Other than the trailer park left to her by her deceased daddy, Amy's favorite treasure is Jagger, her 180-pound bullmastiff. One day while she is away, Clayton, her best friend’s scumbag boyfriend sneaks into her yard and takes the dog. His prize fighting pit bull was killed during its last match, costing a lot of bad people a lot of money. To make up for his dog's losses, and to save his own life, Clayton enlists the help of a medical student dropout to turn Jagger into a killing machine by pumping him full of experimental drugs and muscle enhancers. Now Jagger is a monster, a beast that can't feel pain, with an unquenchable thirst for blood. He quickly breaks out of his pen and starts making his way home, tearing apart anyone in his path on his way to the one he feels has betrayed him the most—Amy.

"JAGGER is Kristopher Rufty's best work to date. It's a harrowing journey into the heart of rural darkness that readers won't soon forget." - Bryan Smith, author of Slowly We Rot and Strange Ways

"Kristopher Rufty's latest will lunge snapping for your jugular! Not for the faint of heart, JAGGER is full of sharp teeth and the tang of blood. Fans of Rufty's will rejoice!" - Ronald Malfi, author of December Park

"This is as visceral and gut wrenching as horror gets.” - Hunter Shea, author of The Montauk Monster and Island of the Forbidden

"Jagger is a fleshed out, vicious and brutal novel that shows humanity at its worst. It’ll rip at your heartstrings and burrow under your skin. It’ll piss you off. Yeah, it’s filled with violence and scumbags that deserve what’s coming to them, but at the same time it’s got feeling and tenderness, which is what makes this such a fantastic and wicked read. So buckle in for this generation’s Cujo." -David Bernstein, author of The Unhinged and Witch Island

"A 'roid raging, modern canine Frankenstein's monster, Jagger will never be your beast of burden. In the fine tradition of killer dog novels like CUJO and HELL HOUND, JAGGER ends up being far more tender than a book with this much bloody mayhem has any right to." --Adam Cesare, author of Video Night and The Summer Job

KRISTOPHER. RUFTY