Primal Justice is about a man named Jon Stofferson, a man with two distinct personalities residing in one tortured soul. This manifests itself in his playing police officer and bloody executioner when, without his knowledge, he systematically picks the most deserving victims of his particular brand of vengeance. So far twelve men have died under mysterious circumstances in seemingly unrelated demon-driven attacks. They are related, however: they were all successful murderers who had gotten off scot-free until the ultimate judgment was rendered upon them with all the tender mercy they had shown their own victims.

Driven down a slippery path of insanity with a less and less firm grasp on reality, the protagonist is hounded by voices from his past that are now voices from beyond the grave. The voice of his father preaches piously that justice is incapable of making mistakesm\, while the voice of his stepfather argues of the corruption of justice and insists that only Primal Justice, the taking of the law into the hands of one devout man, will even the eternal imbalance.

Pushed and pulled between two such disparate voices, Stofferson loses control of his actions. His mind becomes fractured, and he begins to deliver his own amalgamated brand of vengeful punishment to those whom he considers deserving.

Primal Justice is a very imaginative novel. Richard E. Gill does a good job of getting inside the mind of a split personality. The book is long and consequently does drag in places, but all in all is a very readable and enjoyable effort. Stofferson is chillingly written and the scenes when he is - there is no other word for it - stalking his intended victims are downright creepy-crawly. The hopelessness and squalor of some of the settings is heartrending. Gill definitely has a way with description. The dialogue is well used to indicate people’s stations in life.

This is recommended for fans of cop dramas or psychological thrillers.