Over Your Dead Body Is a Cat-and-Mouse Thriller with a Killer Hero—Literally
John Wayne Cleaver, teenage sociopath and monster-hunter extraordinaire, has long grappled with those darn homicidal urges. You know, that ache we all feel to crack open a sternum, sink a knife blade into a beating human heart, that sort of thing. We’ve been there, too—at least, those of us who’ve been reading this series since the beginning. In the latest installment, John’s targets are still the same: when he’s not fantasizing about peel the faces off of random strangers, he’s tracking down the Withered—quasi-immortal serial-killer monsters hiding in plain sight across the world.
Over Your Dead Body
Paperback $17.99
Over Your Dead Body
By Dan Wells
In Stock Online
Paperback $17.99
Over Your Dead Body is the fifth book in Dan Wells’ John Wayne Cleaver series, which started with 2009’s convincingly titled I Am Not a Serial Killer (it’s a film now, too), and follows last year’s release, The Devil’s Only Friend. But this time, there’s a new wrinkle in John’s life unlike anything from the last four books: he’s officially on the run in middle America, with no identity, hiding from monsters and his old employers at the FBI alike.
This sub-genre has a hallowed history, if a tiny one. I’ve always loved cat-and-mouse films like North by Northwest or The Fugitive, mostly because I’m sadistic enough to enjoy watching protagonists sweat as they try everything to stay a step ahead of the law. More relatable (one would hope), is the way Wells also captures the nauseatingly penny-pinching mindset that latches onto anyone surviving on a dwindling couple of hundred dollars (poor college grads: expect a little PSTD).
But as John hitchhikes between dusty Podunk towns, he has more to worry about than just FBI agents and monsters. He’s taking care of his only living friend in the world, Brooke. Once possessed by a personality-absorbing Withered, Brooke’s resulting mental problems send her constantly cycling through long-dead personalities. Some make her suicidal, one makes her think she’s a monster, and one particularly rough one is the personality of someone John loved in the past. Monsters and government agents are tough to avoid, but emotions and sociopaths are an even worse mix.
Over Your Dead Body is the fifth book in Dan Wells’ John Wayne Cleaver series, which started with 2009’s convincingly titled I Am Not a Serial Killer (it’s a film now, too), and follows last year’s release, The Devil’s Only Friend. But this time, there’s a new wrinkle in John’s life unlike anything from the last four books: he’s officially on the run in middle America, with no identity, hiding from monsters and his old employers at the FBI alike.
This sub-genre has a hallowed history, if a tiny one. I’ve always loved cat-and-mouse films like North by Northwest or The Fugitive, mostly because I’m sadistic enough to enjoy watching protagonists sweat as they try everything to stay a step ahead of the law. More relatable (one would hope), is the way Wells also captures the nauseatingly penny-pinching mindset that latches onto anyone surviving on a dwindling couple of hundred dollars (poor college grads: expect a little PSTD).
But as John hitchhikes between dusty Podunk towns, he has more to worry about than just FBI agents and monsters. He’s taking care of his only living friend in the world, Brooke. Once possessed by a personality-absorbing Withered, Brooke’s resulting mental problems send her constantly cycling through long-dead personalities. Some make her suicidal, one makes her think she’s a monster, and one particularly rough one is the personality of someone John loved in the past. Monsters and government agents are tough to avoid, but emotions and sociopaths are an even worse mix.
The Devil's Only Friend (John Cleaver Series #4)
Paperback $17.99
The Devil's Only Friend (John Cleaver Series #4)
By Dan Wells
In Stock Online
Paperback $17.99
John’s Sherlock-level powers of deduction are the main reason I love this series. Every Withered comes with a different set of powers and needs: some might take body parts or bone marrow from their victims, while others steal more abstract things like memories. Some don’t even need to kill. Whatever the case, John rarely misses a clue, and readers are exposed to the full power of his constantly analyzing mind. In The Devil’s Only Friend, which featured a half-dozen monsters, the detective work was often exhausting (in a good way). But in this one, Wells uses John’s mind to ratchet up the suspense and paranoia.
After John and Brooke arrive in a tiny town inhabited by a Withered, the bodies pile up and suspects are myriad. Seemingly innocent church goers, a creepy police officer, an overly friendly neighbor and a calculating teenager are all nothing but suspicious. At least, the ones who don’t get murdered are. Yet, not only does no monster emerge—the clues make increasingly little sense. I won’t spoil the solution, but it’s a fun mystery that deepens the mythology of the series. And rest assured, no matter how maddening it gets, you’re never going to be as upset about all this as John.
This installment changes things up enough to surprise longtime readers while still giving them the sarcasm, gore, and detective work they crave. I tore though it, and now I’ve got that feeling familiar to any fan of a series: I need to read the sixth book as soon as possible, but I’m also dreading the series’ ultimate end. We can always hope for a trilogy of trilogies.
John’s Sherlock-level powers of deduction are the main reason I love this series. Every Withered comes with a different set of powers and needs: some might take body parts or bone marrow from their victims, while others steal more abstract things like memories. Some don’t even need to kill. Whatever the case, John rarely misses a clue, and readers are exposed to the full power of his constantly analyzing mind. In The Devil’s Only Friend, which featured a half-dozen monsters, the detective work was often exhausting (in a good way). But in this one, Wells uses John’s mind to ratchet up the suspense and paranoia.
After John and Brooke arrive in a tiny town inhabited by a Withered, the bodies pile up and suspects are myriad. Seemingly innocent church goers, a creepy police officer, an overly friendly neighbor and a calculating teenager are all nothing but suspicious. At least, the ones who don’t get murdered are. Yet, not only does no monster emerge—the clues make increasingly little sense. I won’t spoil the solution, but it’s a fun mystery that deepens the mythology of the series. And rest assured, no matter how maddening it gets, you’re never going to be as upset about all this as John.
This installment changes things up enough to surprise longtime readers while still giving them the sarcasm, gore, and detective work they crave. I tore though it, and now I’ve got that feeling familiar to any fan of a series: I need to read the sixth book as soon as possible, but I’m also dreading the series’ ultimate end. We can always hope for a trilogy of trilogies.