“The character at the heart of the novel is both terrifying and realistic. For fans of dark thrillers and crime fiction, this novel will not disappoint.” Self-Publishing Review“The characters are expertly drawn. The story builds toward an explosive conclusion.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Trigger warning: caution is advised, the book contains graphic content. Do not read this if you are at all … you are at all weak-stomached or easily sickened / offended. Reader discretion is advised.
After Jason is committed to a mental institution, he begins to uncover things he never knew before or things his mind shut out to protect him. He finds himself questioning what’s real and what’s not. What happened to his wife, Lisa? Where is Lea? Why can’t he remember what happened?
Meanwhile, Jerry is dangerous and unpredictable. He envisions a world where boundaries are broken down and he is free to enforce his narcissistic belief that he has a divine mission.
An explosive ending that is anything but expected, forgive yourself for shuddering throughout and after you close the book.
Drawing inspiration from real cases, and with well-researched, realistic characters, this thriller is not for the soft-hearted.
Readers speaking about A Predator and A Psychopath:
“A must read thriller that will have your head spinning.I’d definitely read another by this author, his imagination is wild, impressive, and addictive.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“It is a very intense book that will raise your curiosity.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Excellent thriller, in a creepy way. Well written with a vivid description of the attacker’s motive and devices. I will remember this novel often, especially when a stranger knocks on my door.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This author is brilliant at what he does and certainly kept me guessing.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Incredible Story. A fast-paced,gripping novel that will leave you breathless and absolutely taken.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it to everyone.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A must read brilliant psychological thriller. An exciting experience getting inside a psychopath’s mind.”Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Wow… just wow. I am part terrified, part disturbed, and part amazed at this book.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I really enjoy thrillers and this one is absolutely exceptional, I can’t wait to read more by Jay.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A great book and actually really disturbing. It left a big impact on me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it constantly for days.”Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“One of those reads that I will never ever forget.”Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A tough subject to read… but wow! Jay is an excellent new entry to the thriller genre. I for one am glad to have found him.”Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Holy Crap what a book! Very very disturbing and oh so hard to put down once you start this roller-coaster of a ride!” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A really heavy, twisted, psychological thriller.”Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Chilling and excessively dark – and the phenomenal ending, a devastating one, completes this superlative book… the craftsmanship of Jay Kerk’s writing is superb. Highly recommended.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“And that ending wauw. I honestly thought I had it figured out but boy was I wrong.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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This is a tough book to read because of the subject matter. I am one of those people that love watching all the Discovery ID shows and anything that has to do with killers, etc. It is completely different to actually see it from the psychopaths point of view. Jerry is that a psychopath and being in his mind is hard to read. I am still confused about Jason and his story. This book will suck you in even with the subject matter. It is a hard read so if the subject matter is something you can’t stomach don’t read this book.
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
3 and a half stars.
This book could of been amazing if it was more thought out.
The topics made me cringe yes, but it would of been ok to read if the story actually flowed.
Whole thing felt disjointed and with too many unanswered questions.
Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was one of the darkest things I have read at least all year. This story was emotionally hard hitting from start to finish. On top of some dismal characters, this plot follows a strange path. I personally found myself questioning all characters and what to believe, what was reality. It held dark, evil imagery and creates a sickness in your stomach the whole time you’re involved. The writing actually caused so many questionable plot points, I found myself asking impossible questions in order to try to grasp what this ending would entail. The end was in fact…deflating. While nothing was technically left unresolved and it was actually pretty realistic, the build was so strong in this that I suppose I just expected more of a punch. Instead I got a pretty generic feeling bitter sweet ending. I still really really enjoy this story and I hope others who enjoy delving into the whys of the darker sides of life would still pick up this creepy novel because I really do think it holds a lot to enjoy.
A Predator and a Psychopath by Jay Kerk
Holy Crap what a book! Very very disturbing and oh so hard to put down once you start this roller-coaster of a ride! This book is about exactly what the title promises you , you will meet Jason a man who is in a psych hospital for killing his wife, who after supposedly finding out he is sleeping with his daughter she kills her in a fit of rage only problem Jason remembers nothing….then there is Jerry who likes young girls and has a libido of……I’m not sure but boy does he have libido! Disturbing topics, disturbing descriptions but what a read with twists and enough going on you just have to finish! I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving my honest opinion for you!
This book is a serious eye-opener into the minds of predators and psychopaths. The author does such a good job with the details of how they act and think that some people will find it difficult to read. As hard as it was at times reading what some people are capable of doing, it’s something everyone should be aware of as the horrible sorts of things that happen in this story happen in real life far too often. If there was a scaled down version of this with less adult matter, it would be good for at least teens to read, especially girls, to be more aware of what really can happen and how easy it is to be manipulated and deceived. There were a few times I felt like I might have to stop reading or skip to the end as the subject matter is pretty rough, but at the same time I felt I needed to push on, partly because of a need to see how it would play out as any good thriller will make you do, and partly because I felt I needed to be informed. I had a suspicion partly through regarding the two characters in the book and I turned out to be right, but it was still a shocking ending and not quite how I expected it to turn out. Anyone who loves a true, really heavy psychological thriller should enjoy this book.
I’ll tell you right from the top that this book disturbed me on many levels. It was dark and violent and just plain creepy. Some of the reviews are very good and if you like this type of suspense novel, don’t rely on my review but read some of the five star reviews and then make your decision.
There are two main characters in this book
Jason is in a mental hospital with no memory of the last several months. He thinks he has a wife and two children but is accused of killing his wife, who killed their daughter – his son is still missing.
Jerry is a pedophile and spends his time stalking and raping underage girls. He installs hidden cameras into houses to watch the girls. He is a terrible person.
What happens when the lives of these two people intersect??
This is my first time reading this author and this book is brilliant. It’s definitely not one for the faint of heart but if you love a good psychological thriller then hunker down and get ready for an amazing read. This book had me intrigued by the blurb and once I started reading it then I was hooked. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Predator and A Psychopath: A Dark and Twisted Psychological Thriller Kindle Edition
by Jay Kerk
I received a review copy via Booksirens and am choosing to leave a fair and honest review.
A dark, demented and twisted thriller that winds around into smaller circles.
This thriller tells the story of a man who wakes up in a psych ward with a loss of memory and the story of a psychopath who preys on everyone around him. The dueling narratives reminds us of how closely we are all connected.
Mr. Kerk does an excellent job with the faults and foibles of both men, but he fails on fleshing out the women in their lives. A number of threads were not tied up by the shocking and sudden end, including what really happened with Lea, the psych patient’s daughter. This was more confusing than the Shyalamanian twist. The fate of Matthew, the driving force for most of the story, is never resolved.
I really enjoyed most of the book, except that end. Open ended? Yes. Does it answer many of the questions the story asks? Nope. If you have a gun in the first act, that gun needs to go off by the end. That makes the story incredibly unsatisfying. When you set up what could be an epic,terrifyingly realistic monster, he needs to meet an appropriate end or you need to Hannibal Lecter him and have him escape. I was disappointed that all the hard work and investment into the story did not have a pay off. It feels as if Mr. Kerk either couldn’t come up with more story or it was cut for word count. That takes away from what could have compared to The Silence of the Lambs.
3 ½ stars rounded down to 3 out of 5
https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Psychopath-Twisted-Psychological-Thriller-ebook/dp/B07V4NL6R8
Thank you Hidden Gems for my ARC copy of this book. I recieved a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I am not sure how I feel about this book. Was it bad? Not at all. Was it great? No, it was not. It’s just an okay read.
While I feel the author had a terrific premise for the book, I feel it fell short. While the book started out well, building up these 2 unlikable characters. I felt that about 1/2 way through I wanted to stop reading. Then at around 3/4 of the way through things started to pick up a bit and was excited to see how it ended. Then BAM, a sudden end to the book. A HUGE lack luster ending with so many strings left hanging.
I really hate to say this being a long time fan of Stephen King, but Jay Kerk is right up there if not a bit past Mr. King. This story will make you wonder about all kinds of things, and if you’re easily triggered by evil things this book is NOT for you!
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from BookSiren
Thank you to The Author, Jay Kerk for an e copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
WOW!!! What a tumultuous, disturbing but chilling read.
Some parts of this book can be extremely gruesome but it all ties together.
Not the ending I expected but a true definition of a psychological thriller.
As others have pointed out, this is not a book for the timid. The opening segment, in which we find Jason righteously indignant in a mental institution, was my favorite bit of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the way his tale was unfolding – or seemed to be. Then things got weird, and from there I struggled with the book.
I don’t mind back-and-forth narrators; they can be tricky to deliver in a way that feels organic in the swap and the way details are provided, but I appreciate that they are often necessary to give the appropriate depth to a story. The problem for me is that one of them – Jerry – is abhorrent and his sections of the book were very hard to read.
There’s violence and violent sex on an epic scale, and I feel like I read much of it with my eyes half-closed. Again, I appreciate that it was his personality and that it was clearly spelled out in the title that this wasn’t a book about puppies and kittens, but it still felt like some of it was provided for shock value rather than to advance the story – particularly since I felt like the story wound up ending rather than tying together in a satisfying or coherent way.
This one did NOT go where I thought it was going at all… That’s neither a good nor a bad thing, but it it definitely affected the way I felt when it ended and is a part of the rationale behind three stars. The blurbs and some of the foreshadowing led me to think this was going to be a mind-thriller with unreliable narrator(s). This isn’t how it played out, although it still seemed possible until the end, and it felt like deliberate (and unnecessary) misdirection. It threw me, and not in a good way.
All in all this was not the book for me. There are some clever and interesting sections but in the end I found it a bit frustrating…
My review copy was provided by the author.
***I got a free copy from NetGalley and am volunteering to give an honest review***
I liked this suspense novel. It was very dark and had topics on incest, stalking, pedophiles. I thought the author did a great job showing how gross Jason and Jerry were. They made me cringe throughout the whole story (in a good way).
I thought the beginning where Jason is talking to a therapist to regain his memory was a little boring. It was repetitive with him not remembering he murdered his wife and had a sexual relationship with his daughter. But, when Jerry’s crazy ass came into the story, things got very interesting.
As a reader, I don’t mind dark books. Sometimes, the darker the better, and I usually look at the villains as just misunderstood. The author has a trigger warning in his book description, but I think if you like horror, suspense, or thrillers, then you’ll be fine reading this.
The book was written in Jason and Jerry’s point-of-views so you get inside their head. I wished some parts slowed down instead of being glossed over. For example, I was interested in Jerry stalking his tenants and conning a drug addict mother. One scene, I wished it would have played out with showing how distraught the mom was of her daughter running away, instead of it just being told to the readers through narrative summary.
Spoiler alert! Don’t read any further if you don’t like being spoiled: The ending was getting juicy. Jason met someone sketchy who may have actually killed his family and framed him. Jason’s son may be alive. Jason was starting to get his memory back and starting to figure out clues. Then, the story ended so abruptly. You will not get any answers in this book.
I RECOMMEND this book to read.
I’m sitting here after I legit just finished reading the last page of this book, and I’m asking myself What the Fuck did I just read. And I’m sorry to say this is not being done in a good way or a bad way. I’m torn as to which way I really want to lean. I ask myself: was this a good read? Was this one that I would recommend? Or better yet was this a book that kept my attention? It’s hard to say just by the answers to those questions alone. This book was one that took me longer than normal to read, because I found that I had to go back and re-read parts. And this was all because I needed to make sure that I wasn’t confusing myself. This author had me thinking one way, and then boom the story would take a turn that I wasn’t prepared for. There’s a lot going on from the beginning all the way to the end. There was even times that I felt that something was missing, so I wish again back track to make sure that I didn’t miss something. Then I would think that ok now I have this authors number, and I would again be knocked aside my head. This author did cover a dark and disturbing subject matter, and went about it in a way that kept me intrigued at times. The two characters Jason and Jerry are compete opposites and you find yourself going what times these two together? At least I did. Especially since Jason has you going from thinking he’s psychotic, to then thinking no he’s just a person handling a mental breakdown. While Jerry is just straight up psychotic. Right from the start, I was asking myself what is wrong with this guy? Then I would find myself saying please don’t say that Jason does have a second personality and it’s Jerry.
Even with this book holding my attention I’m still up in the air as to if this would be a book that I would read again. I may recommend it to someone that is looking for a something that is on the darker spectrum. I’m giving this book 3.5 stars, and that’s mainly on the fact that it kept me guessing. It’s been a while since I’ve read a thriller that has done that. And lastly the cover. I will be straight up honest I chose this book without reading the blurp, and chose it completely due to the cover.
Let me start by saying the only thing I liked about this book … is the cover.
Jason is residing in a mental institution. He remembers nothing of how he got there … or why. Supposedly his wife killed their daughter and he then killed his wife. A son is missing.
Jerry has a love/hate relationship with underage girls. He stalks, he manipulates, looking for his soulmate with a penchant for self-satisfying sex.
It’s dark and disturbing and I could not relate to the characters at all. There were no redeeming qualities in either of them.
What happens when these two meet? Who cares?
Many thanks to the author / BooksGoSocial / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
A sick psychological thriller that made my skin crawl
This book is told by two different characters. Jason is housed at a psychiatric hospital after being found insane on criminal offences. These offences include sleeping with his daughter, killing his wife after she kills the daughter, and the disappearance of his son Mathew. When the story starts he remembers nothing of these events and meets with his psychiatrist often.
The second narrator is Jerry, a thoroughly sick and slimy psychopath. He likes to have sex with very young girls and sees nothing wrong with that. In fact he feels he’s an exalted individual because he knows how the world should run.
This book gets sicker, chapter after chapter, and I would seriously warn people about there being significant triggers in the book.
The book seems believable to me, which is scary in itself. You’ll have to decide on your own whether this is the type of book you want to read. It definitely stays with you afterward.
The second cover that was given the book was perfect. It really catches the creepiness of the story.
I did not like the ending of the book. I consider it to be too abrupt and without total resolution. Maybe that’s the author’s purpose but, I for one, wish there had been more.
I received this self-published book through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.