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Russell Pisarek grew up in an abusive home, largely ignored by his father and terrorized by his mother for his misbehavior and his chronic bedwetting problem. Now an adult, he lives with his sister Becky and her son Aiden, working as an animal technician at a research facility. Tormented by twisted desires and taunted by memories of his past, Russell’s bedwetting creeps its way into his life once again. As life spirals away from his control, he feverishly works to take it back by any means necessary. Shaped by his experiences and the bullying he received growing up, Russell decides that he’ll take matters into his own hands and find a woman that he can shave with his clippers in order to be sexually stimulated. But when judgmental comments and resistance block his plans, those same urges take a darker, homicidal turn.
Russell tells his story from a first-person perspective, which make his violent tendencies and nonchalance toward the world a disturbing, troubling read. Much of the book spends its time getting its hands dirty with psychological horror and suspense, and the reader will often believe that under the right circumstances and with the right perspective, Russell can turn his life around. The second half of Russell’s story, however, takes an explicit turn, and readers should be aware that his story involves graphic violence toward people and animals, rape, and drug usage. The journaling style in which Russell speaks to the reader is effective in following the ebbs, flows, and inspiration for his madness but also gives weight and power to the way he casually considers and acts upon his urges. Highly disturbing and electric, this book will have its readers only setting it down so they can come up for air during its darkest moments.