Posts Tagged ‘Dan Wells’

Welcome to my Saturday Screams.

I’ve got two more to share from the John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells.

These are the fifth and the sixth and final books in a “killer” series.

~~~~~

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

Having so much action in the previous books, some might think this one falls flat. Maybe it takes some time for things to get hairy, but while you’re waiting, you get even deeper into John’s psyche. Still a budding sociopath, John is more focused on killing the Withered than his own needs. Until a clever killer steals John’s thoughts of people he wants to kill and how he wants to kill them, and copies it in real life. It’s like he’s stealing a part of John. And its a clever way to caste suspicion on him too.

John and Brook thumb rides from town to town, aimlessly seeking Withered to kill. This is where I said it might seem flat. Don’t bet on it. Dan Wells once again adds a wicked twist when Brook appears to be possessed by the only person John has ever loved. How heart wrenching. I’ve always wanted John to become more human. To feel anything. And for him to be confronted with this situation really punched me in the heart.

There’s some new monsters and plenty more violence and blood shed. A must for me. And with only one more story left in the series, I’m wondering if I’ll get what I’ve been wanting out of it.  And if I do, will it be believable. One way or the other, I’m anticipating finding out.

  5 Stars

Narrator Kirby Heyborne

Having Kirby continue this series is a wise choice. He’s kept me enthralled in the stories and I’ll be watching for further books he’s read.

~~~~~

Thanks so much to Tantor Audio and the author for the complimentary copy.

My review is voluntarily given.

~~~~~

Synopsis

John and Brooke are on their own, hitchhiking from town to town as they hunt the last of the Withered through the Midwest—but the Withered are hunting them back, and the FBI is close behind. With each new town, each new truck stop, each new highway, they get closer to a vicious killer who defies every principle of profiling and prediction John knows how to use, and meanwhile Brooke’s fractured psyche teeters on the edge of oblivion, overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of dead personalities sharing her mind. She flips in and out of lucidity, manifesting new names and thoughts and memories every day, until at last the one personality pops up that John never expected and has no idea how to deal with: the last of Nobody’s victims, trapped forever in the body of his last remaining friend.

Amazon / Tantor

~~~~~

 

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

Another thrilling installment in the series. I go into each story hoping for more intrigue, complexity and angst and Dan Wells doesn’t disappoint.

John still battles his urges as he continues to hunt down the Withered. In each book I learn more about these monsters and what drives them. Terrifying they may be, but you’re given insight into their side of the story, which left me feeling conflicted about them, kind of.

The authors choice to tell this in first person POV from John’s perspective was a wise one.  He keeps evolving, growing mentally stronger but still needing some releases for his dark urges. As a budding serial killer who has rules to keep him from killing the innocent, I find him one of the most compelling characters I’ve come across.

There’s an interesting twist that makes for an edgy read. And it’s a gut wrenching finale in the last third of the book as good and bad become entwined in a fight to survive. I wish I could tell you the last scene of the book. All I could think was, it’s about time.

  5 Stars

Narrator Kirby Heyborne

Kirby hits it out of the park. His narration keeps the suspense at a boiling point and his inflection is perfectly timed. Well done.

~~~~~

Thanks so much to Tantor Audio and the author for the complimentary copy.

My review is voluntarily given.

~~~~~

Synopsis

Hi. My name is John Cleaver, and I hunt monsters. I used to do it alone, and then for a while I did it with a team of government specialists, and then the monsters found us and killed almost everyone, and now I hunt them alone again.

This is my story.

In this thrilling installment in the John Wayne Cleaver series, Dan Wells brings his beloved antihero into a final confrontation with the Withered. Nothing Left to Lose is a conclusion that is both completely compelling and completely unexpected

Amazon / Tantor

~~~~~

I’ve listened to and reviewed  all of the previous five books in this series.

 

  26028651

Click on the covers for my reviews.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia  @ The Purple Booker.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

My Teaser for this week is from

  Nothing Left To Lose

 John Cleaver #6

by  Dan Wells

31702796

 

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Horror

 My teaser from page 73 in the paperback.

Why do we do graveside services? We just got out of the funeral literally fifteen minutes ago; we’ve said all the same things, spouted all the same trite homilies, invoked all the same blessings of all the same deities……We’re human beings – we need ceremony…..Just like I like to brush a dead body’s hair, trim its nails, and prepare it for the end, other people like to stand by the grave and bid the body farewell.

~~~~~

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells continues his acclaimed John Wayne Cleaver series, popular with fans of Dexter

Hi. My name is John Cleaver, and I hunt monsters. I used to do it alone, and then for a while I did it with a team of government specialists, and then the monsters found us and killed almost everyone, and now I hunt them alone again.

This is my story.

In this thrilling installment in the John Wayne Cleaver series, Dan Wells brings his beloved antihero into a final confrontation with the Withered in a conclusion that is both completely compelling and completely unexpected.

