This was nit a read for me. I felt like the author was more concerned with trying to be extreme vs telling a well thought out story. It had promise to be a great read, interesting plot, it was just the execution.

I finished Prince of this World in just three hours. I couldn’t put it down. I went in expecting something a lot more gruesome (probably because the title screams blood and mayhem), but what I got instead was a dark, twisted, and deeply compelling story that still delivered on the horror front. It
The book leans into the darkness of human nature more than outright gore, and honestly, it works. The creepy atmosphere and the slowly unravelling family secrets kept me hooked. I didn’t know what I was expecting going in, but I left feeling weirdly satisfied… and mildly disturbed. Which, in horror terms, is a success.
The paranormal angle felt a little tacked on—it didn’t ruin anything, but the story was strong enough to stand on its own as a gritty slasher or psychological horror. A serial killer story with this kind of twisted family dynamic? Already nightmare fuel. The ghostly bits just felt like extra seasoning on a dish that was already spicy enough.
That said, the writing is sharp and atmospheric. The pacing is just right—tense, but never dragging—and the ending? Didn’t see it coming. At all. It’s rare to be surprised by horror endings these days, so bonus points for that.

In this book, a mother discovers the snuff films that her beloved son made shortly before ending his own life. As she becomes more and more obsessed with these videos she is forced to confront the monster that her son became, with his shallow vengeance killings and hatred of women. This is such a cool concept that unfortunately has absolutely horrible execution.

The mother spends the entire book drinking and taking cocaine. She is a completely one dimensional character who is both sanctimonious and disturbed. She has two older daughters, who are not mentioned until halfway through the book, who serves as the excuse for Perilous’s (the murderous son) hatred of women. The two daughters violently assaulted Perilous. But this sickening event is described in excruciating detail and then largely ignored. It serves as the explanation for some of his murders but not all. And then by the end of the book the mother has killed her oldest daughter, the younger daughter has taken the blame, and the mother gets murdered in a psych ward.

This book is disturbing solely for the sake of being disturbing. The violence in this book is extreme and pointless. Nothing seems to connect into any kind of logical plot or character exploration. Each act of violence serves as a perverse shock and nothing more. This book says nothing and does nothing other than punish the reader for daring to open it. According to my kindle, this book took me an hour and a half to read, and I almost walked away from it several times.

I love horror. I love extreme horror. My problem with this book is not that I just have a distaste for violence. It’s not that I just can’t hang with this extreme of a book. My problem is frankly that this book is a poorly written violence fetish. The characters are all one dimensional, the plot makes no sense, the writing is clunky, and it’s riddled with simple mistakes and contradictions.

Went into this knowing it was horror… but nothing could have prepared me for just how dark and disturbing it really is. This isn't just horror, this is extreme horror. Graphic violence, explicit scenes, and deeply unsettling content throughout.

Did I enjoy it? I don't know. I read it in a single day,I couldn’t put it down, but it left me feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Honestly, it's probably going to give me nightmares. I was also a little confused by the ending.

Not for the faint of heart. Proceed with caution.

I think I realized while reading this that extreme horror is not a genre for me. This reminds me of the extreme gore horror movies that I don't really enjoy. I will say that this isn't the book for me. I don't like book that so much sex in the. I would read a different genre if that was what I was looking for. Sometimes they have no place in certain books, and this one felt like one of those were it would benefit from cutting them out.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley

I don't even know where to begin?! This is the most fucked up book I have ever read. It's also the first book I have read that gave a trigger warning that is definitely required for this read. If you have any triggers or traumas, don't read this book!

Rating: 1 star

When I think "horror book", I think the ghost in the closet that's haunting the family, the possessed kid that goes around killing people of the neighborhood, the dead person doing dead persons things.. This wasn't that. This book was going after the shock factor of a horror book with really horrific events happening to our main character. It wasn't my personal cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it wont be someone else's.

Thank you NetGalley and John Redman for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Trippy and occult-tinged. A dark ride through spiritual horror that’s dense but rewarding—if you’re patient. Not for casual readers.

I went into this book with really high hopes. The blurb sounded so good and I was immediately intrigued. It promised the kind of extreme horror that’s hard to find on NetGalley and I was excited to see where it would go. Unfortunately, Prince of This World ended up being a massive disappointment for me.

While the concept itself was interesting, the execution just wasn’t there. The pacing was fast enough to keep me reading but honestly, if it had been even slightly longer, I probably would’ve DNFed it. I know extreme horror goes hand in hand with sexual content but here it felt like the shock factor was prioritised over any actual plot. The bizarre and explicit scenes completely overshadowed any deeper storyline that might have been there.

