Over Your Dead Body: John Cleaver Fights Monsters and Explores Morality
In the past, I've made no secret of my appreciation for Dan Wells's John Cleaver series of novels. You can read my reviews of books three and four here and here, respectively.
Over Your Dead Body picks up months down the road from The Devil's Only Friend. John and Brooke are on the road and on their own, hiding from both the FBI and the Withered. Using the memories deposited in Brooke's mind by the Withered Nobody and information gathered by FBI agents over the preceding years, they have been tracking down Withered one by one. Now, they're down to only a handful of Withered that Brooke (and her myriad personalities that came with Nobody's memories) can lead them to.
Their path takes some unexpected twists and turns, including the reappearance of a personality John never thought he'd see again: his girlfriend, Marci. Her memories came to Brooke along with all the others Nobody possessed, and the chance to have her in his life again is a temptation John must battle throughout the book.
As usual, the questions of morality surrounding John's mission take a major place in the narrative. The long-reaching effects of hunting down people, even those who are as bent and demonic as the Withered, are weighed against the mission itself. Is it worth saving the world from the control of the Withered if John and Brooke are lost in the process? Is it right for John to want Marci to stay the dominant personality in Brooke's body? Is it always right for them to kill the Withered?
Some of these questions are given answers in the story, and some are left to be meditated on. But the moral questioning is the aspect of these books that makes them hopeful and uplifting when their subject matter could weigh them down.
John's agnosticism is also weighed against the belief (and sometimes simply cultural Christianity) of Marci and some of the other characters. The importance of church and church family are emphasized on multiple occasions. One of the Withered is the leader of a cult and the effects of his leadership and the vacuum after his death are brief but important elements of the story.
Perhaps the most interesting moment of religious and moral questioning centers on the final Withered John faces in the book. Having blended into small town life, Attina has become the barometer of the community. Whatever everyone around her feels, she feels -- and acts on. When John and Brooke come looking for her, they bring the suspicion and darkness that are requisites of their mission with them and unknowingly unleash Attina's nightmarish evil on an otherwise peaceful town. So the question arises whether John is responsible for everything that follows and whether it is right for him to kill Attina when she was able to live peaceably for decades. These are questions that Wells rightfully leaves unanswered, but they haunt John's heart long after the battle is over.
As with the previous books in the series, Over Your Dead Body explores new territory within the world Dan Wells has created, and it does so with care and nerve. Fans of the series won't be disappointed.
Over Your Dead Body picks up months down the road from The Devil's Only Friend. John and Brooke are on the road and on their own, hiding from both the FBI and the Withered. Using the memories deposited in Brooke's mind by the Withered Nobody and information gathered by FBI agents over the preceding years, they have been tracking down Withered one by one. Now, they're down to only a handful of Withered that Brooke (and her myriad personalities that came with Nobody's memories) can lead them to.
Their path takes some unexpected twists and turns, including the reappearance of a personality John never thought he'd see again: his girlfriend, Marci. Her memories came to Brooke along with all the others Nobody possessed, and the chance to have her in his life again is a temptation John must battle throughout the book.
As usual, the questions of morality surrounding John's mission take a major place in the narrative. The long-reaching effects of hunting down people, even those who are as bent and demonic as the Withered, are weighed against the mission itself. Is it worth saving the world from the control of the Withered if John and Brooke are lost in the process? Is it right for John to want Marci to stay the dominant personality in Brooke's body? Is it always right for them to kill the Withered?
Some of these questions are given answers in the story, and some are left to be meditated on. But the moral questioning is the aspect of these books that makes them hopeful and uplifting when their subject matter could weigh them down.
John's agnosticism is also weighed against the belief (and sometimes simply cultural Christianity) of Marci and some of the other characters. The importance of church and church family are emphasized on multiple occasions. One of the Withered is the leader of a cult and the effects of his leadership and the vacuum after his death are brief but important elements of the story.
Perhaps the most interesting moment of religious and moral questioning centers on the final Withered John faces in the book. Having blended into small town life, Attina has become the barometer of the community. Whatever everyone around her feels, she feels -- and acts on. When John and Brooke come looking for her, they bring the suspicion and darkness that are requisites of their mission with them and unknowingly unleash Attina's nightmarish evil on an otherwise peaceful town. So the question arises whether John is responsible for everything that follows and whether it is right for him to kill Attina when she was able to live peaceably for decades. These are questions that Wells rightfully leaves unanswered, but they haunt John's heart long after the battle is over.
As with the previous books in the series, Over Your Dead Body explores new territory within the world Dan Wells has created, and it does so with care and nerve. Fans of the series won't be disappointed.
Comments
Post a Comment
What do you think?