In the fifth book in the series, teenage psychopath John Wayne Cleaver is on the run—from the police, from the FBI, and from the demonic creatures known as Withered that he’s sworn to kill. At his side is his best friend Brooke Watson, who, having once been possessed by the Withered known as Nobody, is left with the memories and personalities of the thousands of girls Nobody killed during her cursed immortality.The first book in the series, I
Am Not A Serial Killer, was something of an outlier. For the first hundred pages it seemed to be an introspective crime thriller, as John tries to track down a serial killer while wrestling with his own dark urges. Then, on page 103, it turns out that—spoiler alert—the serial killer is actually a body-snatching demon. It worked for me, for the most part, but I know plenty of people who neither expected nor wanted the supernatural twist. After that rocky start, though, the series found its footing. This book in particular could have so easily turned into something cheap: “edgy antihero, accompanied by arm candy, kills demons.” Instead Wells manages to inject some real pathos into this story. Both John and Brooke are deeply broken people, clinging to each other in an attempt to not collapse completely. The Withered are sympathetic in a way, even as they’re soulless monstrosities. Wells creates a dark, lurid, and fascinating world.
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