Wretch
January 27 2026
It’s the hottest summer ever in Chicago history, and homicide detective Donnie Lynch is trying to keep his cool as his personal life crumbles and he searches for an elusive fiend who has slaughtered a homicide witness … and who continues to do much worse.
Chicago Outfit boss, Tico “The Meatgrinder” Tortellio, has emerged from the insulated cocoon within his mob world, yearning to get his hands dirty. Tortellio’s grisly mission: to destroy the fiend who vitiated his comatose daughter.
The fiend who is wanted by good and bad is Derek Hoffman, a steroid-abusing-sociopath whose monstrous body and mind have further been grotesquely transformed by an experimental ED-arousal-drug.
Overdosing on the lab-made pills, Hoffman has become a raging beast, high on lust and blood—a pharmaceutically-created monster, he roams the blistering city, committing unspeakable acts and leaving terror and carnage in his wake.
Soon the race is on as both Lynch and Tortellio hunt for Hoffman, the two foes bent on finding Hoffman first to deliver their own brand of justice.
But who can take Hoffman down if they DO find him?
Hoffman is a hulking monster who won’t be taken down easily … he’s hardwired to defile and destroy anything that moves with his big, bare hands. Can anyone subdue this uncontrollable man-beast whose rabid fury and sexual compulsions are in overdrive?
Justice, revenge, and the horrors of Big Pharma are the stakes in WRETCH.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Wagner has published various works of short fiction, non-fiction, novels, and has been lauded by critics and writers. Legendary NYT Bestselling author, Peter Straub, stated: “Jeremy is a pretty impressive dude.”
Wagner’s best-selling debut novel, The Armageddon Chord, peaked at #4 on Barnes & Noble’s “Top 10 Paperback Bestseller List” and peaked at #9 on B&N’s “Top 10 Overall Bestseller List” in the first week of release. TAC also earned a Hiram Award, a first-round ballot Stoker Award Nomination, and received critical acclaim in Publisher’s Weekly and Rolling Stone magazine among others.
Wagner’s award-winning/critically acclaimed novel, Rabid Heart, was nominated for a Splatterpunk Award for “Best Horror Novel” and also received an Independent Publisher Ippy Bronze Medal Award for both “Best Sci-f/Fantasy/Horror E-Book” and received a 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Award as a Finalist for both “Best Horror Novel,” and “Best Overall Book Design.”
Wagner’s book, Fireproof: Memoir of a Chef, that he wrote for Michelin-starred chef, Curtis Duffy, was a USA Today Bestseller and a #1 Amazon Bestseller in multiple categories and has been hailed as, “Horrifying and inspiring, tragic and triumphant, powerful reading.”
Wagner’s dark-crime/horror novel, WRETCH, will be released in 2026.
Wagner’s short story, Norwegian Woods, was nominated for a Splatterpunk Award in 2020 and is being made into a graphic novel for Dead Sky Publishing.
Jeremy Wagner has also written music and lyrics spanning ten albums with his international metal bands, Broken Hope, Lupara and Earthburner.
PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN-13: 9781639511327
Publisher: Dead Sky Publishing
Publication date: January 27, 2026
Pages: 350
Language: English
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches
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