I also struggled a lot with the writing style. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, which made it hard to take any of the characters seriously or to feel immersed in what was happening. There were moments that had the potential to be unsettling, like the inclusion of the shadow figure, but these elements weren’t explored in any meaningful way and were left feeling incomplete and random.

By the time I reached the ending, I just felt confused and unsatisfied. I kept hoping there would be a payoff for everything I had read through, but it never came.

Overall, this book just wasn’t for me at all. I love horror, even the most disturbing kinds, but Prince of This World felt more like an attempt to be shocking for the sake of it rather than telling a genuinely terrifying story.

Prince of This World follows Joan as she watches videos of her late teenage son committing heinous crimes.

Gripping premise, with a fast pace that I did appreciate. I wish there had been more fleshed-out depictions of the violence, rather than gross-out, bizarre sex scenes. I understand sex and horror go together, and I enjoy body horror, but this was repulsive.

There were many grammatical errors that I could not ignore. This book needs editing before its publication.

Publishing date: 21.08.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and John Redman for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

This is one of my strangest books of the year, but not necessarily in a great way. I think I realized while reading this that extreme horror is not a genre for me.

The blurb itself was what drew me to the book. Exploration of murders you didn't know about? Fascinating! But Instead I got explicit and descriptive sexual encounters, odd and wildly inappropriate thoughts about a son from the mother's perspective, and some nonconsensual scenes I wish I hadn't read.

Don't get me wrong, the murders themselves were interesting to read about, in a morbidly curious way ... I just wish it was less focused on the sexual part. No part of the blurb mentions this, and it takes up like 30% of the book.

The ending was also confusing and unsatisfactory.

I will simply settle on the fact that this isn't the book for me. Maybe it is for the usual extreme horror fans, but if you like me is branching out to other horror genres and want murders, be prepared for sex scenes. Lots of them.

Just to clarify, I am not a prude, I am very comfortable with sex in books. But sometimes they have no place in certain books, and this one felt like one of those were it would benefit from cutting them out.

Giving this 2 stars, had the potential, not what I wanted from this book.

John Redman’s Prince of This World is not a book for the faint of heart. This book is rife with disturbing language, graphic violence, and explicit sexual scenes, as well as descriptions of sexual assault. Redman’s writing style will not appeal to everyone, especially regarding his descriptive phrase choices. About ¾ of the way through the book, things get extremely disturbing, and I cannot say enough that, if you are easily put off by violence or extreme sexual situations, this book is NOT for you. The broad ideas of this book are interesting, but I feel that a lot of it misses the mark. The most interesting idea in the book for me was the shadow figure, but I do not feel as if it is explored enough. I also found the ending confusing and wish there was at least one more page explaining what was going on there.

I read this book in one sitting. Literally one. I could not put it down. It was truly a wild ride from start to finish. The characters were just insane, the plot was insane, but yet I COULD NOT LOOK AWAY. It's dark, definitely check triggers, because there are plenty. This is a book I will continue to think about for a while.

3.25 stars – rounded down for review purposes
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of Prince of the World by John Redman in exchange for an honest review.

This book walks the line between psychological horror and splatterpunk—gritty, brutal, and full of dark atmosphere. The premise was immediately intriguing, and the opening had a strong hook that pulled me in. That said, I wanted more. The horror elements were effective, but the story felt like it ended before it fully unfolded.

One of the standout elements—the closet figure—was creepy and had so much potential, but I was left craving more background and development. The ambiguity works in some horror, but here it felt like a missed opportunity.

The ending left me a bit confused and underwhelmed. A longer conclusion or more clarity would have strengthened the impact. Still, there’s a solid foundation in Redman’s writing, and I’d be interested in what he does next with a longer format or more expansive world-building.

A fast, disturbing read that hooked me from the start. Prince of This World follows Joan, a grieving mother who discovers chilling videos on her son’s laptop after his death. Vivid and unsettling, this slasher-style thriller is both emotional and horrifying. I could see the scenes play out in my mind—disturbingly good!

Damnnnnn. Prince of this World is about Joan, a mother grieving the death of her teenage son, Perilous. When in his room, Joan finds a laptop and uncovers disturbing videos recorded by her son. She soon discovers the reason for all these murders and her son’s suicide.

What a fun, quick read! I have enjoyed John Redman's writing in the past (Walls of Torture) and was happy to see that this one was available to read. I enjoyed Joan's POV and her description of the videos. I was visualizing it in the head as I read. A disturbingly good slasher read!

Thanks to Netgallery for this ARC.

This was a quick read and quite a intense one, gave it 4.75 as I liked it but it was just a little too sparse and also was left wondering about a few things that were left open ended to me.