This was wild from start to finish. I'm still not entirely sure what happened, but, considering the third book in this series is entitled "What the Hell Did I Just Read?" I think that's probably how I'm supposed to feel.
Spoiler alert: John didn't die at the end—at least, I don't think he did.
“You see, Frank found out the hard way that the dark things lurking in the night don’t haunt old houses or abandoned ships. They haunt minds.”
It all started at a party in the small, sleepy town of [Undisclosed]. In attendance is a mysterious sorcerer, who can levitate a foot above the ground, and seems to know the most intimate details of strangers' lives. Also in attendance is Jennifer Lopez, but not that one. Oh, and a dog named Molly.
This party is also where we meet Dave and John, the unlikely heroes (I think) of the story. John and his band, Three-Arm Sally, put on a terrible show, as always, and the afterparty continues across town.
During the afterparty, an obscure new drug called soy sauce is introduced by Robert Marley, the alleged sorcerer. The next morning, everyone, Marley included, is either missing or dead, each under more unusual circumstances than the last. The only ones left standing are Dave and John.
“Son, the greatest trick the Devil pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him.”
Things are definitely off, though. John is disoriented, incoherent, and eventually becomes unresponsive altogether. That doesn't stop him from calling Dave, though, and this is where things start to get weird(er). John's voicemails seem to come in out of order, as though he is operating on a different timeline than the rest of the world. This eventually escalates to the two of them communicating by using a bratwurst as a phone, working together via the bratwurst to find the missing people from the party, being kidnapped by one of said missing people from said party, and being taken to Las Vegas, where they find themselves fighting for their lives against shadow creatures from another realm.
Oh, and one of their friends is erased from existence altogether... They think.
The rest of the story entails Dave and John dealing with the aftermath of the soy sauce, which could alter life on earth as we know it, without us even knowing at all.
“A slow smile spread over John's face. He turned to me and said the five most horrifying words he knows: 'Dave, I have a plan.'”
I honestly have no idea how to review this because it's practically impossible to explain. There are quite a few parts that I'm still trying to wrap my head around, but overall, I enjoyed every moment of reading it!
I would strongly advise against reading this in public, though—I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud in a coffee shop at practically every page.
All I can really say is if you don't mind some vulgar language and you like books that are funny, dark, and downright bizarre, you should definitely give this a read!
I'm looking forward to checking out the other books in the series, and I'll attempt to review those as well.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts:
Have you read John Dies At the End?
Have you read any of Jordan Pargin (previously published under David Wong)'s other work?
Do you want to, based on this review?
Be sure to join me on Discord so we can chat, and tell me about your recommended reads as well!
'•.¸♡ Thanks for reading! ♡¸.•'