The Most Depraved Book You’ll Ever Read
“A map of memories stretched out like egg yolks on the pavement. His brains actually began to sizzle in the oppressive heat.”
I have read a lot of horror. It’s currently the only genre I will read. So when I tell you that Judith Sonnet’s No One Rides for Free is the most disturbing book I’ve ever read, I’m not saying that lightly. While not being new to horror, I am new to the genre of extreme horror. This is only the second extreme horror novel I’ve ever read. So if this is light- I’m not sure what I’ll be in for in the future.
This book, while already short, is broken up into two parts. In part one, you have a very common premise unfolding. A woman is driving her son and daughter back to college when a depraved man enters their car, taking them hostage. What makes it so original is the layout, the superb writing, and the unrelenting direction this story takes.
The violence and gore have already been established by the end of the first part when a warning page interrupts the story. It warns the reader of the level of extreme horror that takes place in the second half of the book, urging them to put it down if they’re sensitive to specific triggers. This felt like a gimmick meant to hype the reader up, but I soon realized that the author was being quite literal.
The book’s second half details gruesome scenes of violence, torture, and sexual assault. This level of depravity is the kind you would never see in a movie. Make no mistake, this is not a plot-driven story. It’s not a character-driven story either, and yet it is still well done. While not character-driven, Judith Sonnet writes in a way that makes you care about the characters. This is a delicate balance in a lot of genre fiction, especially in extreme horror, where you go in knowing that something awful will happen to the characters. I think authors often don’t take the time to fully flesh out their characters, leaving a story lacking as a whole. No One Rides for Free has characters developed just enough for the reader to be fully invested while allowing the horror to do what it’s supposed to.
The ending felt a little rushed for me. The revenge aspect was not the slightest bit reciprocal to the torture that the victims endured. However, I’m not sure this can be a criticism because a book like this would be far less effective if it were the slightest bit satisfying. The torture/assault aspects seem to stop so abruptly. Still, the ending is tied up very neatly and comes full circle with a minor character making an appearance again.
Ultimately Judith Sonnet did exactly what she sought out to do. “I wrote the book with the intent of it feeling like an intense rape and revenge thriller without muting the trauma with social commentary and artful dialogue. This book is supposed to make you feel shitty and bad, like you need a shower. As someone who was abused before, that’s how the world can feel sometimes, and I think it would be disingenuous of me to write a book about this extreme subject while treating it with kid gloves.”
This is a faucet of extreme horror or splatterpunk that I don’t believe is explored enough. I think there are a lot of people who enjoy this genre without really thinking about why- and that’s okay. But there are deeper reasons why some people gravitate to reading or writing this sort of thing. It’s cathartic in a lot of ways. What Judith has to say about her book makes a lot of sense.
This book epitomizes that often-used analogy of being unable to look away from a gruesome car wreck. I will say that I do have many “triggers” (I call them boundaries) when it comes to the media I choose to consume. I am not open to storylines where animals or children are harmed, and themes of sexual assault make me very uncomfortable. I don’t enjoy rape/revenge thrillers. I frequently utilize doesthedogdie.com and films like “I Spit On Your Grave” are at the top of my Movies I Will Never Watch List. (That list really exists. Come find me on Letterboxd.) Though this book was outside my comfort zone, I was able to handle the content. Not because it didn’t push those boundaries but because Judith Sonnet doesn’t have to rely on violence alone to build tension. The violence is blatantly over-the-top, but there are other layers as well. I thoroughly appreciate her craft and look forward to seeing what her numerous other books offer.