Don’t forget to catch the film adaptation of the first installment in the series, I am Not a Serial Killer, in theaters August 26th.

~~~~~

How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

stick out tongue photo: rr-sticking-out-tongue roadrunner-stick-out-tongue.gif

 

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

Welcome to Freakin Fridays, where I share my reviews of books that scare you, thrill you, and get those endorphins pumping.

.

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

The story picks up about a month after John killed the demon that stalked their town. He’s having a tough go of it.

You see, John has unnatural urges. Urges to torture and kill.  He has a set of rules that he follows to stop himself from acting on them. After killing the deem, those urges are building. He’s tasted death and fights to stick to his rules.

So he burns. He burns things to feed Mr. Monster, the thing inside him. It works, kind of. At least after he burns something he can go home. Go to bed. But then the nightmares start. “When he wasn’t using his mind, Mr. Monster was.” And the monster had him killing.

Now, something is killing again. And it’s not John. Perhaps John can let Mr. Monster out to play. Hunt and kill again.

Oh boy. I was only five chapters in and the suspense was really revving up. A school bully pushes John’s buttons and he pushes back. His mother hovers, reminding him to keep his rules. Questioning him constantly about how he feels. The FBI agent from before calls him in repeatedly to repeat his story about the killings from the winter before. An unassuming man with lots of questions.  And Brook. The beautiful neighborhood girl his mom insists he drive to school. She strains his ability to keep his rules.

When John’s sister, Lauren, who never comes to visit, shows up for dinner on Mother’s Day with a boyfriend in tow, things get very interesting. He’s a bully, loud and abrasive in his comments. Downgrading Lauren all the time. It was chilling to listen to John’s thoughts on what he’d to to the guy. After listening to the idiot go on and on, I agreed with some of those ideas myself.

It caught my attention when it became apparent that John’s mother was fighting some thoughts of her own. She clearly was upset by the guys treatment of her daughter. There’s one scene where she used one of John’s rules for herself, and made me laugh…and wonder about her.

And there’s the cat. It wouldn’t leave a warehouse John had targeted to burn down. Rule One kept him from it. Don’t harm animals. Every time he went to burn the building, the cat was there. It didn’t leave, no matter how long he waited. What’s up with that cat?

There is so much suspense. I wondered if John would give in to Mr. Monster. And if one of the people that was causing him so much grief would be a victim. They say many kids that show sociopathic tendencies never act on them. Will John be able to resist. He’s already killed once. And listening to his thoughts, I  can’t see him fighting the urges for much longer.

Chilling, in parts very disturbing, yet also fascinating, I loved being inside Johns’ head again. I couldn’t wait to find out what he’d do and to who. The fact that the author took this story into such a dark place without using profanity or sex earned my high regard.

  5  Stars

Narrator Kirby Heyborne

This second story about John Cleaver has a new narrator. I was impressed by Kirby. He did an excellent job portraying all of these characters, sounding convincing as a woman or a man, and adjusting for their ages. He drew me in, and it felt like I was watching a movie without looking at the screen. I watched the movie for I Am Not A Serial Killer: John Cleaver Book One, and that gave me lots to draw upon. Well done, Kirby.

Thanks so much to Tantor Audio for a complimentary copy. My review is voluntarily given.

~~~~~

Synopsis

I killed a demon. I don’t know if it was really, technically a demon, but I do know that he was some kind of monster, with fangs and claws and the whole bit, and he killed a lot of people. So I killed him. I think it was the right thing to do. At least the killing stopped.

Well, it stopped for a while.

In I Am Not a Serial Killer, John Wayne Cleaver saved his town from a murderer even more appalling than the serial killers he obsessively studies.

But it turns out even demons have friends, and the disappearance of one has brought another to Clayton County. Soon there are new victims for John to work on at the mortuary and a new mystery to solve. But John has tasted death, and the dark nature he used as a weapon—the terrifying persona he calls “Mr. Monster”—might now be using him.

No one in Clayton is safe unless John can vanquish two nightmarish adversaries: the unknown demon he must hunt and the inner demon he can never escape.

Amazon / Tantor

~~~~~

I’ve listened to and reviewed I Am Not A Serial Killer, the first in the John Cleaver series.

Click HERE to read my review.

Amazon / Tantor

~~~~~

Author Dan Wells

Dan Wells is an American horror fiction writer and the author of the John Cleaver series. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University, earning his bachelor’s degree in English with a writing and editing emphasis. He currently resides in Orem, Utah, with his wife and four children.

Narrator Kirby Heyborne

Kirby Heyborne is an accomplished actor, musician, and comedian who has received a number of Audiofile Earphones Awards for his audiobook narrations. He has had starring roles in over a dozen features and many short films. Kirby is also a cofounder and director of the Los Angeles-based improv comedy group The Society.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE