Book Review: The Bedwetter: Journal of a Budding Psychopath

Make sure you get your copy www.amazon.com/Bedwetter-Journal-Budding-Psychopath-ebook/dp/B07NSG5XTS/ and visit leeallenhoward.com

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

 
1 Corinthians 13:11
 
I believe that everyone must grow up. After a while, we outgrow childish habits. Adulting is necessary. As adults, we have responsibilities. We can no longer indulge in childish things.
Then, there are some people that refuse to grow up. Maybe they are spoiled, neglected or traumatized. Russell Pisarek in Lee Allen Howard’s The Bedwetter is one of those adults.
The Bedwetter is a psychological thriller, like Girl on the Train, and being inside Russell’s head, is truly a psychopathic experience. Russell has a warped sense of humor he shows in his digital journal he uses to describe his daily activities. In present-day Pittsburgh, East Liberty, or “Slibberty”, as Russell sarcastically calls it, he writes events in chronological order. The journal entries include pictures, vivid flashbacks, and a foreboding dream with electric hair trimmers.

Russell is a pariah to society. He judges others and obsesses over animals, especially cats. He feels like everyone demeans him, so he rebels. Sometimes, the offenses are minor, and other times they are criminal. His lashing out serves to distract from his truth: he still wets the bed.
Russell dubs another term “pissing hour” to describe the time during his dream that triggers his bladder. The dream is the same and it haunts him. Russell is determined to find its meaning.
The bedwetting is a result of Russell’s troubled childhood and flawed relationships, making him a psychopath. Russell’s sister Becky, his nephew Aiden, and Connors at Hap’s Army Surplus are people that have close relationships with Russell. Besides those three people, Russell doesn’t have any close relationships.

Russell has no luck with the ladies either. He claims they don’t understand his “pissue”, a term he jokingly uses to refer to his bedwetting. Part of the reason Russell is terrible with the ladies is due to his mother.

Russell refers to his mother as “Melanoma”, which shows he views her like a disease. They have a volatile relationship. Melanoma punishes Russell during his childhood by shaving his head every time he wets the bed. Russell never forgives her. She is the bane of his existence and the root of his troublesome dream.

​The turning point in the story happens when Russell encounters “The Piss Fairy” in his recurring dream. By then, his budding psychopath is in full bloom. He can only move forward and complete the ominous mission “The Piss Fairy” has for him.

Lee Allen Howard provides great attention to detail, and the plot is evenly paced. I would read more of his work. I give The Bedwetter five stars and I encourage anyone, who likes an enticing thriller, to read this story.