This book is for a specific reader. While I sorta enjoyed it, I had would have a hard time doing reader's advisory in a library setting.

I had a hard time getting into this book. SInce it didn;t grab me right away, I had to put it down, but anticipate that I will pick it back up again at some point

So, Imagine if H. P. Lovecraft Had Written A Few Seinfeld Episodes

This is the third of the "John Dies at the End" books. I knew about, but had not read, the first two in the series. If you start here it will take a chapter or two to get up to speed, but you'll quickly have Dave, John and Amy set in place, and have a feel for the strange doings in Undisclosed.

The book does a little bit of a bait and switch, but in a good way. At the beginning it feels like a funnier, wittier, more foul mouthed, and more "realistic" Scooby-Doo sort of tale, with a deadpan hero, (Dave), a wacky stoner sidekick, (John), and a grounded, practical girlfriend, (Amy). I expected them to run around dealing with funny/clever supernatural threats while tossing off one-liners and switching between slapstick and more traditional action. And it does start that way, more or less. But then we go off the rails, (again in a good way), which I guess experienced Wong readers know enough to expect.

The plot itself is a twisty mess. The supernatural threat can get inside people's heads and change their perceptions, so the tale turns heavily on shapeshifting, confusion, deception, delusions, and so on. You know those books based on "unreliable narrators"? Well, every single thing that appears in this book is unreliable. Individual chapters are written by either Dave or John or Amy. In the best of times John is unreliable and Dave is iffy, so once you get a villain who can bend reality, then all bets are off. To be honest, sometimes the "are you really you?" and the "is that what it looks like?" moments can pile up a bit too high, but by then you really don't mind too much.

But, who needs plot when you have such a vast array of crazy characters running around getting in each other's way. Apart from the three heroes there is a TV host expert on the supernatural, a gang of crazed bikers, an other worldly organization of men in black, the FBI, local police, a friend/foe extraterrestrial buttinsky, an insane lethal vet, shape shifting children, an infernal human shaped villain, and much more. It's like a tasting menu - I chose the three heroes, the lead black ops agent, and the TV guy, as my favorites, but you can put whatever you want on your plate.

But, who needs plot or characters when you have loads of cool one-off gadgets, scenes, bits of business, monologues, throwaway lines, and just tossed in looniness? Wong pours unbridled imagination into even the smallest details, so there's a treat on every page.

But, who needs plot or characters or set design when you have at least one laugh out loud funny line, one edgy dark humor line, and one serious-ish throwaway line on every page? Putting aside everything else, Wong's smart, sharp, and semi-manic rants, raves, monologues, and stand-up bits, along with his throwaways and one-liners, carry this book even if you totally ignore any pretense of it involving an actual story. I don't see how weird fiction can get much better than that. This was an excellent find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

John Dies at the End is a really enjoyable, silly book.

This Book is Fully of Spiders is a really enjoyable, silly book that literally scared the pants off of me.

What the Hell Did I Just Read is a really enjoyable, silly book that combines the horrors of child-
abducting monsters with the fun of living with depression.

It's a great read that had me wanting to quote every single line to my wife. She, like a two-armed versions of Amy, patiently listened to my reading whole paragraphs aloud.

Buy this book. Stay out of the water. And don't trust children.

I started reading this book having no idea it was a series, or really what I was getting myself into. I was intrigued by the title, honestly, and thought it might be interesting. Ha! I was hooked by the first paragraph! Such a weird, twisted story, but in the best possible way. The characters are believable and real, even if the plot isn't. As a teacher, I can definitely see this appealing to young men. Young women, too, sure, but I think it could be great for grabbing that "reluctant reader." I must have the right kind of strange sense of humor, because I found it more comic than horror. I also ordered the first two books in a series after finishing it, if that tells you anything.
But PS: not for the easily offended.

What the Hell Did I Just Read: A Novel of Cosmic Horror by David Wong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always go ga-ga over these books, and for a really great reason. They're FUN AS HELL.

It bends all genres, has some of the absolutely most delicious wry comments and commentary on our modern f***ed-up life, and is consistently over-the-top when it comes to action, monster mashing, and total reality crushing.

Did I mention that this is to UF as Evil Dead is to Horror? It's not a bad comparison. But then, it's sure as hell not complete, either, because this stuff is in it's own league.

Think slacker/slasher fic that does the funniest Supernatural episodes but adds a bit of crack to it to make it even more addictive, then throw in a major course of Cthulhu, sexual innuendo, and Cracked Magazine, and then you're getting pretty close.

It's the same for all three of these books, and I'm proud to say that this third one is still very strong, indeed. No spoilers, but as it says in the series, John Dies at the End.

For those of you who don't know the books, he really does die, but it doesn't always stick thanks to the Soy Sauce. The time travel and alternate dimension hopping and a barrel of snakes that is potential girlfriends just makes things a bit complicated. You know, normal stuff.

All in a day's *unpaid* work.

Of course, that's not to say everyone has supernatural girlfriends, and Dave's Amy is a real trooper and a badass whom I really love. :)

Honestly, this is some of the most righteous laugh-out-loud OTT technocolor raunchy cool books out there. :) It's a self-conscious B-Movie that transcends into ultimate badassery. :) I am STILL totally recommending this series. :) :)

David Wong's What the Hell Did I Just Read is possibly the most apt title I've read in a while. For those who have never read a David Wong book, imagine that the two guys from Supernatural were not brothers or attractive, and closer to unemployed borderline alcoholic drug addicts that stayed put in their hometown (known as UNDISCLOSED) partially due to a lack of education, and partially due to a sense of duty.  

