SCHROEDER

American Psycho pretty much sets the bar for the ultimate serial killer novel, and it happens to be a very high bar that a number of authors have tried to riff off of, or emulate, or at times, outright imitate. Yet none of them have reached the level of popularity and success, but there might be a new book that deserves similar accolades to this novel murder book, and that’s Schroeder by Neal Cassidy.

It is a day in the life of Schroeder; only it’s a day like you have never seen before and will likely never see again. Schroeder gets up and goes about his morning routine, letting you know what he thinks about various things in his life, his opinions on them, and possibly, what should be done about them. Once ready, he gets on his bike and enters the quiet peaceful neighborhood in the city he’s known all his life and proceeds to wreak bloody, irreparable, and seemingly unstoppable havoc; meticulously and orchestratedly slaughtering those around him and ending life left and right.

If the book had started with the slaughter, there would be shock and disgust from the reader, possibly enough to make them give up on the book. But instead Cassidy employs this delicious and engrossing stream-of-consciousness style of writing that gives you everything and the kitchen sink. Sure it takes you a page or two to get used to it and understand what’s going on, but then it’s like getting into the car on a rollercoaster and all you can do is hold on for dear life and hope you enjoy the ride.

This is one noticeable difference to American Psycho, which employed the minutiae of everyday life in similar fashion, but there it was carefully laid out and separated from the killing. In Schroeder it’s one big miss-mash, which works so much better for the story. To the point where once the murders begin, they seem almost acceptable as a result of the rhetoric we’ve been learning and ingesting from the character of Schroeder. You don’t agree with it by any means, but you keep going and stick with it, because it remains true to the character, which is all we truly want from any story.

Cassidy has clearly worked hard at crafting his writing in this book, using big paragraphs and long sentences, but still employing a compelling voice, so the reader keeps going without fully realizing it. There aren’t chapters per se, but occasional breaks to give the reader some necessary breathing room, before they plunge in and continue reading this both disturbing but gripping story of a serial killer.