I found this book in a roundabout way. Jason Pargin's posts on social media are informative and funny, and they're what got me interested. At the time I didn't even know he was the author. The book had been sitting in my Audible recommendations, but I wasn't really sure what it was. Honestly, now that I've read it, I'm still not sure what it is. The early books came out under the name David Wong, and later ones just say Jason Pargin. Either way, his social media posts didn't just make him money. They got me into this series too.
John Dies at the End
John Dies at the End #1
By David Wong (Jason Pargin)
Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press
2009
It's sci-fi horror. The two main characters, David and his friend John, start out fighting a monster made out of meat, and at first you have no idea what it is. When you start listening, you wonder if you're dealing with demons. You aren't. These are interdimensional beings, and they have it out for David and John.
Here's what I want to say about it. John Dies at the End has genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. They're shocking, ridiculous, and funny. Sometimes you laugh, and then, especially if you're a Christian like me, you feel a little bad about laughing.
You'll have to get through some stuff you don't agree with in how people live and talk. There's a lot of cussing and a lot of zany craziness. But that's how a lot of books are nowadays. A couple of months back, my wife overheard an audiobook and said, "Oh, you're listening to a book with cuss words?" Frankly, almost every book has cuss words now. I'm not a big fan of that, but it is what it is.
That's all kind of an aside. The point is that John Dies at the End is really funny. It has interesting characters, and for most of the book you don't know what's happening. It zigs and zags constantly. It was entertaining enough that I've bought several more books in the series and read them.
Reviewed by Scott Asher
