This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

The concept originally seemed intriguing, but in reading it it seemed unnecessarily crude, gory, and just overzealous in the serial killing concept. I just couldn't get behind this book.

I had no idea what to expect when I started Vincenzo Bilof’s “The Violators.” Billed as a satirical look at modern literature, it had the appearance of a mash-up of horror, satire, and bizzaro that sounded intriguing and well worth a read so I decided to give it a try and see what I found inside the covers.

All Alan Chambers ever dreamed of was becoming a distinguished English professor. He had always been socially inept so losing himself in literature was his only escape from the harsh reality of a world that did not accept him for what he was. When Alan is accepted into an exclusive class called The Artistry of Contemporary Literature, he feels as if his life’s goal is one step closer. He has no idea that his world is about to change forever.

While Alan had been expecting a class that would deconstruct literature in a scholarly manner, he instead finds that this is a class about exploring literature through the full course of life and death. Literally. The students explore literary themes through murder and mayhem. The class has discovered that there is a link between literature and art that can only be explored through extreme violence and sex and crafted a curriculum that includes rape and murder. The class has become stale as the students have become accustomed to the extremes and hope that Alan may be able to set them free by bringing about their destruction and finally setting them free from the sad story they have created for themselves.

It was clear early on that Bilof’s intent was to shock and force the reader outside of his comfort zone in a manner that forces the reader to look at the book as something more than just another novel. There is nothing easy about this book. The narrative is disjointed and intentionally sloppy at time. The humor is very dark and the action is extreme. The characters are fairly one dimensional and take on the negative aspects of society. Heinous acts such as murder and rape and presented matter-of-factly and often even presented in a desirable light. If this book is not read with the correct mindset to understand Bilof’s intent, it can be viewed as completely reprehensible and morally corrupt. This is, however, what Bilof wants. The reader is forced to look beneath the surface for the hidden meaning of the novel.

While I understand Bilof’s intent and am not bothered by extreme fiction, “The Violators” just did not work for me. I never really felt that the message of the novel came through strong enough to make the narrative cohesive and thus the message was completely lost. Instead of being shocking, the novel was little more than a series of tales with gratuitous sex and violence wrapped around some pontificating by the characters that made some sense at times and at other times was just rambling rhetoric. The novel was very difficult to read at times and not due to the style chosen by the author but rather due to a lack of interest and wandering attention. The idea behind “The Violators” is a solid one but the execution of the story just did not work for me at all.

I would like to thank Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing and NetGalley for this review copy. “The Violators” is available now.