Wretch - by Jeremy Wagner (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"If you only read one more horror novel this year, make sure this is it." --Edward Lee

Wretch is a relentless descent into crime, horror, and vengeance. A brutal unflinching thriller for fans of organized crime sagas, dark detective fiction, and monsters born in the shadows of science.

Chicago is choking under the hottest summer on record, but the true heat comes from the blood spilled on its streets.

Detective Donnie Lynch trails a killer who shouldn't exist. Mob boss Tico "The Meatgrinder" Tortellio has stepped out from the shadows of his empire with a personal vendetta to avenge his daughter--and nothing short of blood will settle the score. Both men are hunting the same man-- if "man" is still the right word...

The elusive killer, Derek Hoffman, is a steroid-abusing-sociopath twisted beyond recognition whose body and mind have been grotesquely transformed after his participation in a clinical trial for an experimental ED-arousal-drug called, LIBIDONAL. Hoffman has become something monstrous, a predator driven by lust, rage, and a thirst for blood.

With the city becoming a killing ground for a new apex predator, Lynch and Tortellio race toward the same target. But who will reach Hoffman first? And when they do, can bullets or brutality be enough to stop him?

Wretch is a brutal descent into crime, horror, and vengeance. A nightmare version of a city where justice wears many faces, and none of them are merciful.

Review Quotes

"If you only read one more horror novel this year, make sure this is it." --Edward Lee, author of The Television and The Bighead

"WRETCH is a blood-soaked, drug-fueled spectacle of relentless carnage and chaos, with some of the most violent, off-the-wall characters I've ever encountered in a novel. Nightmarish, unapologetically brutal, and packed with shocking moments. All the triggers." --Rio Youers, British Fantasy and Sunburst Award-nominated author of Lola on Fire and No Second Chances

"In this Frankenstein meets The Godfather mashup, Wagner tackles everything from how it feels to be a cop in today's world to addictions at every level--booze and drugs, body sculpting, and workouts. But where Wagner's novel really shines is calling out Big Pharma's own addiction to creating the next little blue pill." --Laura Caldwell, author of Long Way Home, and The Dog Park

"Unapologetic in its bloodlust, WRETCH is an intense page turner that's not for the faint of heart. With love for his hometown dripping off each blood-stained page, Jeremy Wagner is to Chicago what some other horror writer is to Bangor Maine." --Del James, author of The Language of Fear, and Consensual Violence

"WRETCH is hands-down the darkest book I've read all year, and Derek Hoffman is the most repulsive villain since Rex Miller's Chaingang Bunkowski. Get ready for a ride through Chicago's dark side with some of its seediest residents. Take a long shower after reading this book!" --Regina Garza Mitchell, author of Shadow of the Vulture

"WRETCH is brutal. It's muscled and sleek but brutish in its intent and that intent is to maul you. An engine of bad things and more...this book is a bruise you can't quite explain and can't stop prodding, because that ugly pain reminds you that you exist and in this world, oft times that's punishment." --John Boden, author of Jedi Summer and Snarl

"Jeremy Wagner unleashes a frenzy of escalating violence and deviant madness on the Windy City. Gritty and perverse, WRETCH will shock and enthrall you all the way to its debauched climax!" --Ryan Harding, Splatterpunk Award-winning author of Transcendental Mutilation

About the Author

Jeremy Wagner writes gritty and chilling novels, non-fiction, short fiction and scripts. He is the co-author of world-renowned, Michelin-starred Chef Curtis Duffy's bestselling memoir, Fireproof, which received critical acclaim and was a USA Today Bestseller and a #1 Amazon Bestseller in multiple categories. His upcoming horror crime novel, Wretch, releases on January 27, 2026. Outside of writing, Jeremy is the CEO of TV/film company, Aphotic Media, and the independent publishing company, Dead Sky Publishing. He also writes music and lyrics for Broken Hope, Earthburner, and Lurch. He lives between Chicago and Miami Beach with his wife Kym and their two dogs.