I highly recommend starting with the first two books,  John Dies at the End and This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously Don't Touch it. While you will understand the story without the other two, in What the Hell Did I Just Read, you won't understand the subtle nuances and general insanity that you're about to fall into. John, David, and Amy, are no strangers to the bizarre, the demonic, and the National Guard.  UNDISCLOSED has a Taco Bell that lost it's franchise status and so became a late night bar and Mexican food joint known as Taco Bill's.  David and Amy live above an Adult shop and have a room filled with possessed items too dangerous to remain in the hands of those who have never survived the effects of a mysterious drug called Soy Sauce. Soy Sauce either allows one to view the secrets of the universe, or causes your entire body to explode apart with extreme force.  In What the Hell Did I Just Read, David and John are called upon to help find a missing child. The only clue they have it that she may have been taken by a creepy man named Nymph. Unfortunately for the two, it's far weirder than expected and soon another child is missing.  Soon they will meet a secret shady organization, a biker gang, and a frightening creature known as BATMANTIS????.

What the Hell Did I Just Read is not going to give you a simple comforting story that you can easily process and forget. Prepare yourself for human chewing larvae that can take the form of whoever they want.  This is one of the craziest books I've read this year. If you can handle weird, crazy, and a touch inappropriate, What the Hell Did I Just Read is going to be some of the most fun you have this year. 

What the Hell Did I Just Read is available October 3, 2017 from St. Martins Press.

I have been sitting here asking myself why I requested this book to read and review from NetGalley. This is not the sort of book I normally read, and I probably just wanted something different. Well, this one is different, very different, from the books I normally read. I have not read anything else by the author nor anything similar to this book. However, I did enjoy some parts of it, and, all and all, it was an okay read—just not my normal type. In this book, the cops call John, David and Amy when a child, Maggie, goes missing. Their search takes them to a lot of strange antagonists with rather strange ways of fighting. Each of the trio has his/her own special modus operandi, but all three pulls together to search for Maggie. The characters were strange by my standards. The story was strange by my standards. Still, it was sort of grounded nevertheless.

If you enjoy this type of cosmic horror humor, this is a god book for you. I am not sure yet whether this will be my last foray into this genre or whether I will now start off on a new leaf, so to speak. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

David is an unemployed collector of cursed objects. The savvy Amy is his sweet girlfriend who supports the household. And then there's John, the apocalyptic friend. These are the characters- and the story, unreliably-Mach 8.

David and John do not know their way around a nine to five job. But they do know how to battle monsters and ghoulish evil. Amy is the grounded one on the team. They are the ones the cops calls when children go missing. And one does. Can these two find Maggie while fighting the darkness, armed with only an air cannon and a speaker wailing monster ballads? And without effing the whole thing up?

Having read this series backward might have been David's favorite thing about this review. I realized I might have lost some nuances of the characters and situations. But this read was a laugh out loud, and slapstick heroes conquer monsters book.

The main protagonists are over the top ridiculous, yet they still retain a down to earth quality. They show soul and vulnerability about where they are in their lives. David's ponderings made him an everyday guy trying to get by in the world and do right by Amy. And John, although fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy would like to have someone to share his life. The characters are just trying to keep up in a chaotically fast life. But enough of this, there is a little girl in the balance!

I read this original book slowly to savor all the interesting details. The story at large was very intriguing and well plotted. The narrative was humorous with punch-drunk dialogue but at times made you empathize with the heroes. The freaky shape-shifters imitating the characters made it challenging to determine who was who. Nothing is as they seem. And actual David, John, and Amy were tri-dimensional and kept me vested in the whirlwind narrative.

Love, love, love this crazy journey into ...

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

****Dildo Launchers, a Vaginapond, and where did I get that dog???****


‘What the Hell Did I Just Read’ is perhaps the most aptly titled books of all books thus far written. In fact, it’s the question I asked myself, chapter after chapter after chapter.

After finishing the book, I’m still not sure of the answer – but I did enjoy the book.

If this is your first experience with David Wong, I can only say: STOP NOW!!!! Seriously, go back and read John Dies at the End. First, because you’ll then have some idea of who our characters are, what they do, and you’ll have the slightest glimmer of what’s going on in this book. Second, because you’ll then be familiar with Wong’s style – and it’s a most unusual style to those new to him.

To this book –
It’s a high octane, suspenseful, and, yes, often ridiculous adventure. The intensity doesn’t let up for a minute. In fact, I took a break mid-book to read something else, just because I was getting exhausted by it. Once I finished my much needed brain break and returned to the book, it was a quick finish to the oddly satisfying end.

Expect violence, foul language, foul smells, and did I mention dildo launchers?

A wonderful read for those who enjoy the absurd.

Review: WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ?: A NOVEL OF COSMIC HORROR by David Wong

I laughed throughout this book, especially gleeful because I usually take everything seriously, even solemnly. I couldn't help but chortle at the antics and consequences of this feckless trio of semi-nitwits, well-meaning but imperfect. This was the first of the "David Wong" novels I had read (JOHN DIES AT THE END; THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS) but now I intend to rectify that. John and Dave remind me of boys on the cusp of adolescence, in attitude, perception, and yes, immaturity. In large part, their monster-hunting is adventure as much or more than "saving the world," and for John, it's also a money venue. David's love Amy is a "do-gooder" with a soft heart. She is also the breadwinner. Although she doesn't perceive monsters, she believes, and brings a much-needed logic to their efforts.