Nothing Left to Lose by Dan Wells Review ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Credit: Micah Demoux

DAN WELLS writes a little bit of everything, but he is best known for the Partials Sequence and the John Cleaver series, the first book of which is now a major motion picture. He is a co-host of the educational podcast Writing Excuses, for which he won a Hugo and now helps run a yearly, week-long writing conference. In addition to novels, novellas, and shorts, he has also written and produced a stage play, called "A Night of Blacker Darkness," and works as a staff writer on the TV show "Extinct." He has loved in the US, Mexico, and Germany, and currently resides in Utah with his wife and six children and 439 boardgames.

Series: John Cleaver (Book 6)
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (June 6, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765380714
ISBN-13: 978-0765380715

Praise for JOHN CLEAVER SERIES

"Top-notch writing and well-structured suspense elements keep the story moving briskly." ―Publishers Weekly

“Fans of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series will welcome Wells's gripping debut.” ―Publishers Weekly on I Am Not a Serial Killer

“Wells's debut is an unabashedly gory gem. This deft mix of several genres features a completely believable teenage sociopath (with a heart of gold), dark humor, a riveting mystery, and enough description of embalming to make any teen squeamish, even if they won't admit it. Buy multiples where it won't be banned.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on I Am Not a Serial Killer

“This dazzling, un-put-downable debut novel proves beyond a doubt that Dan Wells has the gift. His teenage protagonist is as chilling as he is endearing. More John Wayne Cleaver, please.” ―F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author

“The beauty of the prose, mixed with the depth of characterization, gives the haunting, first person narrative a human touch. Regardless of your age or your genre preferences, you will find this story both profound and enthralling.” ―Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author

New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells continues his acclaimed John Wayne Cleaver series, popular with fans of Dexter

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 in a conclusion that is both completely compelling and completely unexpected.

Don't forget to catch the film adaptation of the first installment in the series, I am Not a Serial Killer, in theaters August 26th.

NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE BY DAN WELLS EXCERPT
“I think she looks terrible,” said an old lady by the food, “whispering” to a small cluster of concerned women. I couldn’t tell if she was pretending to whisper but wanted to be heard, or if she legitimately didn’t know how to regulate her own volume.

“I’ve never seen a body look less lifelike in my life.” I walked slowly past them toward the coffin, trying to look like I belonged.

“Hello,” said a man, stepping forward and offering his hand. I shook it.

“Are you a friend of Kathy’s?” He looked about sixty, maybe sixty-five.

“Acquaintance,” I said quickly, spooling out my prepackaged lie. “She was friends with my grandmother, but she couldn’t make it today so she wanted me to pay our respects.”

“Wonderful!” he said. “What was your grandmother’s name?”

Julia.” I didn’t know any Julias, but it was as good a name as any.

“I think I heard Kathy mention her,” said the man, though I couldn’t tell if I’d stumbled onto an accidentally accurate name or if he was just being polite.

“And what was your name, young man?”

“Robert,” I said, hoping it was generic enough that he would forget it if anyone asked. I tried to never use the same name twice, thanks to the whole FBI thing. I looked at him a moment: a well-worn suit, too high on the ankles; a plain white shirt already fraying at the creases in the cuffs and collar. This was a man who wore these clothes a lot, and I made an educated guess:

“Do you work for the mortuary?”

“I do,” he said, and offered his hand again.

“Harold Ottessen, I’m the driver.”

“The driver?” There goes my bit about drivers being young.

“I assume your brother is the mortician, then?”

“He was,” said Harold. “But I’m afraid he passed away about twenty years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” “These things happen,” he said.

“We’d know, in our family. Margo runs things now; she’s around here somewhere.” I nodded, already bored of the small talk.

“It was very nice to meet you, Harold. I’m going to pay my respects.” He nodded and offered his hand to shake a third time, but before I could extricate myself, another old lady walked up with a stern look.

“It’s completely disgraceful,” she said.

“Can’t you do anything about it?”

“I’ve told you,” said Harold, “this is just how they look sometimes.”

“But it’s your job,” said the woman.

“Why are we even here if you can’t do your job?”

I was desperate to see the body by now, wondering what kind of horror everyone was complaining about, so I left Harold to fend for himself and walked to the coffin.

There was another woman standing beside it, though she was much younger—barely older than me, maybe nineteen or twenty, and dark-skinned. Mexican, maybe? She screwed her face into an unhappy scowl but hid it when she saw me out of the corner of her eye. The body was, after all the anxious hype, pretty normal.

Kathy had been thin in her photos and looked thin now, with curly gray hair and a pale, gaunt face. I’d been expecting some visible injuries, something I could tie directly to a Withered attack—maybe a giant bite taken out of her face. Or, failing that, some kind of problem with the embalming itself, like maybe they’d set the features poorly and now she had sunken eyelids or hollow cheeks or something. Something to justify the mortified attitude from all of her friends. What I saw was far simpler, and so surprising I said it out loud.

“They did

her makeup wrong.”

The highly anticipated conclusion to the John Cleaver series, Nothing Left to Lose, explodes with non-stop action as John goes all out in battle against the Withered. This is the sixth installment in the series as New York Times Best-Selling author, Dan Wells, brings a thrilling finish to the story in a unique writing style that only he can deliver.

The platitude that the first one in any series is considered to be the best does not follow suit in the John Cleaver Series. It just keeps getting better and better. Dan Wells created a world that is very intriguing and characters that are highly complex and grounded. When you have these two attributes in addition to an attractive storyline that is guided with stellar writing, it is a formula that will reign victorious.

Although John has quite the unique lifestyle, being a monster hunter in his teens, he possesses many qualities that are easily relatable. It is this aspect of his character that readers will find to be real making his monster hunting adventures that more believable. He does go through trials and tribulations and with Wells’ writing etiquette, readers are able to dissect his mannerisms and intentions and get a clear understanding of his views.

The plot will grab readers from the very start and will remain that hold to the very end. Each turn of the page anticipates high levels of excitement and the surprises at every corner induce unique ingenuity. So many details go into creating this world. Just as much on how John hunts and kills the monsters. The writing provides the outlines and colors and produces imageries that are realistic bringing John’s world to the imagination of readers. First person point-of-views seem to always miss a key point that leaves holes all over the plot, but the John Cleaver series is an exception. Dan Wells’ conclusion to the series brings together all the loose ends and tie them up nicely in a presentation that readers will mark as satisfying and rewarding.

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