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.
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TITLE: Over Your Dead Body: John Cleaver #5
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.
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Thanks so much to Tantor Audio and the author for the complimentary copy.
My review is voluntarily given.
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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.
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TITLE: Nothing Left To Lose: John Cleaver #6
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.
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Thanks so much to Tantor Audio and the author for the complimentary copy.
My review is voluntarily given.
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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
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I’ve listened to and reviewed all of the previous five books in this series.
Click on the covers for my reviews.
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