2007-02-26 Rage? One sick puppy of a read

What initially drew me to this book was the controversy surrounding it. I read it in three sittings. I won't waffle on the storyline as you have read the other reviews. All i'll say is this: I'm no prude, i'll read many a shocking novel with relish; but RAGE is on a different level. So repulsively shocking/sickening is this book(i read the uncut limited edition version) that i had to have a shower after reading it. I won't go into great detail but here's an example: One scene has the main protagonist killing a kitten in graphic detail. Steve Gerlach doesn't think this is enough. Oh no! so he likes to go into GREAT detail how the killer likes to masturbate himself with the carcase also. I think you get the picture. I know Gerlach's only expressing his warped imagination, but personally i worry about the safety of my kids with people like him walking the streets. You can't pick up a paper these days without reading about some nutcase shooting strangers in malls and schools. Im dead against censorship, especially the written word but there surely is limits. Gerlach is a good writer with a skill of building up suspense in the reader. It's such a shame he has to use cheap tricks to put his name on the fiction map. This might sound strange, in fact i know it will, but my copy was signed by the man himself. I can only compare it to reading a signed Ian Brady book and knowing this child sex killer had touched the pages. Now you can understand the shower. It wasn's just me. I lent this to a friend's wife after she insisted. After she read it she said I should be ashamed of myself for lending it to her.
Gerlach has even issued,under the appropriate titled Bloodletting press publishers,a signed in his OWN blood edition. Lucky reader! Is there no end to this man's sick vision. I know this review will upset Gerlach fans, but i think if you relish and are not shocked by this sort of book you need serious councelling. This book is even banned in Gerlach's native country of Australia, so this tells you what THEY think of him. Read this book, like me, out of natural human curiosity. Just be worried if you enjoy it in all its glory.