Slacker Dave and Amy, the love of his life, are hanging out at his house, when an unexpected guest pops in-literally. He looks like a movie star whose role is the perfect specimen of masculinity and introduces himself as LeSabre, which has nothing to do with the Buick parked outside Dave's house. He is there to save earthlings from the Penetrator who is not quite human, not quite a machine, but lethal and deadly to earth's existence as we know it. This was after Dave and Amy were summoned, along with their friend John, to the Spirit Nothing Mall parking lot, to try and make some sense of a log made of amputated limbs. Of course these kinds of things were normal in their (undisclosed for obvious reasons) town where the guys make their living recording shows like America's Haunted Houses and other supernatural phenomena sightings. That's why LeSabre picked them to find the Penetrator so he could snuff it/him.
The trio started their search at Jumbo's house, the logical place to look as he had lots of junky machines for his repair shop. In fact, he showed them a useless machine that he couldn't figure out, which had materialized in his garage. They all joined the daily bbq that perpetually took place in Jumbo's front yard, when Jumbo disappeared and the gathering got chaotic. Where did Jumbo go and why did he reappear three hours later with a dark stubble on his chin, buck naked, and flayed? Strange things started happening in that town which was already known for this kind of thing, which might have something to do with the perpetual war waged in the Alternate Universe between the Scourge and the Administrator. And if it does, the earth is really cooked this time as the war needs new territory and our world seems to have been nominated.
This the fifth book in the John Dies at the End series which has a wide following among horror buffs who don't take their blood and gore books too seriously. In fact, it was the flat out humor mixed in with truly weird situations that made me storm on to the bitter end. It also got Pargin the movie of his first book, John Dies at the End, which was released in 2012. And as for the giant crabs, we'll let the reader be the judge.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
November 3, 2026
Reserve a physical copy - coming soon!
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