Death Instinct is Bentley Little’s third novel. It was originally released under a pseudonym, Phillip Emmons. This novel is superb, and I believe the horror genre in general was truly at its peak during the 1990s.
Death Instinct opens with a disturbing prologue about the childhood of the novel’s heroine, Cathy. During Cathy’s pre-teen years, her older brother David includes her in his many perverted games, one of which involves forcing her to watch him play naked on a toy horse. The author lets on that Cathy is an innocent young girl being taken advantage of by her sinister older brother.
Chapter One takes place years later. Cathy is an adult taking care of her irritable father, who is handicapped due to a car accident. These days, Cathy leads a relatively quiet, simple life. She works at a local bookstore, doesn’t date, and spends most of her time at home either cooking meals for her father or assuming the role of surrogate mom to a nice young boy named Jimmy who lives in the neighborhood.
Death Instinct was published in 1992, and the author freely uses the term “retarded” when referring to some of its characters. Talking like that was normal back then, and many people from my generation still use that phrase, so for the sake of continuity in this review, I’ll be saying it, too. Regardless of how you feel about it, the author’s use of “retard” and “retarded” were appropriate in this book, considering the retarded kid is an evil person. The concept definitely lends a disturbing air to the novel, that’s for sure.
Katrina West and her retarded son Randy move into the vacant haunted house across the street from Cathy. In an effort to be friendly and neighborly, Cathy and Jimmy introduce themselves to Katrina, who reluctantly introduces them to her son, Randy. They immediately notice Randy is incredibly violent, so Cathy and Jimmy leave quickly and vow never to come near the evil boy again.
Shortly after Katrina and Randy settle in, violent murders start taking place throughout the neighborhood. Animals and humans alike are being mutilated and skinned, and a woman’s body is found in the street, her spine broken. Cathy can’t help but suspect that Randy is behind the murders.
An idiot savant is a person who has a mental disability but exhibits brilliance in a specific field such as music or math. After Cathy has a few more run-ins with Randy and Katrina, she suspects that Randy is an idiot savant with expertise in brutal killing. Or, is it possible that Cathy’s perverted and deranged older brother David is back to mess with Cathy’s head?
Death Instinct holds nothing back in the way of violence, gore, sex, entrails, torture, and anything else disturbing you can cook up in your imagination. It’s all served up right here in this novel. There are no lulls and I’d definitely give Death Instinct 10 out of 10 stars. All the characters are believable, and as tame and innocently as Cathy is written, she’s quite the impressive, honorable heroine.
Bentley Little throws a few red herrings into the story to keep you guessing until the end. This book is extremely well-written, scary, and horrifying. A perfect escape from the world around you.
I’ve also read and reviewed The Store and The Association by Bentley Little. The Association is so awesome, I highly recommend it.
What did you think about Death Instinct, did you like it?
Last Updated on November 23, 2025 by Sarah Ann
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