune has followed him since he was a teen, and even now, there isn't much direction for him. On this particular night, an invite to a cabin from a friend is on the top of the list, but the three men he met earlier - only identified by their appearance, linger on his mind. Not so much sketchy behavior, but an encounter that was a little weird. Upon arriving at the cabin, he does not see his friend, but sets up camp anyway. She never arrives, but these three men do, claiming she's been injured and needs medical attention. After some brief conversation, the men leave, while Chris stays behind. Those men come back later on in the night, their behavior now sketchy, with Chris making a plan to defend himself, and escape. He is captured instead, and what transpires from this point in the story, to the very end, is a new struggle for Chris, one of deadly proportions.

While I cannot say what these three individuals are up to because that would be a spoiler, and I don't do spoilers, what I can say is that Chris is presented with danger not known to him before. Forced into this situation, having to fight for his life, while his captors torment him on the daily. What unfolds is a slow burn story of survival, and how far one man will go to protect his life.

With tension as the story ticks along, it is violent, and brutal, and there are lulls between the action, but the ending, and it's savagery, brings everything full circle for the reader.

Decent revenge thriller, but really you have to get a new description writer or if you wrote it fix your ego. Cormac McCarthy or Quinton Tarantino level this definitely isn't. Still a good quick read.