Holy water and forgiveness are required while reading this. You will need Jesus. I am a huge fan of thrillers, and sure even throw in some gore. Why not? Let’s party. But this takes things to a whole different level. I think what makes this so morbid is the entire tone of the novel. It is so bleak and so riddled with despair and death. You get to know one character so deeply and then in the next chapter his body is nailed to a stake and children are ripping out his insides to eat for dinner. It’s such a rollercoaster of emotion. I haven’t gasped and squirmed with any other book in my entire life. To give you a sneak peak, and apologies in advance, the moment that comes towards the beginning of the book that made me want to go to church and repent was when McCarthy describes scalpers grabbing babies at a campsite by their ankles and whipping their heads against boulders in one quick motion without any emotion on their faces. It was just a little too much for your boy. Savagely and simply written this book is definitely worth a go if you are looking to be depressed and awed all at the same time. Taking the worst of western expansion and scalping its head to reveal its even crazier inner workings is what you get with this one.